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Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird

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Re: Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird

#181

Post by kube-system »

Robotbeat wrote: post #174
kube-system wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, there are probably very few outlets where mail trucks currently park. These things are parked in the middle of parking lots, not in garages. And you need more than one outlet, you need one for every truck that parks there. And I am sure no current USPS office has power service hooked up for several hundred amps of draw that was never anticipated to be used. There's no way to do a project this big without phasing…

These vehicles ARE being phased in slowly. And installing 100-200 Amps of commercial service is cheap, and I actually think would largely be unnecessary as they can be set to charge at night when office demand is super low.

Does the electric code permit overallocation in that case? That's not my area of expertise but I doubt it does.

And yes, installing service is "cheap" but it takes time.

Re: Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird

#182

Post by anoncake »

asquabventured wrote: post #148
patrickyeon wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gendered terms are becoming less popular to describe people in situations where their gender doesn't matter. So we might say "mail person" or "mail carrier", the same as we say "firefighter" instead of "fireman". It's not "cancel culture" as the sibling comment suggests; it's rarely people being outraged about imagined attacks. It's just language evolving as society evolves. As an added bonus, sticking with non-gende…

I'd like to unsubscribe from this alternative reality of the world please.

Why do you have a problem with this "alternative" reality?

Re: Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird

#183

Post by 29083011397778 »

organsnyder wrote: post #92
29083011397778 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would assume they're already in half the parking lots in the North - block heaters would require outlets, so anywhere that gets below -20C would likely be able to have electric vehicles today.

Block heaters are only needed for diesel vehicles or areas with really low temperatures. I live in Michigan and the only block heaters I know of are used for school buses.

I guess I'm wrong. I assumed they'd be more common, given how everyone I know has one in southern Alberta (Canada). I thought America would be similar in areas to the North. Granted, -40 (which it gets to here) does count as really low.

Re: Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird

#184

Post by nradov »

Robotbeat wrote: post #169
ping_pong wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How long will it take to recharge these hundreds of vehicles, and who will be around to take them out of their charging stations and move in a new vehicle? Electric vehicles are great but at scale, the issues around charging them daily are very real. It works for a single homeowner, but if a post office has 100(?) trucks, and it takes 2 hours to charge, someone needs to be there to keep track of them, unless you expe…

You don’t need a “charging station,” you just need an outlet. And you don’t need someone to “charge” them except the person who parked it. It charges at night after use. An exterior outlet costs almost nothing compared to the fully burdened cost of a parking space. Of all the “very real” problems with electric vehicles, you picked two or three things that aren’t.

At most post offices the trucks are parked outside without electrical outlets nearby. Sure those can be built but it will take a while. In many cases the circuit supplying the facility will have to be upgraded.

Re: Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird

#185

Post by robocat »

cialowicz wrote: post #139
specialist wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ya, this new design isn't nearly 'weird" enough. Why have a nose at all? Put driver's seat over the front wheels. Like the VW Vanagon (Eurovans). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Type_2_(T3) These are gonna be EVs, right? Might as well do it right.

Having a nose that crumples is helpful in case of accidents. Turns out that VW Vanagons are deathtraps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmixmEkfLu0

The Wikipedia article gives examples of safety tests where the T3 tested as relatively safe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Type_2_(T3)#Safety_...

Re: Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird

#186

Post by Robotbeat »

kube-system wrote: post #181
Robotbeat wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These vehicles ARE being phased in slowly. And installing 100-200 Amps of commercial service is cheap, and I actually think would largely be unnecessary as they can be set to charge at night when office demand is super low.

Does the electric code permit overallocation in that case? That's not my area of expertise but I doubt it does. And yes, installing service is "cheap" but it takes time.

It takes way less time than building these vehicles will and can be done cheaply with local electricians. It’s strange how common magical thinking about EVs is, like electricity is this newfangled thing that we don’t understand and need massively new, poorly understood infrastructure. We don’t. And that’s a huge advantage.

Re: Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird

#187

Post by aYsY4dDQ2NrcNzA »

Mountain_Skies wrote: post #137
adventured wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the sticks they frequently outsource to authorized personally owned vehicles. Those are common all throughout Appalachia for example. They call them rural carrier associates. Here is the pitch: "As a Postal Service™ Rural Carrier Associate (RCA), you will have a continuous, part-time job with a reliable employer. If you are retired, self-employed, an at-home parent, an educator, night student, or are employed on a…

My last house was serviced by RCAs. One had a Subaru Outback with a system of gears and pullies that let it be driven from the right side without removing the factory left side drive. Another had an actual right hand drive vehicle, probably imported. There's likely a small but strong demand for right hand drive vehicles that happen to end up in the US with RCAs buying most of them. A few simply had two people in the…

Please tell me you have photos of that driving setup.

Re: Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird

#188

Post by IncRnd »

Robotbeat wrote: post #132

It's interesting that "cost" is the reason given for why these vehicles aren't electric, but... how could that be? Batteries for electric carmakers are not that expensive any more, maybe $150/kWh. LLVs are currently horrendously inefficient (fleet average of about 9mpg). They have a ~13 gallon tank for a range of about 120 miles. They drive about 18 miles a day on average (total fleet average, so some are idle and pr…

> They drive about 18 miles a day on average

The LLVs don't drive for an hour a day and sit in the parking lot turned off for 23 hours a day. Many routes might be 6 hours or more. You need vehicles that have AC or heat and the ability to run for an entire day. The differential cost for such a vehicle is not the cost of a battery. I'm not saying the current purchasing process is waste-free, but you need to use realistic numbers.

The longest route is about 185 miles in Phillipsburg, KS. There are averages, medians, and modes, none of which are the right numbers. The average isn't as important as probable mileage.

For example, say a bus carries a maximum of 80 people. When 10 people get on your bus, your costs aren't 12%.

Re: Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird

#189

Post by ratsforhorses »

s0rce wrote: post #136
Robotbeat wrote: post #132

It's interesting that "cost" is the reason given for why these vehicles aren't electric, but... how could that be? Batteries for electric carmakers are not that expensive any more, maybe $150/kWh. LLVs are currently horrendously inefficient (fleet average of about 9mpg). They have a ~13 gallon tank for a range of about 120 miles. They drive about 18 miles a day on average (total fleet average, so some are idle and pr…

Maybe the charging infrastructure isn't available?

Just putting this out there.."Adapting a lamp post into a charging point for electric vehicles can cost as little as £2,000" Seems like a good infrastructure project ...

Re: Why the new USPS mail trucks look so weird

#190

Post by andoriyu »

altcognito wrote: post #55
chrisseaton wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The same reason Amazon runs its own shipping network instead of relying on UPS or Fedex. Amazon use off-the-shelf vehicles though. > one of the requirements was long service life I wonder how they require that. Does the manufacturer have to warranty them all for 30 years? That's extraordinary!

AWS also used "off-the-shelf" CPUs for a long time. That's changing as well. The USPS definitely has the scale and need for customization.

Not really, CPU is still "of-the-shelf". SoC is custom. That's just because you can't buy Neoverse and drop it into the motherboard, so making a custom SoC is the only way to obtain it.

Donut has a good video about LLV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE5FGyq12ds

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