Prices, performance and availability of electric vehicles have all improved drastically in the last decade. Since 2010, battery pack costs have decreased by 85 percent, allowing for sticker-price parity with gasoline-powered vehicles. This is in addition to the average electric-vehicle range increased significantly as charging times reduced, and the number of electric models available to consumers in the United States increased to over 40 last year – and is still growing.
Because the government fleet uses so many cars, electrifying it would increase electric vehicle production and sales in the United States.
It was found that the cost of ownership of EVs — purchase price, fuel and maintenance — was compared to that of ICE cars, and that EVs will offer significant cost savings over the next decade in a Federal Fleet Electrification Assessment.
According to the research, by 2025, up to 40 percent of the US government’s gas-powered light-duty vehicles and buses may be replaced with EVs at a lower total cost of ownership, with that figure rising to 97 percent by 2030.
Without including the postal service fleet, the biggest fleet of any federal entity, the federal government now owns and operates 315,000 gas-powered light-duty vehicles and buses, and it has been expressed that one of President Joe Biden’s goals is to progressively replace these vehicles with electric vehicles.
The 192,000 vehicles in the USPS light-duty fleet are particularly well-suited to electrification due to predictable routes and centralized depots. Electric cars would be cheaper for more than 99 percent of the fleet by 2025, saving $2.9 billion over the life of the vehicles. This is especially galling because the USPS is planning to replace its fossil-fuel fleet with a new generation of fossil-fuel vehicles. The decision has been appealed by a number of House Democrats, but in the big picture, electrification of a significant percentage of the USPS fleet now appears highly improbable for the foreseeable future.
Additionally, given the absence of a policy direction from the Biden administration, many wonder if the President would speed up vehicle replacements or wait until they approach the end of their useful life, and if price parity with internal combustion engine cars will be necessary to upgrade.
But electrification will involve much more than simply purchasing new vehicles. It will address matters such as how to collaborate with local utilities to provide energy and build up fleet depots for charging infrastructure, as well as how to utilize existing emission reductions in the power sector to fulfill economy-wide carbon reduction objectives by accelerating transportation electrification and increasing the number of electric cars in the government fleet and on US roads.
Requests for bids and the installation of charging infrastructure will very likely be the first stages in a big government transaction, but it is important that plans be made so that the program can continue when Biden’s presidency ends. It’s a massive project that won’t be finished overnight.
But the president believes that now is the time for the United States to lead in electric vehicle manufacturing, infrastructure, and innovation by investing in the first-ever national network of electric vehicle charging stations, providing point-of-sale consumer incentives to spur American manufacturing and union jobs, and funding the retooling and expansion of the entire domestic manufacturing sector.
Biden claims that the Build Back Better Agenda and Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal investments will strengthen America’s leadership in electric vehicles and batteries, and that these once-in-a-generation investments will position America to win the future of transportation and manufacturing by creating good-paying jobs, dramatically expanding American manufacturing and making America more competitive.
More About Biden’s Build Back Better Agenda and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal
Biden’s Build Back Better Agenda and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal are designed to invest in the infrastructure, manufacturing, and incentives that we need to create good-paying jobs here at home, as well as set the global standard for electric cars, and to save American’s money. The president intends to sign an executive order setting a bold new goal of making 50 percent of all new cars sold by 2030 zero-emissions vehicles, including battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. In addition, the executive order starts off the creation of long-term fuel economy and emissions requirements to save consumers money, reduce pollution, improve public health, advance environmental justice and combat climate change.
SUMMARY:
- By 2025, up to 40 percent of the US government’s 315,000 vehicles and buses may be replaced with EVs at a lower total cost of ownership, saving $2.9 billion over the life of the vehicles.
- Electrifying America’s fleet of vehicles will involve much more than simply purchasing new vehicles. It will address matters such as how to collaborate with local utilities to provide energy and build up fleet depots for charging infrastructure.
- Requests for bids and the installation of charging infrastructure will be the first stages in a big government transaction.
- President Biden’s Build Back Better plan can impact the spur of growth in this sector, but it is important that plans be made so that the program can continue when Biden’s presidency ends.
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