Cummins provides US Postal Service with 8 electric vans in California
02 April 2019
In March, Cummins began delivering eight Cummins-powered all-electric vehicles to the United States Postal Service (USPS) in California. The fully-electric Cummins PowerDrive equipped vans are expected to reduce fuel and maintenance costs as well as eliminate emissions.
The pilot program, made possible by a grant from the California Air Resources Board to the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (SJVAPCD) and administered by CALSTART, will place the zero-emission vehicles in Fresno and Stockton. Cummins will also provide operator training, vehicle support and data collection to support the program.
The eight Cummins-powered vans have an all-electric range up to 85 miles with a full load on urban drive cycles typical of USPS collection vehicles. The direct drive architecture provides improved performance over the gasoline-powered version in critical areas of power and efficiency. The vans use the same charging system as passenger electric vehicles (SAE J1772 Level 2) and can reach a full charge in about eight hours, making overnight charging a viable option.
In 2017, Cummins announced its commitment to invest $500 million in electrification across many applications, markets and regions over a period of three years. Cummins Electrified Power business’ 200 engineers are solely focused on inventing electrified power solutions for its customers.
In 2018, the company announced partnerships and collaborations with on- and off-highway OEMs who are working on electrification solutions in products ranging from bus to medium duty trucks, light commercial vehicles, excavators and drayage trucks.
Years and years ago I knew some people who had bought retired 70's-era USPS electric delivery vehicles, refurbished them and were using them as city cars.
There is nothing new under the sun.
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | 02 April 2019 at 05:33 AM
EP:
Right you are. Can't help notice they have 200 engineers involved in electric vehicle development...wonder how much CARB money they got?...as a taxpayer, I hate to think it's boondoggle money.
Posted by: Lad | 02 April 2019 at 04:45 PM
The average park and loop route covers 10 miles. 20-40 miles of range should be plenty for many routes. It would be a major waste to spec all vehicles with 85 miles of range.
Posted by: Gasbag | 02 April 2019 at 10:27 PM
And at least in the present day the 250-mile BEV is a waste of batteries compared to PHEVs, which can eliminate almost 10x the liquid fuel demand by using 1/10 the amount of batteries apiece.
Horses for courses.
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | 03 April 2019 at 06:28 AM