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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

#282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't really understand why they went with a one-size-has-to-fit-all solution here when there's such a high variety of climates and terrains in the US. Or is the idea to start with these where appropriate and develop other vehicles for more extreme climates?

> I don't really understand why they went with a one-size-has-to-fit-all solution here when there's such a high variety of climates and terrains in the US. Makes logistics cheaper if you only have one model to take care of, and since these are bespoke vehicles you'll also save on costs because the factory only has to build one variation.

Dutch postal service PostNL has a wide variety of vehicles ranging from trucks to bicycles. And as far as I know, bicycles have always been a big part of the last few miles of mail delivery here.

https://www.postnl.nl/over-postnl/pers-nieuws/beeldmateriaal...

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

#283
post #277
post #261

In Berlin, Deutsche Post use electric trikes and mail here is very efficient.

I think in the states the cost in lives might be significant if we did that. If you look at USPS annual reports to congress they have ~27k motor vehicle accidents a year with a fleet of ~236k vehicles (~216k delivery).[1] So possibly 10%+ of their vehicles are involved in accidents each year. If we look at occupant fatality rates for vans (what usps currently use) they're one of the safest vehicle types.[2] Meanwhile…

It sounds like there could be selection bias in those numbers, so I’m not sure that can be extrapolated. I’d expect that the percentage of vans driven by professional drivers is relatively high, compared to motorcycles.

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

#284

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.

That looks like it can carry less than a simple cargo bike: https://www.postnl.nl/Images/stadslogistiek-banner_tcm10-223...

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

#286
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…

Had no idea about Brno firearms but have seen Starobrno beers in quite a lot of countries I've been to, in and out of Europe.

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

#287

I wonder what will happen to the 9250 non-EVs they will replace. Will they end up in the landifll?

Recycle them, probably. Or whatever they normally do with their vehicles when they're taken out of use for other reasons. It's not like those things live forever.

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

#288
post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 ?

Maybe? I think direct injection motors are actually pretty good at reducing that. Catalytic converters help too. But yeah, there’s more waste than an electric motor.

The reassuring thing to me is that in just over 100 years we made the ICE so efficient. It’s a fundamentally wasteful design and we have taken it very, very far. With another 100 years of battery and electric motor development we will have equally impressive capabilities with the added trick of energy source agnosticism.

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

#289
post #284

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.

That looks like it can carry less than a simple cargo bike: https://www.postnl.nl/Images/stadslogistiek-banner_tcm10-223...

Netherlands and Australia have different requirements for postal delivery bikes.

You should really look at the differences in delivery areas, parcel sizes, the location of the post box on a property. They are all different for different countries.

But you're absolutely correct. It looks like it can carry less than a simple cargo bike. :+1:

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

#290
post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

250 MW of constantly available power from a reactor may be more valuable than 600 MW during sunshine that goes to 0 MW during night time. Solar will become vastly more valuable once enough electrical storage capacity goes online.

And after electrical storage capacity is solved, let's work on heat storage capacity. Do I really have to spend ten grand digging up my yard ?

Like, well, home insulation and heat-exchanging ventilation?
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