Will this knock Turkish automotive firm Karsan out of contention for the USPS delivery vehicle fleet contract? The bigger question mark is – can Workhorse deliver?
1. Biden administration campaign promises to accelerate U. S. climate change initiatives – They are Big! – http://reut.rs/3qQvtFL
2. The USPS delivery fleet is in “Zombie mode’!
3. The Postal Service has a very strong history as a technology innovator and adopter, especially for the sorting and transportation of the U S Mails, e.g., the US Airline industry was built on the US Air Mail service, Rural Free Delivery, RFD, the Railway Mail Service and Parcel Post services drove the expansion of B2C commerce in the US. And the Postal Service was an early pioneer in the development of Optical Character Reader, OCR, technology for high-speed mail sorting in the 1970’s. Yes, the 1970s! We saw them in operation in NYC. You can view and download a video of an early OCR here.
The headwinds are also strong –
1. No proven track record in delivering large scale fleets of commercial delivery vehicles
2. No proven track record in delivering viable Electric commercial delivery vehicles that can operate in all climates and delivery environments on the scale that the US Postal Service requires.
3. No proven track record in pre-market maintenance training and support
4. No proven track record in providing aftermarket support for parts and service
5. The vested interests of the U. S. petroleum and automotive sectors to maintain status quo are very big!
Automotive sector Annual lobbying – http://bit.ly/3a4vUFA
Automotive sector Annual campaign contributions – http://bit.ly/2LUKxn7
Petroleum sector lobbying – http://bit.ly/3iLTI58
Petroleum sector campaign contributions http://bit.ly/2KMJiFT
BUT! Do NOT Ignore History…
Whether it’s Workhorse, or another eVehicle newcomer, just as the US Air Mail Service was the foundation for the U S Airline industry, we believe a 180,000+ Electric delivery vehicle fleet order will jumpstart the United States’ transition to electric, and other alternative, environment friendly transportation modes.
UPDATE – And while Workhorse looks like the obvious choice, could the USPS scrap the solicitation and re-solicit it opening the door to new vehicle companies that have come on the scene since the original RFP? Stay tuned – https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/biden-administration-usps-ev-electric-mail-carriers-grumman-llv/