The costs are roughly equivalent to those of the next moon mission: The US Postal Service (USPS) plans to invest approximately $9.3 billion to electrify at least 45,000 of its 66,000 new delivery vehicles scheduled to enter service by 2028. This was announced by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in Washington.

At least $3 billion, already approved by Congress, will be allocated by the government to modernize the Postal Service's fleet of vehicles, which currently numbers 220,000. The electric delivery vehicles are so-called Next Generation Delivery Vehicles (NGDVs), prototypes of which have already been unveiled. DeJoy stated: "The $3 billion provided by Congress has significantly reduced the risk associated with accelerating the implementation of the nationwide infrastructure we need to electrify our delivery fleet. While the majority of the funding for electric vehicles will continue to come from Postal Service revenue, we are grateful for the confidence Congress and the administration have placed in us to make what is expected to be the largest electric vehicle fleet in the nation a reality."

Image: USPS

"What may be less well known is the fact that our modernization initiative is urgently needed to enable this electrification, which will also lead to significant cost and CO2 reductions. A key focus of our modernization efforts is to reduce inefficient transport and improve distribution processes, resulting in far less air freight and far fewer truck journeys."

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