It seems last year's FedEx tests slipped by me - The Nissan NV200 electric Van: I'd seen the Ford mini EV van, but this one I missed. Guess I gotta start wasting more time surfing the web. .
US Postal Service should have done it years ago, they might not be going out of business right now if they had
drive electric. there are several NEV Vans that only go 35 mph and have ranges running from 20- 50 miles that have been around for years. they use lead acid and converting them to LI would go a long way towards reducing the Postal Service's fuel bill.
With a speed 35mph, is there enough postal routes for a NEV to work, and give the USPS a financial? Yes, 35 is plenty for the route itself, but the post truck might have to navigate roads with faster traffic to get there. How much does stop and go reduce EV range? The familiar postal truck is the LLV, a vehicle designed to be on the road for 2 to 3 decades. A add on hydraulic or electric hybrid system for these trucks would probably give a better return on investment for the post office. Not against EVs for the post office, but EVs do have a high upfront cost(which might be even higher a LHD model) which would likely take awhile for their numbers to reach a point of making a big dent in fuel bills.
My city is 25mph-35mph. I suspect that once you onto any significant stretch of 45 mph you're into low-density rural carrier territory. In my city the problem with electric wouldn't be speed, it would be handling the power and heat demands of winter.
Not so. A NEV would have been perfect for wife's old commute. It is only two miles, and posted speed limits for surface streets are 30 to 25mph. There is a four lane highway that goes through town, though. The posted limit in town for it is 45mph. The last quarter mile of her commute is on this road. So a NEV is no go even without people exceeding the limit. Our Post Office is on the outskirts of town. On a road with a 40 to 45mph limit. A Post office I pass everyday is on that same 4 lane road with the surface streets also posted higher than 35. Most of the Philly suburbs have such speed limits. A NEV would be great deliverly mail in a development here, but has to traverse non neighborhood streets with >35mph limits to get to them.
While some areas would need postal vehicles capable of 45 mph or even freeway speed, many areas do not. My post office has nothing over 35 mph streets in its entire range, unless its range crosses the freeway, but it would never need to use the freeway. Many P.O.s could do fine with 35-mph vehicles. OTOH, replacing existing, perfectly serviceable vehicles with brand new ones is an enormous capital expense. Stop-and-go is where EVs really shine. (As well as anywhere a lot of torque is needed.)
the Military has been dabbling in this type of transportation option for years. every year Joint Base Lewis-McChord brings over little transit Vans running on anywhere from 84 to 144 VDC Lead Acid to display at the Lacey Alternative Fuel Fair and EV Rally. they all have about 20-30 miles of range. well you can easily boost that to 60-100 with LI and with speeds that limited, the range should be just fine. its too bad the Government does not have carte blanche to spend money like the Military does. let at the EV Highway Project and its quarter million. lets compare that to the Military's investment in green tech. granted its a good thing since a lot of the technology we enjoy today was born from products developed for military use and it looks like it will be the case for renewable energy as well Why the Military Hates Fossil Fuels - Forbes **edit** a study made in 2005 or so already determined that NEV's could handle 70% of the postal service routes. average length of urban routes for postal service; 20-35 miles
