U.S. Postal Service to boost electric delivery vehicle purchases

FILE PHOTO: A person enters a United States Postal Service (USPS) Post Office in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., May 9, 2022. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

(Reuters) - The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) said Wednesday it plans to buy at least 25,000 electric delivery vehicles - more than twice its prior estimate - as it works to replace an aging fleet.

USPS told Reuters it is proposing to purchase at least 25,000 EVs out of its initial order of 50,000 next-generation delivery vehicles from Oshkosh Defense. That's up from USPS' prior plan to buy at least 10,019 EVs, or about 20% of the first order. USPS also plans to buy more than 34,500 commercial off-the-shelf delivery vehicles over two years.