Post office buys 9,250 electric vans, 14,000 charge stations
File - Ford E-Transit electric vans are displayed at a Gus Machado Ford dealership Monday, Jan. 23, 2023, in Hialeah, Fla. The U.S. Postal Service is buying 9,250 of the E-Transit vans. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Postal Service is buying 9,250 Ford Motor Co. electric vans and 14,000 charging stations as part of a move to switch its fleet to electric vehicles.
The service also is buying another 9,250 internal combustion vans from Fiat Chrysler in North America, now part of Amsterdam-based Stellantis. The Fiat Chrysler and Ford vehicles together will cost just over $1 billion.
The gas-powered vehicles fill an urgent need, the Postal Service said in a statement Tuesday.
Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford will start delivering the left-hand-drive E-Transit vans in December of this year, while Fiat Chrysler will start shipping the left-hand-drive gas-powered vehicles in November.
Contracts totaling $260 million for the charging stations went to Blink Charging Co., Siemens Industry Inc., and Rexel USA Energy Solutions, the Postal Service said.
Charging stations will be installed at several Postal Service facilities including sorting and delivery centers, starting in the third quarter of this year.
In December the Postal Service said it would sharply increase the number of electric-powered delivery trucks — and will go all-electric for new purchases starting in 2026.
The post office said it is spending nearly $10 billion to electrify its aging fleet, including installing a modern charging infrastructure at hundreds of postal facilities nationwide and purchasing at least 66,000 electric delivery trucks in the next five years. The spending includes $3 billion in funding approved under a landmark climate and health policy adopted by Congress last year.
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This story has been updated to correct the delivery dates for the vehicles. The E-Transit vans will start being delivered in December, not November, and the gas-powered vehicles will start being delivered in November, not December. It also fixes the spelling of one of the charging-station companies. Its Rexel, not Rexall, USA Energy Solutions.
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