Federal Agencies

 

US Postal Service Commits To Buy 66,000 EVs — Finally. According to Canary Media, “Having exhausted all other options, the U.S. Postal Service, operator of the largest federal vehicle fleet, has announced a transformative plan to start electrifying its fleet and move away from gas-guzzling delivery trucks. The USPS, led by Trump appointee Louis DeJoy, announced last year that it planned to place a large order for new internal-combustion-engine trucks. After experiencing heavy pushback for not going electric more swiftly, the agency then made a series of seemingly reluctant announcements over the past year unveiling plans to procure increasingly larger proportions of electric vehicles and smaller proportions of gas-powered ones. Tuesday’s announcement was the latest in this series. With this week’s news, the Postal Service is now committed to significantly decarbonizing its aging fleet of over 230,000 vehicles. It plans on buying 60,000 ’next-generation delivery vehicles’ from Oshkosh, a defense contractor, of which 45,000 will be electric. The agency will also purchase 46,000 vehicles from commercial automakers, of which 21,000 will be electric, according to The Washington Post. That’s a procurement total of 66,000 electric delivery vehicles, which will make USPS, which already has the largest vehicle fleet in the nation, into the operator of the largest electric vehicle fleet in the nation.” [Canary Media, 12/22/22 (+)]

 

US Postal Service Says It Will Only Buy Electric Delivery Vehicles After 2026. According to Inside EVs, “The United States Postal Service (USPS) announced yesterday that it plans to fully switch to buying only electric trucks in the next few years. It wants to deploy some 66,000 of what it calls Next Generation Delivery Vehicles (or NGDVs) into its fleet by 2028, and of these around 45,000 vehicles will be fully-electric. It expects that of the next 60,000 vehicles it buys, at least 75 percent (or around 45,000 vehicles) will be fully-electric, and then only pure EVs will be added to the fleet after 2026. This is possible thanks to $3-billion in congressional funding courtesy of the Inflation Reduction Act that was signed into law by President Joe Biden. These vehicles will be sourced from Oshkosh Defense and other specialized manufacturers, but the USPS plans to buy an additional 21,000 COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) vehicles, all of which are expected to be electric. In total, the USPS expects it will spend around $9.6-billion to renew and electrify its fleet, as well as create its own charging infrastructure, and according to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy,” [Inside EVs, 12/22/22 (=)]

 

 

Manufacturers, Fleets, & OEMs

 

Ford Motor Co.

 

Dispel The Disinformation! Ford Tells You Exactly How Much CO2 And Fuel That Evs Can Save. According to Electrek, “Research shows electric vehicles are better for the environment. Not only do they emit fewer CO2 emissions, but you also don’t have to worry about falling victim to volatile gas prices. Ford shows us just how much you can save by driving electric vehicles compared to an equivalent gas car. Ford highlights CO2 savings from its electric vehicles Ford released its first sustainable financing report Wednesday, highlighting its climate objectives and how its investments are paying off so far. Last November, Ford introduced its sustainable financing framework in conjunction with the automaker’s first green bond. Ford offered the $2.5 billion green bond to investors, the largest from a US-based company at that time. The automaker said the proceeds from the bond offering would be used to fund its electric vehicle rollout, including: Mustang Mach-e F-150 Lightning E-Transit van One year later, Ford is reporting on the progress of the allocation of these ‘green funds’ as it pertains to sustainability, including how much CO2 and gas driving its electric vehicles can save. According to Ford, driving electric vehicles using US grid-average electricity can reduce CO2 emissions by as much as 60% compared to a similar gas-powered car. Here’s a look at how much you can save with each Ford EV model.” [Electrek, 12/21/22 (+)]

 

Mercedes-Benz AG

 

European Consortium Looks Into BEV Coaches. According to Electrive, “From the end of this decade, Daimler Buses wants to offer fully electrically powered coaches with its Mercedes-Benz and Setra brands. To accelerate the development, Daimler Buses has joined forces with research institutes and practitioners from the industry to form the Electrified Coach project called ELCH. The project is funded by the German government, although Daimler Buses has not disclosed the amount in its announcement. The aim is to develop a modular drive train including two demonstration vehicles over the next four years, which will then be tested under real operating conditions. The findings from the construction of the demonstration vehicles will then form the basis for the ‘planning of cost-effective production and assembly processes for electrically powered coaches’, according to Daimler Buses. Even though in many places the communication only refers in general terms to ‘locally emission-free coaches’ or ‘fully electrically powered coaches’ (which would also include the fuel cell in addition to battery-electric drives), the company’s statement nevertheless specifies that a purely battery-electric drive is to be developed as part of the ELCH project. This is somewhat surprising since the Group CEO Martin Daum announced in spring 2022 that fuel cell is the preferred solution: ‘Definitely in long-distance coach transport,’ since for destinations away from the major traffic arteries, ‘hydrogen tanks make more sense as energy storage than batteries’.” [Electrive, 12/22/22 (=)]

 

Nikola Corp.

 

Nikola Delivers Tre BEV Electric Semi-Truck To LAX Airport. According to Inside EVs, “Nikola has delivered a heavy-duty Tre BEV electric semi-truck tractor to Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), making it the first government entity to take delivery of a Tre BEV. The truck is also the first zero-emission Class 8 tractor in the City of Los Angeles municipal fleet, and is said to mark a significant step in the airport’s transition to a fully electric fleet. The Nikola Tre BEV Class 8 electric truck will be used to move paving equipment, transport construction materials and pull other heavy equipment at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) worksites. LAWA did not say if more Nikola Tre BEVs are on order. ‘LAWA’s commitment to transition its fleet to fully electric is a direct reflection of the organization’s bold sustainability goals. Nikola is proud to have our Nikola Tre battery-electric vehicle be the first Class 8 semi-truck to be added to the City of Los Angeles municipal fleet and play a role in their long-term sustainability goals.’ Nikola President and CEO, Michael Lohscheller The Nikola Tre BEV offers a range of up to 330 miles (531 kilometers) on a single charge of its 733 kWh battery pack. The electric semi-truck will use a new 75 kW DC charging station being installed at LAX.” [Inside EVs, 12/22/22 (+)]

 

Nikola And E.On Flesh Out Hydrogen Logistics Partnership. According to Electrive, “After E.On and Nikola announced in September that they wanted to drive forward the decarbonisation of heavy goods transport jointly, the two companies have now become a little more specific. When announcing the partnership a few months ago, Nikola said they wanted to offer customers an integrated mobility solution to promote the use of hydrogen. Nikola and the European energy company E.On had signed a term sheet to underpin the cooperation and went to work on negotiating the conditions. This work has now borne fruit, with Nikola delivering a more detailed timeline and numbers. By 2027, E.On Hydrogen plans to supply ‘green’ hydrogen to power up to 5,000 Nikola Tre FCEV with a range of up to 800 km. As a result, the partners expect to save up to 560,000 metric tons of CO2 annually by 2027, further increasing in the following years. Patrick Lammers, COO of Customer Solutions at E.On, said, ‘As early as 2027, we could potentially replace over 200 million litres of diesel with hydrogen’. He added, ‘Together with Nikola, we will create the first commercially viable market for hydrogen fuel cell technology in Europe.’” [Electrive, 12/22/22 (=)]

 

 

States & Local

 

An SC School District Talks Through Its Transition To Electric Buses – With Proterra. According to The Buzz EV News, “In late October, the EPA announced nearly $1 billion was awarded through the Clean School Bus Rebate Lottery program to support 389 school districts across the country with their school bus electrification projects. The intention of this program is to accelerate electrification by giving schools the financial resources to transition their diesel bus fleets to all-electric. On this episode of The Amped EV Podcast, we catch up with the transportation director, Rick Grisham, at one of those school districts, Richland County School District One in Columbia, South Carolina, the 11th-largest school district in South Carolina, to understand why the district wants to transition to electric, what the process has been like and who the major stakeholders are to make the district’s plans a reality. One of those stakeholders is Proterra, who is working with Richland One from start to finish to guide them through the transition process. We also talk with Mabel Feng, the director of product management at Proterra, to hear about the technology that powers the school buses, charging solutions, infrastructure and management software Richland One is using.” [The Buzz EV News, 12/20/22 (+)]

 

 

 

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