U.S. Postal Service starts nationwide electric vehicle fleet, buying 9,250 EVs • Hacker News Board

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

#241

Post by euroderf » Thu, Mar 02, 2023, 8:48 AM UTC

glenngillen wrote: post #140

mastax wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you explain how the tricycles work, practically? Auspost delivers parcels, correct? That tricycle looks like it could fit about one days worth of package deliveries for my street. Then it would need to go back to the post office. Unless the post offices are very close together that seems really inefficient. Also, since Australia was not built in the 10th century, you can fit normal sized cars most everywhere, n…

It’s largely filled with letters and maybe small packages (e.g., my coffee subscription). Anything larger than a large book seems to still be delivered by someone driving a van. The trikes roam the streets going door to door, the vans operate more like a courier service.

> Anything larger than a large book seems to still be delivered by someone driving a van.

Or a roving Packagebot(TM) ?

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

#242

Post by euroderf » Thu, Mar 02, 2023, 8:49 AM UTC

pests wrote: post #160

aidenn0 wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. Congress required the USPS to be profitable, and then required it to up-front fund its pensions, and then capped the rate they can charge for first-class mail. This created incentives for them to deliver more parcels. One service they offer is "last-mile" service for private parcel carriers; so e.g. FedEx will get it to your city and USPS will deliver to your house. A significant fraction of packages ordered thr…

In turn USPS uses FedEx for international and (maybe not anymore) for overnight deliveries to certain destinations.

Seems like a sensible division of labor. So what's the catch ?

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

#243

Post by kriro » Thu, Mar 02, 2023, 8:49 AM UTC

notch898a wrote: post #222

tpm wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The current Česká zbrojovka is located in Uhersky Brod, the Brno location is long gone.

Aye. But there are millions of rifles with such insignia on them [0] and they were exported all over the world. If you asked some guy in the corners of afghanistan what Brno was, in the off chance they knew the word, they would probably think it was a brand of rifle. I'd be curious if there is anything more iconic in recent history from brno that covers the ends of the earth than brno firearms. [0] https://images.gun…

It's the birth place of Adam Ondra, arguably the best climber of all time and also his preferred climbing region. He does cover the ends of the earth by smashing the hardest climbs in the world everywhere :D

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

#244

Post by concordDance » Thu, Mar 02, 2023, 8:49 AM UTC

xbmcuser wrote: post #54

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.

Batteries would need an order of magnitude improvement in cost to solve grid storage.

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

#245

Post by sgt » Thu, Mar 02, 2023, 8:49 AM UTC

hbarka wrote: post #230

sgt wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why don't they just let the car idle? I have never seen a postman not doing that.

I know right. It’s one of those mysteries. Maybe they thought it saved gas, like in the old days when great grandpa would deliberately stop the engine at intersections. (Which by the way is common now in some modern cars and startles me.)

I don't like that feature very much since it basically introduces a lag.

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

#246

Post by euroderf » Thu, Mar 02, 2023, 8:50 AM UTC

notch898a wrote: post #172

mojoe wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think what parent is saying is that in the US a disproportionate percentage of USPS budget is spent delivering mail to extremely rural areas (far from both cities and small towns).

I remember being at the post office and thinking it was dumb that the clerk thought Micronesia was part of the US and they could charge domestic rates. Only later that I discovered I was the dumb one. IDK how you can possibly economically send mail to places like foreign barely habited deep pacific islands for the same price as mailing to your neighbor.

Back in the 70s I tried to send a letter to San Marino and the local post office guy did not believe there was a country so named. We (he) had to go to the post office reference manuals.

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

#247

Post by euroderf » Thu, Mar 02, 2023, 8:53 AM UTC

jjeaff wrote: post #149

mulmen wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regen braking plus zero-cost idle. Electric is at a clear advantage for local delivery.

Most gas delivery vehicles don't idle these days. But maybe the starter motor requires more maintenance.

Doesn't every gas motor start spew out some uncombusted fuel ?

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

#248

Post by nine_k » Thu, Mar 02, 2023, 8:53 AM UTC

pancrufty wrote: post #232

I'm looking forward to the day physical mail is outlawed with few exceptions. Junk mail is such a wasteful endeavor only meant to subsidize shipments of value that can't be electronic.

I receive maybe 5 lb of paper mail a year, stuff which could be electronic.

I receive easily 500 lb of physical parcels a year, stuff like dog food, cat litter, coffee, etc.

Also, banning physical paper mail implies that you have to have an official email address for official documents like taxes.

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

#249

Post by vinay427 » Thu, Mar 02, 2023, 8:54 AM UTC

hbarka wrote: post #230

sgt wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why don't they just let the car idle? I have never seen a postman not doing that.

I know right. It’s one of those mysteries. Maybe they thought it saved gas, like in the old days when great grandpa would deliberately stop the engine at intersections. (Which by the way is common now in some modern cars and startles me.)

Automatic start-stop features do save a meaningful amount of fuel. This article [1] cites about 8% in heavy traffic.

[1] https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/car-technology/a229943...

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

#250

Post by sgt » Thu, Mar 02, 2023, 8:54 AM UTC

euroderf wrote: post #237

hbarka wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know right. It’s one of those mysteries. Maybe they thought it saved gas, like in the old days when great grandpa would deliberately stop the engine at intersections. (Which by the way is common now in some modern cars and startles me.)

Oh, is this an automatic "feature" ? That explains what I've been seeing.

And with a lot of cars having turbos, which introduce a noticeable lag (especially as the cars get older - it seems to be inevitable), now you have an additional lag with the auto-stop/start.