The US Postal Service is finally getting EVs

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The US Postal Service is yet going electric. The USPS announced Tuesday that it plans to get astatine slightest 66,000 electrical transportation vehicles betwixt present and 2028, and each purchases aft 2026 volition beryllium EVs. In total, the bureau volition put astir $10 cardinal to electrify its fleet.  

It’s been a agelong roadworthy to get here, folks. Constant criticism, a strongly-worded missive from the Environmental Protection Agency, a statesmanlike plea, and a suit from 16 states is each it took for the bureau to perpetrate to discontinue purchasing caller gas-powered transportation vehicles. 

Let’s instrumentality a look wrong the USPS’s program to power to EVs and reappraisal what it took to get here. And arsenic an end-of-year treat, I’ve besides rounded up immoderate of my favourite Tech Review clime sum from the year. Let’s get into it. 

The evident choice

As of 2020, proscription was the azygous biggest operator of clime alteration successful the US, accounting for 27% of greenhouse state emissions. And the US national authorities operates the largest fleet successful the world astatine 650,000 vehicles, with the USPS making up astir one-third of that. 

Joe Biden has made the national fleet 1 of the targets of his plans for EVs, mounting a extremity for each caller national vehicles purchased aft 2035 to beryllium electric, with light-duty vehicles hitting that people by 2027. 

But the USPS has been marching to a antithetic drummer. Even arsenic the Biden medication touted plans to electrify and chopped emissions, the USPS seemed to excavation successful its heels connected plans to acquisition much fossil fuel-powered vehicles. Last year, erstwhile the bureau archetypal announced a declaration to regenerate trucks, lone 10% were going to beryllium EVs. 

Mail trucks needed an upgrade, and badly. Many connected the roadworthy contiguous are astir 30 years old. Replacing them with electrical ones is an evident move.

In summation to cutting beingness emissions by fractional oregon more, EVs are successful galore cases cheaper implicit their beingness than gas-powered vehicles today. They’re easier to maintain, too. And portion immoderate applications, similar long-distance trucking, tin airs difficulties for battery-powered vehicles, message transportation is the perfect setup for EVs, with trucks returning to a cardinal determination wherever they tin beryllium charged overnight. 

Finally, the bureau saw the light. But it took a while. Let’s instrumentality a look backmost astatine this saga, starting from the beginning. 

• January 2021: US President Joe Biden signs an enforcement order calling for plans to electrify the national conveyance fleet.
• February 2021: USPS awards a contract to Oshkosh Defense to marque “Next Generation Delivery Vehicles.” USPS caput Louis DeJoy reveals successful Congressional grounds that just 10% of the vehicles would beryllium EVs, citing precocious costs. 
• March 2021: Criticism of the USPS and its program starts. In pursuing months, lawmakers sermon getting additional funding to the bureau to assistance it electrify. 
• October 2021: Biden proposes a $1.75 trillion spending bundle that includes $6 cardinal successful backing to assistance the USPS acquisition EVs. Talks stall connected the funding.
• February 2022: Following another enforcement order connected electrifying the national fleet, EPA and the White House Council connected Environmental Quality both nonstop letters to the USPS, urging it to reconsider plans and incorporated much EVs into its aboriginal fleet. 
• March 2022: The USPS places its archetypal order for caller transportation vehicles. Of the 50,000 vehicles, the bureau says much than 20% volition beryllium electric, beating the earlier people of 10%.
• April 2022: California Attorney General Rob Bonta files a suit against the USPS, arguing that the Postal Service vehicles pollute the aerial successful communities wherever they operate. In total, 15 different states, and a fewer large cities, backmost the suit. 
• July 2022: The USPS again revises its plans. Of the 50,000 vehicles from Oshkosh Defense, astatine slightest 50% volition beryllium electric. Including plans to acquisition different caller vehicles, the bureau “anticipates” that astatine slightest 40% of the full caller vehicles volition beryllium electric. 
• August 2022: The Inflation Reduction Act passes and is signed into law, setting speech $3 billion for the USPS to acquisition zero-emissions vehicles and physique charging infrastructure. 
• December 2022: The USPS releases a statement saying that of the 60,000 vehicles successful the contract, astatine slightest 45,000 volition beryllium electric, including each deliveries aft 2026. EVs triumph.

In the involvement of you finishing this newsletter earlier the caller year, that’s not a broad timeline, but it gives you an thought of however agelong a travel this has been. What a saga! 

A caveat: this committedness is lone for caller conveyance purchases. Gas guzzlers purchased successful the adjacent fewer years could enactment connected the roadworthy for years to come, truthful don’t expect a afloat zero-emissions fleet anytime soon.

Regardless, arsenic the twelvemonth winds to a close, I deliberation we tin number the USPS going electrical arsenic a triumph for clime enactment and message transportation alike. 

A look backmost astatine 2022

This has been rather the year, some for Tech Review’s clime sum and for the clime satellite successful general. So let’s instrumentality a speedy look backmost astatine immoderate highlights from the year. 

Innovation is live and well. We enactment unneurotic a database of 10 Breakthrough Technologies each year, and it’s ever 1 of my favourite things to enactment on. Released successful February, our 2022 TR10 database included 3 (!) clime items. 

• Iron batteries connected the grid - Low-cost vigor retention volition assistance equilibrium retired the grid erstwhile intermittent supplies similar star and upwind aren’t running. 
• Practical fusion reactors - Startups are making advancement connected a new procreation of small, (relatively) inexpensive fusion reactors. (They’re beauteous antithetic from the reactor astatine the halfway of recent fusion news.)
• Carbon removal factory - Direct aerial seizure tin assistance america cleanable up immoderate c dioxide emissions that we’ve already emitted. 

Our 2023 database is coming retired precise soon…any guesses connected what we included?

2022 was a large twelvemonth for clime startups and task capital. But the prospects for immoderate technologies mightiness not beryllium truthful rosy.

• Cheap synthetic fuels dependable excessively bully to beryllium true. They mightiness be. 

• Ditto with using kelp to combat clime change. 
• Electric planes could besides person occupation taking off. 

On the affirmative broadside of things, the Inflation Reduction Act passed, setting speech an unprecedented $370 cardinal successful clime and vigor spending. 

Soup throwers, scope anxiety, and of course, IRA. Check retired these and Grist’s different picks for clime words of the year. (Grist)

Talks are failing successful negotiations to reopen a cardinal aluminum plant successful Washington. The cause? There’s not capable inexpensive renewable vigor to spell around. (Washington Post)

An NPR probe tied utilities successful Alabama and Florida to quality sites giving them favorable coverage. The sites’ criticisms included cleanable vigor policies. (NPR)

California passed caller rules limiting what customers tin get paid for energy generated by their rooftop star panels. Solar advocates reason the drastic changes volition dilatory maturation successful the star industry. (Canary Media)

→ The authorities is already seeing a tricky contented erstwhile it comes to solar: the much you build, the little adjuvant further capableness tends to beryllium for the grid. (MIT Technology Review)

A caller installation successful Sweden volition usage electricity, hydrogen, and captured c dioxide to marque methanol, an alternate shipping fuel. (Bloomberg)