In The News

Under the tenents of House legislation introduced Dec. 17, the United States Postal Service will acquire and begin testing the use of all-electric mail delivery trucks. If approved, the bill would help the Postal Service green its large mail delivery fleet and jumpstart the nation's electric vehicle industry, said Rep. José Serrano, D-N.Y., who introduced the legislation along with five cosponsors, including Reps. Russ Carnahan, D-Mo., Charles Gonzalez, D-Texas, Steve Israel, D-N.Y., Dan Maffei, D-N.Y., and Lee Terry, R-Neb.

http://www.etrucker.com/apps/news/article.asp?id=84033
etrucker.com
December 30, 2009

Today as my postal carrier's rumbling old van heaved to a stop and planted itself in front of my mailbox while delivering Christmas card cheer, I could not help but imagine how much more pleasant it might be for me, the mailman and the air if that same van were electric.

http://blogs.pluginamerica.org/outreach/2009/12/going-postal.html
Plug In America blog
Linda Nicholes, December 23, 2009

WASHINGTON-Legislation that would allocate a portion of the United States Postal Services 146,000 delivery vehicles was introduced by a New York-based Congressman last week. The bill-H.R. 4399, The American Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Act or "e-Drive" is led by Representative Jose E. Serrano. According to Serrano's office, the main objective of the bill is to begin a process of testing and deploying 20,000 electric-drive delivery vehicles for the USPS. The office said that not only would this effort provide the USPS with significant environmental benefits and fuel savings, it would position the USPS fleet as a "key energy storage asset for the nation's power grid" through vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology.

http://www.logisticsmgmt.com/article/441469...
Logistics Management
Jeff Berman, December 22, 2009

In light of the introduction last week of Congressman José E. Serrano's new legislation - H.R. 4399, The American Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Act or "e-Drive" - MST and Parcel wanted to ask an early proponent of this concept, PRC Chairman Ruth Goldway, her impressions of this legislation and the whole concept of "greening" the USPS fleet.

http://www.mailingsystemstechnology.com/ME2/dirmod...
Mailing Systems Technology
December 22, 2009

The U.S. Postal Service would become the guinea pig for testing 20,000 electric vehicles under House legislation introduced Dec. 17. If approved, the bill would help the Postal Service green its large mail delivery fleet and jumpstart the nation's electric vehicle industry, said Rep. José Serrano, D-N.Y., who introduced the legislation along with five cosponsors. The bill would provide up to $2 billion for an Energy Department program in which vehicle manufacturers would compete for grants to build electric vehicles for testing by the Postal Service.

http://electric-vehicles-cars-bikes.blogspot.com/2009/12/bill-looks-to-invest-2-billion-in.html
Electric Vehicle News
December 19, 2009
http://www.federaltimes.com/article/20091218/DEPARTMENTS02/912180303/1018/DEPARTMENTS
FederalTimes.com
Tim Kauffman, December 18, 2009

Rep. Jose E. Serrano (D-N.Y.) introduced a bill Wednesday intended to get the United States Postal Service to switch its huge fleet of light vehicles to electric, partly to help clean up the air and also to help recharge the nation’s electric grid, the Washington Post reported. Serrano’s bill would eventually give $2 billion to the Energy Department and Postal Service to convert current mail trucks or manufacture new ones that use vehicle-to-grid technology or V2G, as it's known, the newspaper said.

http://www.ttnews.com/articles/lmtbase.aspx?storyid=654
Transport Topics Online
December 17, 2009

A bill introduced in Congress yesterday by U.S. Rep. Jose E. Serrano (D-New York) would provide funding to the Department of Energy and U.S. Postal Service to convert existing mail trucks and manufacture new ones to use vehicle-to-grid, or V2G, technology, which was developed at the University of Delaware.

http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2010/dec/v2g121709.html
UDaily, University of Delaware
December 17, 2009

You could call this “e” mail.

Bronx Rep. Jose Serrano is floating a $2 billion measure that would be a jobs bill, energy bill, climate bill and postal service reformer all in one: outfitting letter carriers with 20,000 electric vehicles. Serrano’s idea is to not only cut emissions, reduce oil dependence, and give business to manufacturers, but also to shore up the electric grid. That would be accomplished, Serrano’s press release says, by using new technology that lets parked vehicles “serve as power storage devices for the grid, helping ease peak loads and store energy from intermittent or fluctuating sources, like wind power systems.” Serrano calls it the e-Drive bill.

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dc/2009/12/jose-serrano-drives-for-e-mail.html
NY Daily News
Michael McAuliff, December 17, 2009

From horse-drawn wagons to stage coaches, trains and 18-wheelers, the U.S. Postal Service has used virtually every mode of transportation to deliver the mail. But a New York lawmaker says it's time for the mail service to start using at least 20,000 electric vehicles to stamp out the agency's environmental waste.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/16/AR2009121604163.html
Washington Post
Ed O'Keefe, December 17, 2009

WASHINGTON- Congressman Lee Terry, who sits on the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee, joined Congressman Jose Serrano (D-NY) in introducing legislation that would deploy 20,000 electric vehicles for the U.S. Postal Service. The bill, the American Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Act or “e-Drive”, H.R. 4399 was introduced yesterday and cosponsored by Congressmen Russ Carnahan (D-MO), Dan Maffei (D-NY), Steve Israel (D-NY) and Charles Gonzalez (D-TX).

http://leeterry.house.gov/Article_Details.aspx?NewsID=2359
Congressman Lee Terry (R-NE), December 17, 2009

Congressman José E. Serrano announced he had introduced H.R. 4399, The American Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Act or “e-Drive” bill late yesterday. The bill’s original co-sponsors include Representatives Lee Terry (R-NE), Russ Carnahan (D-MO), Dan Maffei (D-NY), Steve Israel (D-NY), and Charles Gonzalez (D-TX).

http://serrano.house.gov/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=678
Press Release
Congressman Jose Serrano (D-NY), December 17, 2009

Speaking at Florida Power and Light’s (FPL) DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center, President Barack Obama today announced the largest single energy grid modernization investment in U.S. history, funding a broad range of technologies that will spur the nation’s transition to a smarter, stronger, more efficient and reliable electric system. The end result will promote energy-saving choices for consumers, increase efficiency, and foster the growth of renewable energy sources like wind and solar.

http://www.energy.gov/news2009/8216.htm
Department of Energy press release
October 27, 2009

Further accelerating the manufacturing and deployment of electric vehicles, batteries, and components here in America, and creating tens of thousands of new jobs, President Obama today announced 48 new advanced battery and electric drive projects that will receive $2.4 billion in funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. These projects, selected through a highly competitive process by the Department of Energy, will accelerate the development of U.S. manufacturing capacity for batteries and electric drive components as well as the deployment of electric drive vehicles, helping to establish American leadership in creating the next generation of advanced vehicles.

http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/progress_alerts.cfm/pa_id=219
EERE (Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy) News
August 5, 2009

US Postal Service looks to "electrify" its fleet. That familiar stop-and-go growl of a US Postal Service van schleping down the street, gulping a gallon every nine miles as it delivers the nation’s mail, may soon be a sound of the past. With gas costs biting and an aging American mail fleet nearing the end of its road, the idea of transforming the nation’s largest public parade of gas guzzlers into an environmentally friendly 21st-century fleet is winning buzz and backers in Congress and the Obama administration.

http://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/print/content/view/print/212556
The Christian Science Monitor
Mark Clayton, June 2, 2009

PRESIDENT OBAMA’S energy plan calls for putting one million electric plug-in hybrid cars on the road by 2015. This ambitious goal could be accomplished more quickly if we invested in converting the largest civilian fleet in the United States — the 219,000 vehicles owned by the United States Postal Service — to electricity.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/opinion/10goldway.html?...
New York Times
Ruth Goldway, Op-Ed Contributor; February 9, 2009