USPS Seals Gasoline-Trucks Deal, Shunning Biden EV Plea

[Common Sense 1]

Wow, these things are ugly. Just my humble opinion. But look to be much safer than what we have now.

View attachment 67376524

Bet that windshield is expensive to replace?

 

[Taylor]

From the OP
"Cost effective electric vehicles for a project this large do not exist."
I don't think it has to happen all in one day.

Yup. Sounds like they're starting with 10% and building from there.

 

[EMNofSeattle]

DeJoy simply made a short term decision.

Lots of CEOs make mistakes. DeJoy doesn't have to worry about being around long term though.

So primitive he doesn’t realize the postal service can’t afford to have vehicles lying around charging for half the shift.

 

[EMNofSeattle]

For Postal vehicles charging stations are irrelevant. They return at night and can be charged.

They would have to be charged mid shift if not more frequently.

 

[CaughtInThe]

So primitive he doesn’t realize the postal service can’t afford to have vehicles lying around charging for half the shift.

you wouldn't understand.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

Electric is more expensive than gas? No.
The only real problem with electric vehicles right now is that there are not enough charging stations. But there are proposals to remedy that situation also.
And why invest billions more on gas vehicles when there are better alternatives for the long term?
The USPS uses more than 200,000 vehicles across the US for residential and commercial mail delivery.

You will never ever see an electric postal truck run out of juice because in 80-85% of cases, postal trucks travel very close to their home
post office.
They do not NEED any goddam 'public' charging stations because you don't see a postal truck from 90606 delivering mail to 76063...or even 90607.
God's sake people, do any of you Trumpers even take one minute to use your imagination to think about what a postal truck even does
every day?
Postal trucks only need ONE charging network, in the rear parking lot of their post office.
That's where they come FROM every morning and that is where they RETURN to every night.
And because these are generally LOW SPEED SHORT RANGE vehicles, they can get away with smaller and cheaper batteries
and slower charging systems.

Outside of that we're talking about over the road heavy trucks for regional distribution, which are not postal mail trucks
in the sense we are talking about.
We are only talking about the largest part of the fleet, the lowly little boxy trucks that crawl the surburbs and city streets
of America at slow speeds...Monday through Saturday, 8:00 to 5:00 PM.

If you can't even bother to put some thought into what kind of job a postal truck actually DOES, you don't
have any business yammering about how expensive postal trucks are, because you clearly don't have clue #1 about the subject.

 

[Lovebug]

Private taxi fleets are moving to EV because it is cheaper for them. Electric power is cheaper than gasoline and EVs have a fraction of the maintenance of gasoline vehicles. So, it makes economic sense for USPS to move to EV.

But you don’t care about facts. You just have an irrational desire for any plan of Biden’s to fail. You really don’t care if the Postal Service moved forward and taxpayers save money. You just get a boner when something Biden wants doesn’t happen. It’s sad that you don't want the best for your country and cheer when a president that does care about America has a setback.

You had me with your first paragraph. The second is just partisan echo, in as much as conservatives said some years ago..
You just have an irrational desire for any plan of Trump’s to fail.
C'mon already people.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

Wow, these things are ugly. Just my humble opinion. But look to be much safer than what we have now.

View attachment 67376524

Since when has a postal truck won beauty contests?
The United States has gone from Model T's to Studebaker vans, to Cushman 3-wheelers, to Jeeps,
and finally Grumman LLV's.
Aside from the postal Jeeps, were ANY other postal vehicles considered "attractive"?
More importantly, who gives a flying **** what they look like anyway?

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

And the lack of grid capacity makes your post absurd.

Describe IN technical detail what is needed of a grid to charge mail trucks.

 

[Taylor]

Since when has a postal truck won beauty contests?
The United States has gone from Model T's to Studebaker vans, to Cushman 3-wheelers, to Jeeps,
and finally Grumman LLV's.
Aside from the postal Jeeps, were ANY other postal vehicles considered "attractive"?
More importantly, who gives a flying **** what they look like anyway?

It must suck to be angry all the time, even by the most innocuous of comments. Cheer up.

 

[MTAtech]

They would have to be charged mid shift if not more frequently.

What makes you conclude that? Routes are less than 30 miles a day.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

The typical electric mail truck doesn't require much more than the power needed to run an electric coffeepot
because you're not charging an electric Porsche Taycan or a Tesla, you're charging a miniscule battery pack
just barely bigger than that of a Prius.
These are MAIL trucks, not luxury or sports cars...they're just barely above a glorified golf cart.
So all the ignorant hand-wringing about not having enough grid is nonsense.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

What makes you conclude that? Routes are less than 30 miles a day.

Pssssttt!!! Most routes are less than TEN miles per day.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

It must suck to be angry all the time, even by the most innocuous of comments. Cheer up.

It must suck to be WOE all the time.

 

[coyote505]

Describe IN technical detail what is needed of a grid to charge mail trucks.

Surplus capacity beyond that needed to service the current customers, which we Don't have. And note, while you are charging overnight, the sun is not shining, the wind is likely not blowing, and you probably do not have the battery capacity at the post office, or at the power plant, to handle large loads at night.

 

[Chillfolks]

Range in miles wouldn’t really be an issue for the trucks but I can see how battery life it terms of minutes of use would be. Changing over the fleet slowly as the technology is tested in real world applications seems a smart move versus going all in in hopes the numbers on paper translate into real world figures

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

Surplus capacity beyond that needed to service the current customers, which we Don't have. And note, while you are charging overnight, the sun is not shining, the wind is likely not blowing, and you probably do not have the battery capacity at the post office, or at the power plant, to handle large loads at night.

What battery capacity?
Explain how many amps of current are needed to charge a postal truck battery pack.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

Surplus capacity beyond that needed to service the current customers, which we Don't have. And note, while you are charging overnight, the sun is not shining, the wind is likely not blowing, and you probably do not have the battery capacity at the post office, or at the power plant, to handle large loads at night.

You do not have the first clue of what you're talking about.
You're attempting to apply Tesla figures to a fleet of vehicles most of which will never even go on a freeway and seldom if ever exceed
45-50 mph, and which will in most cases never go more than about 30 miles in a delivery route.

You DO NOT KNOW the first thing about electric mail trucks.

 

[MTAtech]

Surplus capacity beyond that needed to service the current customers, which we Don't have. And note, while you are charging overnight, the sun is not shining, the wind is likely not blowing, and you probably do not have the battery capacity at the post office, or at the power plant, to handle large loads at night.

At night there is surplus electricity produced. Peak usage is always during the day.

 

[coyote505]

At night there is surplus electricity produced. Peak usage is always during the day.

Any surplus energy being produced at night is most likely not Green. I am assuming you all are Greenies and would consider this important. Regardless of charging rate, the total KwH used must come from somewhere. If you all will encourage your governments to get off the Green Grid kick, then we might have enough grid capacity to handle EVs, including postal trucks. If it came from Nukes, that would be great. You all have your tunnel vision focused on the vehicle. I am talking about the grid, which the rest of us rely on for reliable power.

 

[holbritter]

Explain specifically WHY electric mail trucks wouldn't make sense for 80 percent of the population.
Give specifics.

Here's mine:
1. The average postal truck never travels more than approximately 30 miles a day.
2. The average postal route involves speeds UNDER 50 mph.
3. Almost ALL vehicular postal routes involve a tremendous amount of stop and go driving.
4. The typical postal delivery vehicle is never more than ten miles from its home post office.

A. Given the short distances of most postal delivery routes, it's not even necessary to engage the LATEST battery technology.
Short distances are easily handled by cheaper battery packages.

B. Given that most postal delivery routes do NOT involve travel at freeway speeds, it's not necessary to have postal vehicles with Tesla level performance.

C. Given that most postal routes are driven during the day, there is ample charging time every single day.

D. The overall cost per mile is a fraction of gasoline vehicles.

And last but not least, the new Oshkosh vehicles barely get better gas mileage than the old Grumman trucks.
They didn't even TRY to make them economical.

I agree for urban and suburban areas, but there are plenty of rural areas that do not fit this profile at all.

We all want to make it easier to vote for rural minorities who have trouble getting to polling places, yet want to make mail delivery to them more difficult?

 

[NuffSaid]

Another defeat for Team Brandon.

Go Russia!

Team Putin!

 

[NuffSaid]

What makes you conclude that? Routes are less than 30 miles a day.

In my neighborhood the mail person parks at the end of the block and walks the street. Not using battery at all while parked and turned off.

 

[SuperDS77]

Explain specifically WHY electric mail trucks wouldn't make sense for 80 percent of the population.
Give specifics.

It is cheaper to purchase gasoline powered trucks at this point in time. What is the downside? Is all of this consternation about using gasoline powered vehicles based on climate change theories?

Here's mine:
1. The average postal truck never travels more than approximately 30 miles a day.
2. The average postal route involves speeds UNDER 50 mph.
3. Almost ALL vehicular postal routes involve a tremendous amount of stop and go driving.
4. The typical postal delivery vehicle is never more than ten miles from its home post office.

A. Given the short distances of most postal delivery routes, it's not even necessary to engage the LATEST battery technology.
Short distances are easily handled by cheaper battery packages.

B. Given that most postal delivery routes do NOT involve travel at freeway speeds, it's not necessary to have postal vehicles with Tesla level performance.

C. Given that most postal routes are driven during the day, there is ample charging time every single day.

D. The overall cost per mile is a fraction of gasoline vehicles.

Most of that is accurate, but not necessarily evidence that it is wiser to purchase electric fleet at this time.

Point D is the one that I do not believe to be true at this point in the technological development. From what I have read the cost per mile over the life of vehicles is pretty close, definitely not a "fraction", which implies a great deal less.

AAA Research: Electric Vehicles Cost About the Same as Gas-Powered Vehicles; - AAA Oregon/Idaho

Vast Majority of EV owners would buy again PORTLAND, Ore., – New research from AAA finds that over five years and 75,000 miles of driving, the annual cost of owning a new compact electric vehicle is only slightly more expensive – about $600 annually – than its gas-powered counterpart. The study...

info.oregon.aaa.com

"

Posted on January 22, 2020 by Marie Dodds

AAA Research: Electric Vehicles Cost About the Same as Gas-Powered Vehicles;​

PORTLAND, Ore., – New research from AAA finds that over five years and 75,000 miles of driving, the annual cost of owning a new compact electric vehicle is only slightly more expensive – about $600 annually – than its gas-powered counterpart. The study also revealed that the experience of owning an electric vehicle eases one of the biggest fears associated with these cars – range anxiety. EV owners are also very satisfied with their vehicles—the study shows that 96 percent would buy electric again."

From the "fact sheet" link in the article...https://info.oregon.aaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/True-Cost-of-EV-Ownership-Fact-Sheet-FINAL-1-9-20.pdf

"
Over five years and 75,000 miles of driving, the cost to own a new
compact electric vehicle is $7,704/annually, which is $590 or 8% more
per year than a comparable gas-powered car."

And last but not least, the new Oshkosh vehicles barely get better gas mileage than the old Grumman trucks.
They didn't even TRY to make them economical.

Frankly, I would like to see natural gas powered vehicles for these fleet purchases. Cleaner, more efficient and cheaper than electric.


I believe all of this hyperventilating is because of the obsession with "climate change", nothing to do with cost or efficiency.

 

[jpevans]

Explain specifically WHY electric mail trucks wouldn't make sense for 80 percent of the population.
Give specifics.

Here's mine:
1. The average postal truck never travels more than approximately 30 miles a day.
2. The average postal route involves speeds UNDER 50 mph.
3. Almost ALL vehicular postal routes involve a tremendous amount of stop and go driving.
4. The typical postal delivery vehicle is never more than ten miles from its home post office.

A. Given the short distances of most postal delivery routes, it's not even necessary to engage the LATEST battery technology.
Short distances are easily handled by cheaper battery packages.

B. Given that most postal delivery routes do NOT involve travel at freeway speeds, it's not necessary to have postal vehicles with Tesla level performance.

C. Given that most postal routes are driven during the day, there is ample charging time every single day.

D. The overall cost per mile is a fraction of gasoline vehicles.

And last but not least, the new Oshkosh vehicles barely get better gas mileage than the old Grumman trucks.
They didn't even TRY to make them economical.

There is a local Dealership Ad comparing gas & electric miles per dollar (MPD). Gas $50. electric $7. assuming that's correct, how long are any savings gonna last? A week?