Incoming Trump Administration considering cancelling EV contract, according to reports. December 23, 2024
The status of a United States Postal Service (USPS) plan to expand its fleet of electric vehicles (EVs) is up in the air with the change of leadership in Washington next month, according to a report from Reuters.
Postmaster Louis DeJoy recently defended plans to increase the agency’s fleet of electric vehicles as part of a climate bill that gave USPS $3 billion for EVs and charging infrastructure. The funding is part of a USPS plan to buy 66,000 electric vehicles by 2028.
Those plans are currently in flux, though, as Reuters reported that Donald Trump’s transition team is considering cancelling the contract. Some lawmakers want to contract to remain but to replace the EVs with gas-powered vehicles.
“There’s no reason that we should spend a billion plus more dollars to impose a green new deal mandate on the Post Office,” GOP Rep. Wiilliam Timmons of South Carolina tells the news outlet. Timmons’ district includes the manufacturing plant building the EVs.
While the report says about 45,000 next-generation EVs and 21,000 off-shelf EVS are in the plans, a recent Washington Post report says the program is behind schedule, as only 93 of the 3,000 anticipated EVs have been delivered so far.
The push toward more EV purchases stems from a 2021 executive order from the Biden Administration setting a goal of 50 percent of all new passenger cars and light trucks will be zero-emission by 2030.
Dave Lubach is executive editor of the facility market.
