It's lovely vs. loathsome in battle of the delivery vans
U.S. Postal Service decision on electric delivery vehicles puts focus on their looks
(A native of England, Matthew Diebel is a veteran journalist who has worked at NBC News, Time, USA Today and News Corp., among other organizations. Having spent his childhood next to one of the world's fastest bodies of water, he is particularly interested in tidal energy.)
U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has put his foot down (and not the pedal-to-the-metal version). He wants 90% of proposed new 230,000 USPS vans to be fossil fuel-powered, claiming that his agency can’t afford all-electric vehicles, despite delivery rivals FedEx (FDX), UPS (UPS) and Amazon (AMZN) having committed to being all-electric in the not-too-distant future.
Trump-appointed DeJoy’s decision has angered the White House, environmentalists and congressional Democrats, leading to calls for the selection to be nixed by the USPS’s inspector general on the grounds that the choice does not comply with the National Environmental Policy Act.
There is, however, a much more important issue at stake. While the EV vans being purchased by the private carriers are cute as all heck, the proposed USPS trucks, set to be made by Wisconsin-based Oshkosh Defense (OSK), are just plain ugly. They look like a Jetsons bad dream, with a protruding low nose and a huge windshield. Ugh.
The electric offerings, though, are design delights. Take, for example, a just-announced choice by UPS, which has ordered 10,000 vans from British company Arrival (ARVL) that will be built in the U.K. and the U.S. They are downright darling, with their snub front ends and headlights that look like friendly eyes.
Meanwhile, mega delivery rival FedEx has started taking delivery of EVs from BrightDrop, a newly formed unit of General Motors (GM). While not having quite the charm of UPS’s choice, they have a big enough of a pinch of panache to make them pleasing to the eye.
And as for Amazon, its recent announcement that it will be buying 100,000 vans from EV start-up Rivian (RIVN) will result in the most adorable fleet of all. Like the Arrival cargo carriers, they have eye-like headlights but also have a smooth cargo space accentuated by partially covered rear wheels. You just want to hug it!
So even if we end up with your faithful mailman (or woman) at the wheel of a carbon-belching monstrosity, at least they’ll be offset by a dose of delightfulness in the hands of the other delivery dudes.
Start ’em up!