The U.S. Postal Service has the largest civilian fleet of vehicles in the country. It is ripe for conversion to electric power
The Postal Service is already testing an electric scooter.
That’s because the daily requirements of postal vehicles match well with the current capabilities of lithium ion batteries. The average vehicle drives 20 or so miles a day and stops between 500 and 700 times. That means its daily duties fall well within the range of an inexpensive, low power battery.
It also means each a vehicle is able to send significant power back to the battery through the use of a “regenerative” system that generates electricity from braking.
The cars and trucks in addition are free to recharge at night when power demand is low and utilities have the power to spare.
Several bills are before Congress with demands the service buy tens of thousands of electric vehicles over the next five years. Testing has already begun. Four companies have been selected to deliver vehicles to the service for one-year trials in Washington, D.C. Broad deployment is to follow.
Among those supplying vehicles is Quantum Fuel Systems.
Electric vehicles are not new to the Postal Service. Already it has been testing an electric scooter in several cities in Florida, California and Arizona. The scooter has a 40-mile range and costs 4 cents a mile to operate.
The USPS also has vehicles that run on hydrogen fuel cells, propane, ethanol and biodiesel. None are likely to proper quite the electrics.
