By David Shepardson and Nate Raymond
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A group of 16 states led by California and environmental groups dropped a lawsuit filed in 2022 that sought to block the U.S. Postal Service’s plan to buy mostly gas-powered, next-generation delivery vehicles.
Since the lawsuit was filed, the Postal Service has shifted from its initial plan to buy 90% gasoline vehicles and 10% EVs to now planning to buy mostly EVs. The California attorney general’s office said on Thursday the states and groups decided to dismiss the lawsuit “given USPS’s commitment to rebuild its fleet with a majority of electric vehicles.”
In 2023, Congress gave the Postal Service $3 billion as part of a $430 billion climate bill to buy EVs and charging infrastructure — including $1.2 billion for electric vehicles. It plans to buy some 66,000 electric vehicles by 2028.
The Center for Biological Diversity said it agreed to drop the lawsuit because the USPS “has the funding and is moving forward with an electric vehicle fleet. The new administration would be wise to remember that these new postal trucks are saving money, cutting air pollution and improving the health of our communities.”
The Postal Service declined to comment on the dismissal but reiterated it believes it was fully compliant with environmental rules in acquiring its vehicles.
Last week, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy defended USPS plans to buy a rising number of electric delivery vehicles from Oshkosh to build next-generation delivery vehicles and off-the-shelf EVs from Ford.
Republican Representative William Timmons said the USPS should revert to its prior plan to buy 90% gas-powered vehicles, but not cancel the contract.
Oshkosh is expected to deliver about 45,000 next-generation electric vehicles and 21,000 off-the-shelf EVs, including 9,250 Ford E-Transit EVs but has delivered few vehicles.
DeJoy said the USPS bought 28,000 vehicles this year, 22,000 of them gas-powered. He said purchases in 2025 will be around “50-50” EVs and gas-powered. USPS has said they will be all EVs starting in 2026.
In 2021, President Joe Biden directed that vehicles acquired by the government be emission-free by 2027. Those rules do not apply to the Postal Service, since it is an independent federal agency. A report this week said federal agencies have not met Biden’s EV purchase targets.
(Reporting by David Shepardson and Nate Raymond; Editing by Leslie Adler)
