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POTUS Joe Biden Signs $3 Billion Law for an Electric United Stated Postal Service

The Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, aims to revitalize the United States Postal Service with a $3 billion infusion during the next eight years. The IRA became law on the 11th of August 2022 when U.S. President Joe Biden signed it.
USPS 13 photos
Photo: USPS
Grumman LLVGrumman LLVGrumman LLVGrumman LLVGrumman LLVGrumman LLVThe Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV) will be delivering mail across the U.S. starting 2023The Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV) will be delivering mail across the U.S. starting 2023The Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV) will be delivering mail across the U.S. starting 2023The Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV) will be delivering mail across the U.S. starting 2023The Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV) will be delivering mail across the U.S. starting 2023The Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV) will be delivering mail across the U.S. starting 2023
One of many purposes the IRA has is to create millions of jobs in America in the clean energy sector by investing a total of $369 billion in Energy Security and Climate Change.

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the Inflation Reduction Act also proposes to expand Medicare benefits, lower healthcare costs and energy bills, invest in disadvantaged communities, and close the tax loopholes used by the mythical “one percent.” But now let’s get back to our neck of the woods.

Three billion might sound a lot as a stand-alone pile of cash just laying around in a warehouse like in Breaking Bad, but let’s not forget that earlier this year, the President of the United States signed the Postal Service Reform Act. It aimed to infuse a dose of no less than $107 billion to “continue to serve all Americans for generations to come”, Biden stated back in April.

The Next Generation Delivery Vehicle \(NGDV\) will be delivering mail across the U\.S\. starting 2023
Photo: USPS
But those expenses were for completely different reasons than the ones we’re talking about today. The current investment for the U.S. Postal Service to go green is divided into two parts.

The first one represents the sum of $1,29 billion to acquire the zero-emission fleet of delivery trucks. According to the act, this sum will remain available through September 30, 2031.

The second adds up to $1,71 billion and will be spent on charging stations and whatever else might be needed for the infrastructure to make the vehicles run as smooth as butter. This ammount will also be available through September 30, 2031.

The whopping $107 billion I mentioned earlier isn’t just a random number grabbed out of thin air. The United Stated Postal Service needed that money. Because to say their fleet of 140,000 Grumman LLV Mail Trucks (the largest in the world) is aging fast, would be an understatement.

Grumman LLV
Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Fair Use)
The “newest” LLVs that greeted the iron cast gates of the Postal Service was delivered way back in 1994. Some, or better put, many of them are way older than I am, with the first one beginning service back in 1986.

The Long Life Vehicle was designed to function between 20 and 24 years. And it doesn’t take a beautiful mind Nobel Prize winner to figure out that since the mid-’80s, the life expectancy came, went, and circled the Equator a couple of more times over.

That’s why the USPS desperately needs a reboot in their vehicular department. And the more you think about it, the clearer it becomes that the infrastructure overhaul from a 40 year old one to a partially electric one, is more of a revolution than a refresh.

Grumman LLV
Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Fair Use)
I say that because electric vehicles are the optimal choice for package or mail delivery. They’re silent and environmentally friendly which won’t disrupt the peacefulness of the American Dream suburban areas.

However, and I'm not joking, the people and especially the children living there might need some form of instruction to pay more attention from now on when crossing the street. You might hear your current friendly neighborhood Grumman LLV truck coming from a mile away, but with the silent ones extra caution is advised.

Furthermore, they have regenerative braking which helps out in a bumper-to-bumper sort of situation, and they don’t break down when you idle the car at a red light.

Now whether you’re a fan or not of the Ugly Duckling design, that’s beside the point. What really matters is that this entire revolution is a win-win for everyone involved, especially the drivers themselves.

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About the author: Codrin Spiridon
Codrin Spiridon profile photo

Codrin just loves American classics, from the 1940s and ‘50s, all the way to the muscle cars of the '60s and '70s. In his perfect world, we'll still see Hudsons and Road Runners roaming the streets for years to come (even in EV form, if that's what it takes to keep the aesthetic alive).
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