Washington, Oct 3 (BUS) – Self-described “car man” President Joe Biden often promises to lead by example on climate change by moving quickly to convert the US government’s sprawling fleet to zero-emissions electric vehicles. . But efforts to eliminate gas-powered vehicles from the fleet have been delayed.
Biden last year directed the US government to buy only US-made zero-emissions passenger cars by 2027 and electric versions of other cars by 2035, the Associated Press reports.
“We will harness the purchasing power of the federal government to buy clean, zero-emissions cars,” the president said shortly after his inauguration in January 2021.
He has since used filming runs in an electric pickup truck from Ford Motor Co. , or drive General Motors’ Cadillac Lyriq electric SUV at the Detroit Auto Show to enhance its capabilities. Cabinet officials have promoted a first batch of Ford Mustang Mach-E SUVs used in the energy and transportation departments.
The White House frequently describes the timeline for 2027 as being on the right track. But the General Services Administration, the agency that buys two-thirds of the federal fleet of 656,000 vehicles, says there are no guarantees.
Then there is the US Postal Service, which owns the remaining third of the federal fleet. After initially rejecting it and facing lawsuits, the agency now says half of its initial purchases of 50,000 next-generation vehicles will be powered by electricity.
The first batch of postal vehicles will arrive on delivery routes late next year.
“The USPS should now be fully electric or nearly electric with its new vehicles,” said Luke Tonachel, senior director of Clean Vehicles and Buildings at the Natural Resources Defense Council, referring to an additional $3 billion in targeted federal spending for the Postal Fleet under the Postal Fleet Act. Historic climate signed by Biden last month.
About 30% of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States come from the transportation sector, making it the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions in the country.
The electrification of the federal fleet is a “cornerstone” in Biden’s efforts to decarbonize the federal government, said Andrew Mayock, the White House’s chief federal sustainability official.
“The future is electric, and the federal government has built a solid foundation … that will make it happen on this journey that we’ll be taking over the next decade,” he said in an interview.
Excluding the Postal Service, about 13% of new light vehicles purchased through the government this year, or about 3,550, were “zero emissions,” according to department figures provided to the Associated Press.
The government defines zero emissions as either electric or a plug-in hybrid, which technically has a gas engine. This compares to less than 2% in the 2021 budget and less than 1% in 2020.
Nationwide, about 6% of new car sales are electric.
When it comes to vehicles on the road, the federal numbers are even smaller. Many purchases in recent months will not be delivered for up to a year due to supply chain issues.
Currently, only 1,799 of the federal fleet of 656,000 vehicles are zero-emissions vehicles.
At a rate of 35,000 to 50,000 GSA vehicle purchases annually, it would take years, if not decades, to transform the entire fleet.
“It wasn’t exactly a quick start,” said Sam Aboulsameed, principal mobility analyst at Guidehouse Insight. “It will probably be difficult for them in at least the next year or two to accelerate that pace.”
“The Federal Fleet is a working fleet,” said Christina Kingsland, who directs the Business Administration Division of the Federal Fleet at GSA.
The agency noted a limited supply of electric vehicles from auto manufacturers at significant upfront costs. Additionally, she said, agencies’ needs are often highly specialized, from Department of the Interior pickup trucks on large rural tribal reserves to Department of Homeland Security’s huge SUVs along the U.S. border.
Agencies also need easy access to public electric vehicle charging stations. The White House has acknowledged that agencies are “far behind” in their charging infrastructure, with nearly 600 charging stations and 2,000 charging devices across the country.
While Biden’s bipartisan Infrastructure Act provides $7.5 billion for states to build an electric vehicle charging network of up to 500,000 chargers over several years along interstate highways, no money from that law is earmarked for the needs of specialized federal agencies.
Charging stations funds should be allocated in the budget of each department.
Analysts say that achieving Biden’s target for the federal fleet hinges on increasing industrial production as expected beginning in 2025 and 2026.
By then, the effects of significant federal investment in building public chargers and boosting electric vehicle manufacturing in the United States will likely be felt along with stricter rules for automakers to limit exhaust pipe emissions.
General Motors, for example, has set a goal of an annual production capacity of one million electric vehicles worldwide by 2025, while Ford expects to produce two million electric vehicles globally by 2026.
Stellantis is also increasing production capacity and preparing to launch a full list of new electric vehicles.
The White House declined to set a specific target for electric car purchases in 2023, but Mayock said he expects the number to be higher than 13%.
Although the Postal Service is an independent agency, it plays an essential role in fleet electrification, not only because it has 234,000 vehicles in the federal fleet, but also because the familiar blue and white mail trucks are the most visible Federal vehicle. Rolling into neighborhoods across America every day.
The dealership plans to purchase up to 165,000 next-generation vehicles over a decade. Postal Service spokesman Kim Froome said the Postal Service remains “committed to reducing our carbon footprint in many areas of our operations, and expanding the use of electric vehicles in our fleet is a priority.”
White House officials say government purchases of electric cars can only increase significantly after a baseline approaching zero a few years ago under President Donald Trump, who has sought to ease fuel economy requirements for gas-powered cars and proposed eliminating the federal tax credit for electric cars.
In a recent demonstration of electric vehicles at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center outside Washington, officers tested electric vehicles equipped for police use, including the Ford Mustang Mach-E.
Mayock said officers were impressed by the acceleration and “agility” of electric cars, describing the test drives as “a big moment for change management — for the government.”