US Postal Service Electric Vehicle Flop

[Steve R.]

Biden push for $10B electric mail delivery fleet flops with just 250 trucks built in two years

Taxpayers have forked over nearly $2 billion for the project via the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.

nypost.com

A Biden administration plan to create a “green” fleet of postal vehicles has churned out a mere 250 electric mail trucks in just over two years — after shelling out taxpayer funds meant to build thousands — leaving Republicans raging at the multibillion-dollar “boondoggle.”

The electrification of local delivery vehicles such as USPS mail trucks, UPS, and FedEx would something that everyone could get behind. Apparently, the attempt by Democrats to electrify the USPS mail truck fleet is flopping. Based on anecdotal unproven evidence, it appears to be suffering from the same (partisan) bureaucratic inefficiencies (money laundering?) suffered by the likes of USAID and the California's high speed rail fiasco. I suppose that since UPS and FedEx have not voluntarily moved towards vehicle electrification that there might be some economic reasons for that. I wonder if the DOGE team uncovered this USPS boondoggle? Hopefully, this program can be cleaned-up and completed.

PS: Seems that golf courses have successfully transitioned to electric golf carts.

 

[AccessBlaster]

I don't know about USPS but most of the FEDEX I see in my area are electric. Also a ton of Amazon trucks (small delivery)

The train boondoggle was rightfully pulled.

 

[Pat Hartman]

Only the government could make such a mess out of electrifying the USPS and UPS local fleets. Too bad they keep doing this crap with my money.

 

[Pat Hartman]

I don't know about USPS but most of the FEDEX I see in Orange County Ca are electric. They've been around for a while.

Orange County doesn't have winter. Winter makes electric vehicles more difficult because of low battery life in cold weather.

 

[AccessBlaster]

Orange County doesn't have winter. Winter makes electric vehicles more difficult because of low battery life in cold weather.

Sorry for the late edit on post #2.

 

[Pat Hartman]

The train boondoggle was rightfully pulled.

And Trump is being sued for pulling the remaining allocated funding. If the people of California had a modicum of common sense, the project would have been cancelled 10 years ago when it became obvious that it was never going to happen, ever. It was just a money pit.

 

[AccessBlaster]

And Trump is being sued for pulling the remaining allocated funding. If the people of California had a modicum of common sense, the project would have been cancelled 10 years ago when it became obvious that it was never going to happen, ever. It was just a money pit.

If we had a modicum of common sense, Newsome wouldn't be our Governor, just sayin.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

UPS has a mixed back of motive power including LNG, Diesel, gasoline, hybrid electric, and straight electric. But no A/C.

 

[Pat Hartman]

LNG is probably the best choice for local fleets where the vehicles go "home" every night since it doesn't have the problem of battery life during cold weather. The snow plows in NYC don't work in the winter because the batteries die before the plowing is complete.

 

[Cotswold]

We can usually rely on governments to turn a good idea into a disaster.
They imagine all you need to do is to throw money at it but always fail to understand that you need people who know what they are doing to make it work. Main problem is that they see themselves as a success even though they have no ability for anything.

Their AI ambitions will all end up as a dog's breakfast and achieve little for the expenditure except more government employees. When the object of the exercise was to reduce them. Same with NetZero, plenty of seminars and back slapping but every aspiration falling through the net.

 

[Pat Hartman]

Government fails because they don't set objectives and measure results against those objectives. That is why the DOE has been such a disaster and that is why Trump ultimately became President. The public wanted someone who knew how to run a successful business to put some discipline into government spending. Congress has no respect for our wishes or our money.

 

[AccessBlaster]

Government fails because they have a Blatant disregard for the people they serve.

 

[Pat Hartman]

Government fails because they have a Blatant disregard for the people they serve.

But they don't serve us. That is what I was alluding to. Their only job is getting reelected and serving their donors.

 

[AccessBlaster]

Bingo!

 

[The_Doc_Man]

LNG is probably the best choice for local fleets where the vehicles go "home" every night since it doesn't have the problem of battery life during cold weather. The snow plows in NYC don't work in the winter because the batteries die before the plowing is complete.

Regarding batteries and cold: Look up "enthalpy" - which is a measure of the energy that can be removed / realized from a chemical system. In the specific case of batteries, a summer battery will probably work great when the weather is 40 degr. C, but the problem is logarithmic. Approximately every 10 degr. C drop in temperature implies a 2-fold loss of efficiency. A battery that works well at 40 degr. C ambient temperature will in theory work 16-fold less efficient in 0 degr. C weather. Never 0 in theory, but diminished power because of a depreciation formula.

Which is why EVs in northern Canada in the winter seems like a bad joke on all of the "let's green up the environment" folks.

 

[Mark_]

For USPS, part of the issue is no one thought "Where will they charge?". Cost to refit a post office to allow charging is far more expensive than just buying the vehicles. Out of $2billion, I can see $1.6 billion just going to upgrading facilities so they can be ready to go the next day. Toss in setting up maintenance and you have very little left for purchasing the vehicles themselves.

For a boondoggle, California is mandating all new vehicles be electric starting 2035. Please note there is NO plan in place to upgrade the state wide distribution system to support this, no plan for upgrading local infrastructure, not plan to create charging stations (especially in low cost of living areas) and a general assumption that "Everyone will put solar on their roof, a battery and charger in their garage". Course this means if you live in a condo or apartment you don't have a "Roof" for solar nor a garage for your own battery and charger.

Once more the privileged elite completely forget about the least advantaged when planning things.

 

[Pat Hartman]

Regarding batteries and cold:

In 1967 I bought myself an Austin-Healy Sprite. I loved that car but it was built for UK winters. Luckily I was still living at home which was on a very slight hill and I had a younger brother I could coerce into pushing my car on cold mornings so I could get it rolling enough to pop the clutch and start it. The next winter I bought a Sears Die Hard AND a hard roof. It was still freeking freezing in the winter since the heater didn't put out anywhere near enough heat. But summers were a dream. Even on sunny, warmish winter days the top came down. It was such a PITA to take down because it had to be disassembled and stored in the trunk that I used to leave it down all the time and just keep the tonneau cover on.

 

[Cotswold]

Ah, the bug eyed Sprite. I didn't know it was exported.

 

[Isaac]

I don't know about USPS but most of the FEDEX I see in my area are electric. Also a ton of Amazon trucks (small delivery)

The train boondoggle was rightfully pulled.

how can you quickly tell that a vehicle is electric? excuse my ignorance on the subject,

 

[Isaac]

But they don't serve us. That is what I was alluding to. Their only job is getting reelected and serving their donors.

I've often pondered the philosophical questions about what the motivation of elected representatives/senators should be.
Meaning there are a few ways to look at it.

One way is "I serve the interests of my constituents, period". In this view, you're always trying to get the most and best for your people, and you don't care much about anything else.

Another way is more blended "I try to do what's right, and consider the interests of my constituents".

In the former view, you have people desperate to add totally ridiculous stuff to bills, like for example if you're representing Alaska, you'd put a rider on a bill that just cuts a check for $10000/year to every Alaskan , whether that makes broader sense or not - but it's very true to your mission.

In the latter, you stick to "what's right" even if sometimes your constituents are pissed off about it, and just hope to get reelected by them not noticing or not too much publicity about it.

We often hold politicians feet to the fire for doing dumb stuff, like skyrocketing the deficit, and yet in the former worldview, they're doing what their constituents want - but their constituents are idiots who wants stuff that's bad for the country overall.

Is there REALLY any simple, mantra-like guidance that WORKS as the viewpoint of what the motivation of politicians' decisions ought to be?