Right up until the time of the announcement, Workhorse, the electric vehicle startup, was thought to be a leading contender. It’s reminiscent of the ending of Raiders of the Lost Ark, when Indiana Jones is assured the Ark will be under the care and control of “top men” whose identities are never revealed. No details were offered about what company would supply all those engines and no specs for them were ever given.
Well, that’s certainly good news, except for the fact that Oshkosh doesn’t make engines. Not only that, Oshkosh went on to say those gas engines would all be state of the art, ultra efficient items with very low exhaust emissions. No one so far has said how much that would cost! But don’t worry, Oshkosh assured us, because at some point in the future, all those engines and transmissions could be ripped out and replaced with battery electric powertrains when the time was right. So we were more than a little surprised when the contract to build a fleet of new vehicles for the USPS was awarded to Oshkosh Defense, whose bid called for a mix consisting of 90% gasoline-powered and 10% battery electric vehicles. Fleet managers are all about the triple net bottom line and fully understand what costs more to purchase may be wind up being the least expensive option when all is said and done. Yes, electric vehicles today cost more than a comparable gas-powered model but when total cost of ownership is taken into account, they cost less to own over their useful life. Also, regenerative braking would significantly reduce wear and tear on brakes.ĮVs are highly appealing to fleet operators, which measure operating costs to the nearest tenth of a cent. EVs are much more efficient under those conditions as there are no internal combustion engines idling for hours while the minions from the post office make their appointed rounds. Postal vehicles do a lot of stop and go driving. To those of us at CleanTechnica, replacing those old vehicles manufactured by Grumman with new battery electric vehicles makes perfect sense. They should have been replaced years ago but politics got in the way, and so they have soldiered on through rain, snow, sleet, and gloom of night because when all is said and done, the mail must go through. They are worn out and cost a fortune to maintain. The existing vehicles are now about 35 years old. The contract to replace the current fleet of USPS delivery vehicles has been in play for years.
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