Biden wants EVs for entire US federal fleet

US president Joe Biden will replace all 645,000 US federal vehicles with US-made EVs.

This includes 245,000 civilian vehicles, 173,000 military vehicles, and 225,000 post office vehicles, Electrek reports, adding there’s no specific details or time frame yet.

The US Post Office vehicles need replacement, with the Gumman LLV used by the Post Office since the late 1980s showing its age.

The short daily routes with much starting and stopping would suit EVs, Electrek says.

Workhorse, which aims to offer electric delivery vans, had been in the bidding for the contract, but the bidding process stalled – and its stock has risen about 10% since Biden’s announcement.

Biden’s transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg is also keen to push EVs, saying he wants to put “millions” of electric cars on US roads, Electrek adds.

After becoming president, Biden put the US back in the Paris Agreement, cancelled the proposed 1931km Keystone XL pipeline permit which would have transported crude oil from Alberta to the Texas Gulf Coast, appointed a climate team of policy experts, and moved to get the US to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Biden wants an “EV era”, his administration likely to restore the full federal tax credit for EV purchases, again giving tax credits to automotive manufacturers like General Motors and Tesla, and pursue consumer rebates to encourage US car buyers to swap internal combustion engine (ICE) for vehicles for zero-emission ones.

He will include new government fleet vehicle purchases in a US$400 billion procurement investment for American-made goods that should encourage US businesses to adopt electric fleet vehicles and includes a proposal to convert all 500,000 US school buses to battery power by the end of the 2020s.