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U.S. Postal Service starts nationwide electric vehicle fleet, buying 9,250 EVs

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Re: U.S. Postal Service starts nationwide electric vehicle fleet, buying 9,250 EVs

#51

Post by ggm »

viraptor wrote: post #13

For comparison, Australia Post went with mostly 3-wheel electric bikes for local deliveries (3100 out of 4100 EVs in the fleet mid 2022). https://auspost.com.au/our-stories/inspiring-stories/sustain... there's a photo in the link. The low noise compared to the previous powered bikes is really nice.

One I see regularly has a semi official "50 kph speed limited" sticker and underneath another less official one: "you wish"

Compared to the old step through moped they had this new trike is a big improvement. It has shade and it carries far more mail. But it is bigger and I can see it may sometimes be less "agile" on badly maintained pavement and grass. The mopeds used to scoot around like zippy little dogs

Re: U.S. Postal Service starts nationwide electric vehicle fleet, buying 9,250 EVs

#52

Post by rootusrootus »

mattbrewsbytes wrote: post #17

Where are they going to charge them once a post office has a few? I thought I read somewhere that charging infrastructure is fine for a household but a fleet of 10+ EVs will need significantly more juice (technical term) and hardware to mitigate significant safety concerns.

I believe the USPS has worst case requirements of 56 kWh per vehicle per day. That's assuming very low efficiency and very long route. Assuming they have 208V 3-phase 200A service then perhaps they charge at the equivalent of 1 vehicle completely each hour. 10 a night is no problem.

As a practical matter, most routes are not 70 miles, they're more like 25. And the truck probably gets better efficiency than 800 Wh/mi.

Re: U.S. Postal Service starts nationwide electric vehicle fleet, buying 9,250 EVs

#53

Post by maxerickson »

Blackstrat wrote: post #39
viraptor wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you assuming the grid situation won't change over the next years? And that the charging stations will use the same source as the city? Have you actually checked their plan for the charging stations and how will they be operated? When you do large projects like that, the reliability is considered and infrastructure is planned to account for it. Unless you're criticising a specific part of their actual plan, that's…

No. Without capacity and grid improvements, it will fail. At this point, it’s at best a pipe dream. https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-ev-transition-explained-265846...

Palo Alto is considering investing US $150 million toward modernizing its distribution system, but that will take two to three years of planning, as well as another three to four years or more to perform all the necessary work, but only if the utility can get the engineering and management staff, which continues to be in short supply there and at other utilities across the country. Further, like other industries, the energy business has become digitized, meaning the skills needed are different from those previously required.

That's like an 8 year timeline. How is an 8 year timeline a pipe dream?

Like there are lots of issues to address, but not many that seem insurmountable.

Re: U.S. Postal Service starts nationwide electric vehicle fleet, buying 9,250 EVs

#54

Post by xbmcuser »

photochemsyn wrote: post #32

This will save a lot of money over time. Last time I checked in any detail, electricity prices per mile of transport per ton were about 25% that of fossil fuel prices per mile of transport per ton, and that was three years ago. They should really move all long-haul trucking to electric as well, at least for the main trunk lines, and for city-wide delivery. Remote rural routes will likely be the hardest to electrify.

Solar and Wind electric production costs are still dropping by 10-15% a year same for batteries. A lot of people and countries don't realise the electricity revolution that is coming. Cost of production for a lot products will start coming down with cheaper electricity.

Re: U.S. Postal Service starts nationwide electric vehicle fleet, buying 9,250 EVs

#56

Post by IncRnd »

s0sa wrote: post #50
IncRnd wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reading farther in the article: It also remains unclear where the vehicles and charging stations will be placed, as those details have yet to be finalized, the agency said. So, to answer the GP's question, "Where are they going to charge them once a post office has a few?" Nobody knows.

Perhaps, like with most complex problems, there isn’t a “one size fits all” solution. I’m all for skepticism but this criticism is just lazy.

It's incredibly lazy to say my criticism was "just lazy" since I didn't post criticism but answered a question about the contents of the article.

Re: U.S. Postal Service starts nationwide electric vehicle fleet, buying 9,250 EVs

#57

Post by xbmcuser »

mattbrewsbytes wrote: post #17

Where are they going to charge them once a post office has a few? I thought I read somewhere that charging infrastructure is fine for a household but a fleet of 10+ EVs will need significantly more juice (technical term) and hardware to mitigate significant safety concerns.

Mail fleet work 8am-6pm they have 14 hours to charge they don't need to charge all at once in 1-2 hours

Re: U.S. Postal Service starts nationwide electric vehicle fleet, buying 9,250 EVs

#58

Post by kube-system »

IncRnd wrote: post #21
ceejayoz wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First paragraph of the article: > The service awarded contracts on Tuesday for 9,250 battery electric vehicles and for more than 14,000 charging stations .

Reading farther in the article: It also remains unclear where the vehicles and charging stations will be placed, as those details have yet to be finalized, the agency said. So, to answer the GP's question, "Where are they going to charge them once a post office has a few?" Nobody knows.

Many post offices have parking lots where the vehicles park overnight currently. Mail carriers don't take these vehicles home, they typically park on USPS property overnight. I suspect this is the top candidate location for many of these chargers.

https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/usps-mail-delivery-trucks-lo...

Re: U.S. Postal Service starts nationwide electric vehicle fleet, buying 9,250 EVs

#59

Post by danans »

I wonder what the functionality of that big nose is. I doubt it's all for a crumple zone. That and the flat front windscreen certainly aren't a problem for aerodynamics at the low speeds at which these typically operate.

Looks like something out of a kids movie though, which is kinda neat actually.

Re: U.S. Postal Service starts nationwide electric vehicle fleet, buying 9,250 EVs

#60

Post by viraptor »

mattbrewsbytes wrote: post #17

Where are they going to charge them once a post office has a few? I thought I read somewhere that charging infrastructure is fine for a household but a fleet of 10+ EVs will need significantly more juice (technical term) and hardware to mitigate significant safety concerns.

I think there's a few assumptions here that apply to households, but not purpose built business vehicles.

1. They may not be typical chargers. Connecting multiple vehicles to the same source which can distribute the power based on time and need may be possible in this case.

2. If these are purpose built, we don't know if charging the vehicles even applies. Totally made up idea: batteries easy to replace get shipped off for charging off-site and cycled daily. (+ single on-site charger for emergencies)

3. You're not charging 10 EVs immediately - you have 10 EVs which need power at the beginning of the next business day.

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