This year the prospect of electric vehicles continues to get substantial attention from consumers, business enterprises, and lawmakers. However, to translate this interest in tangible action there has been a notable push in Washington to exercise nearly all levers of government to accelerate a supposedly worthwhile transition to EVs.
All rational economics aside, President Biden issued an executive order in 2021 aimed at making half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 electric. Since then, the role of government has appeared in several influential areas, notably within a plan to allocate $5 billion to states to fund electric vehicle chargers over the next five years.
Following the Administration’s pressure, House Democrats also recently renewed an effort for the U.S. Postal Service to receive $6 billion in the Build Back Better Act to invest in more electric vehicles and the requisite infrastructure to support them. There are also indications that the EPA could be planning a rarely used bureaucratic maneuver via the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to redirect the USPS’ expenditures toward a forced purchase of EVs.
While the Administration and lawmakers try to sell the nation on the “benefits”, it is apparent that the transition to EVs only works when government is spending billions and uses legal recourses to sidestep the democratic process.
Sadly, the obligations to jump on the EV bandwagon leaves the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) in a massive financial and operational predicament. The USPS, a traditionally venerable federal agency for its core mail delivery nationwide, has regrettably suffered in recent decades as result of an archaic business model and leaders treating the agency as a proving ground for experimental services, and expansions of mission favored by interest groups – like competitive package transport. As the USPS has forced its way into services, the institution has recently amassed $188 billion in unfunded liabilities. With EVs, the USPS would lose the financial benefits of their current fleet design, and worse, EVs would introduce substantial new risks and liabilities to the USPS.
In terms of USPS purchasing power, it is noteworthy that electric vehicles, on average, cost $13,000 more than typical combustion vehicles, prompting important questions about how many years or decades it may take USPS to see a return on investment.
As a former administrator for the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), I am fully aware of the importance of acting upon accurate and trustworthy data. With this in mind, it is hard to deny the facts about the power production implications, and the greenhouse gas emissions associated with increased electric vehicle reliance. In fact, a nationwide analysis finds that the uptick of electric cars alone will put significant pressure on power production. A heavily used federal fleet could present even more chaos to the grid that powers our homes, offices, and communities.
Furthermore, it is a certifiable myth to designate EVs as “non-emission” vehicles. The latest U.S. EIA data shows that 19 percent of electricity originates from coal-fired power stations, ultimately leading to high emissions intensity, and thus negating much of the environmental value that many advocates claim.
The logic in favor of USPS electric vehicles is dubious at best, and the economics are even harder to justify. The newest law governing the Postal Service, signed by President Biden in April, allotted approximately $50 billion in fiscal relief. Before that, Congress handed the USPS $10 billion in support funds via the CARES Act, which now leaves USPS with $23.9 billion in freed up cash at its disposal.
If the USPS found it lucrative to buy more EVs, they could - but for the most part, they have not. On the sidelines, the federal government does not seem interested in evaluating this choice, but rather they assert a plan of action: use more taxpayer dollars to force it into reality. Then ask any questions later after it’s all done.
The Postal Service should not be a test dummy for the administration’s speculative goals and it is an insult to taxpayers to treat it this way. Mail service is already suffering in terms of slow-downs and higher costs to consumers. The government’s critical mail obligation has fallen by the wayside, while vehicle experiments and government competition become the new ideals. Most of us favor an environmentally efficient future energy outlook. Forcing the USPS down this path is not an effective way to get there.
Guy F. Caruso is a senior adviser in the Energy Security and Climate Change Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He formerly served as administrator of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) from July 2002 to September 2008.