House panel to grill USPS on plan to buy gas-guzzling trucks

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy placed the order for the first 50,000 NGDVs on March 24; 20 percent of that purchase was for electric vehicles.

The Postal Service’s plan falls well short of White House goals to move the entire federal civilian fleet to electric vehicles by 2035. The mail agency’s 217,000 vehicles make up the largest share of the government’s civilian vehicles.

Transportation is the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, and even rising sales of electrical vehicles — which account for about 5 percent of new vehicle sales — have yet to make a significant dent in the auto market. Electric vehicle proponents had hoped the Postal Service purchase would provide a lift for the industry.

Private-sector fleets have flown past the federal government in electrification in recent years, and the White House and EV boosters contend that a green postal fleet would incentivize manufacturers to build infrastructure for more electric vehicles and the charging stations they need nationwide.

Victoria Stephen, head of the Postal Service’s NGDV program, will testify before the panel, Committee Chair Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) announced Thursday, as will Postal Service Inspector General Tammy Whitcomb.

Whitcomb’s office released a report this month that found that electric vehicles would be well-suited to mail-delivery duties and would save the financially beleaguered agency money in the long term.

“It is critical for our environment and our future that the Postal Service rapidly transition to an electric fleet,” Maloney said in a statement. “The federal government should be leading the way, not falling behind private companies that are already moving ahead to save money and curb climate change by electrifying their fleets.”

Key Democrats on the committee, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) and Gerald E. Connolly (Va.), have pressed federal officials previously on lagging plans to electrify federal vehicles.

Senate liberals Thursday reacted to DeJoy’s initial order for the trucks, urging the postal chief to “significantly increase the percentage of EVs” the mail service purchases. Nineteen Democrats in the upper chamber, led by Sens. Jeff Merkley (Ore.) and Thomas R. Carper (Del.), demanded the agency provide records on its electric-vehicle analyses and detailed accounting information on its transactions with Oshkosh.

“USPS accounts for roughly one-third of the federal fleet and the actions that USPS takes will have a significant impact on whether the United States does its share to combat climate chaos,” the senators wrote. “While investing in a minimum of 20 percent electric postal vehicles is an improvement, the USPS must do more. Not only does USPS’s current plan to invest in predominantly fossil fuel powered vehicles endanger public health and the environment, the decision is also being made at a time when companies like Federal Express (FedEx) and United Parcel Service (UPS) are increasingly moving towards electric vehicles for economic reasons.”