President Joe Biden has just announced that he will replace the entire US federal fleet with US-made electric vehicles.
The US federal fleet consists of more than 645,000 vehicles, according to the latest Federal Fleet Report. This includes 245 thousand civilian vehicles, 173 thousand military vehicles and 225 thousand postal vehicles.
Biden talked a lot about American-made electric vehicles during the campaign, so an announcement to that effect is not unexpected, but campaign promises don’t always translate into real action.
We don’t have a replacement schedule, just an appointment so far. No details of this plan have been released yet.
Some federal vehicles can avoid replacement in the short term – it would be a significant cost to remove some vehicles earlier, and some specialized vehicles will undoubtedly require further development before they are ready to be electrified. But the mass use of electric vehicles is expected to bring significant cost savings in fuel and maintenance for the government in the long run, especially in vehicles that are heavily used.
US Post Office vehicles, in particular, are ready to be replaced by the Gumman LLV, used by the Post Office since the late 1980s, showing its age. These vehicles make short and consistent daily journeys with many starts and stops, which is an ideal application for electric vehicles. The United States government has been conducting a bidding process for several years to replace the LLV, although it has postponed the decision several times – probably in an attempt to obtain more serious proposals for alternative fuels.
Workhorse, a company that plans to offer electric delivery vans, was bidding for the contract, but the bidding process has stalled. Workhorse stock (WKHS) has risen about 10% since Biden’s announcement today.
Biden’s transport secretary, Pete Buttigieg, also indicated his desire to move electric vehicles forward, saying he wants to put “millions” of electric cars on US roads.
In Biden’s early days as president, he already made several positive environmental moves. He rejoined the Paris Agreement and canceled the license for the Kestone XL gas pipeline on its first day, as promised, and appointed a team of climate policy experts, including John Kerry, who has already begun work on restoring the US environmental reputation. abroad. This EV announcement is another big move, although it is only an announcement so far.
Electrek’s Take
While today’s news doesn’t provide details, the words now carry the weight of a president, not a presidential candidate, behind them. The implementation may still lag behind what we want to see, but at least the right thing is being thought of now.
We would like to see more details about this, including timelines for various departments, what brands / models the government is considering and how immune these actions can be to interference from the unfortunate possibility of a future government that could be externally hostile to the environment like the previous one. In short – the sooner the better. If we could do that in the next four years, it would be great.
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