U.S. Postal Service unveils first EV charging stations, BE delivery vehicles

On Jan. 22, 2024, the U.S. Postal Service unveiled its first set of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at its South Atlanta Sorting and Delivery Center (S&DC) as well as new battery-powered delivery vehicles that will make up a portion of its EV fleet. Similar such charging stations will be installed at hundreds of new S&DCs across the country throughout the year and will power the nation’s largest EV fleet, the Postal Service said. Deployment of electric delivery trucks will start in Georgia and then expand to other locations across the country throughout the year, the organization added.

The new battery electric delivery vehicles are commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) vehicles manufactured in the U.S. by Ford Motor Company. The Postal Service said these vehicles will make up a portion of its EV fleet. The charging stations unveiled at the Atlanta S&DC were manufactured by Siemens and will be able to charge delivery vehicles overnight prior to the next day’s deliveries. Its first 14,000 EV chargers will be manufactured by Siemens, Rexel/ChargePoint and Blink, the Postal Service said.

“The Postal Service has an over 30-year-old fleet of vehicles that long ago should have been replaced,” said Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. “Over the next five years, we will require at least 106,000 vehicles to provide our delivery carriers with modern capabilities and safety features.”

According to the Postal Service, it plans on procuring a total of 21,000 COTS EVs — including 9,250 from Ford — depending on market availability and operational feasibility. In addition, the organization anticipates adding at least 45,000 battery-electric Next Generation Delivery Vehicles (NGDVs) by 2028, bringing the total number of EVs in the delivery fleet to more than 66,000. This represents one of the largest commitments to vehicle electrification in the nation, the Postal Service said, adding it will continue to explore the feasibility of achieving 100-percent electrification for its delivery vehicle fleet.

New U.S. Postal Service EV fleet at South Atlanta Sorting and Delivery Center. (Photo: U.S. Postal Service)

“Across the nation, we have several hundred sorting and delivery centers in various stages of implementation, design and construction,” DeJoy said, “which will eventually house the infrastructure to support the deployment of 66,000 electric vehicles and their charging stations. By the end of the calendar year, we expect to have 130 sites like these constructed with approximately 12,000 charging stations installed — vehicles coming sequentially with them.”

Electrification and modernization of the Postal Service’s delivery fleet is part of the organization’s 10-year, $40 billion Delivering for America plan, which is intended to upgrade and improve the service’s processing, transportation and delivery networks. The procurement of EVs and charging stations is enabled by the Postal Service’s overall network modernization efforts — which allow more rapid EV deployment — as well as its improving financial condition, which includes $3 billion in congressional funding appropriated under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

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