The Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV) will be a mail truck for the United States Postal Service. The contract award, made to Oshkosh Corporation in February 2021, is valued at $6 billion. Up to 160,000 vehicles will be built in a new facility.[1][2]

Next Generation Delivery Vehicle
Overview
Manufacturer	Oshkosh Corporation
Also called	USPS Mail truck
Model years	2023
Body and chassis
Class	Mail truck
Chronology
Predecessor	Grumman LLV

History

On January 20, 2015, the USPS released solicitation RFI-NGDV for the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle.[3] On February 13, 2015, it was announced that General Motors was actively pursuing this new contract, which would have them provide the USPS with 180,000 new vehicles at a cost of at least $5 billion.[4] Potential bidders had until March 5, 2015 to submit comments and pre-qualification responses. The USPS then selected 15 prequalified companies that would receive the RFP for prototype development, which was issued on April 14, 2015; General Motors was not on the prequalified list.[3] The prototype RFP, including a preliminary specification for the NGDV, was issued on October 20, 2015, and updated on December 1, providing preliminary vehicle specifications and operating requirements.[5]

On September 22, 2016, the United States Postal Service awarded the NGDV Prototype Contract to six selected suppliers: AM General, Karsan, Mahindra, Oshkosh, Utilimaster, and a joint-venture bid involving Workhorse and VT Hackney. Half of the prototypes were to feature hybrid and new technologies, including alternative fuel capabilities. The prototypes represented a variety of vehicle sizes and drive configurations, in addition to advanced power trains and a range of hybrid technologies.[6]

The award to Oshkosh Defense was announced in February 2021.[7] Oshkosh Defense is a wholly owned subsidiary of Oshkosh Corporation and the award is an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract and the competitively awarded contract allows for the delivery of between 50,000 and 165,000 vehicles over a period of 10 years. Under the initial contract USPS has committed to pay Oshkosh Defense $482 million to initiate engineering efforts to finalize the production vehicle design, and for tooling and factory build-out activities that are necessary prior to vehicle production. In June 2021, Oshkosh stated the company will assemble the new mail truck at a dedicated factory in Spartanburg, S.C., and will employ more than 1,000 local people.[8]

The Workhorse Group, an electric truck builder based in Loveland, Ohio and losing bidder, initially protested the award to Oshkosh,[9] but later dropped the case one day before the case would be heard in court.[10]

Design

Design specification

Under the draft design specification issued in January 2015, the NGDV shall be a vehicle with a minimum life of 12 years and a target life of 20 years; the cargo area was required to enclose a minimum volume of 4.38 m³ (155 cu ft) with a minimum payload capacity of 680 kg (1,500 lb).[3]^{: Spec §1.1} Vehicles were required to be able to maintain a speed of 65 mph (105 km/h) on level roads, accelerating to that speed within 35 seconds. In addition, vehicles were required to maintain 45 mph (72 km/h) on a 2.5% grade and be capable of stopping, then ascending slopes of up to 20% grade in both forward and reverse.[3]^{: Spec §3.4} In the prototype RFP, these were updated to include an operating range of 70 mi (110 km) with a minimum of 600 stops and starts[5]^{: Attch.2 §3.4} and a requirement for the cargo area to accommodate heights ranging up to the 95th percentile male without stooping while setting the maximum exterior height at 122 in (3,100 mm).[5]^{: Attch.2 §3.5} The maximum target unit price was US$35,000.[5]^{: Attch.2 §4.1}

Oshkosh candidate

Described as the 'duck-billed option', Oshkosh's NGDV has been designed to maximize interior volume and outward visibility for drivers who will be required to move against traffic in pedestrian-heavy areas. It is also tall enough for a person to stand inside and work. Current-generation automotive safety features employed by the design include air bags, a 360-degree camera, automatic emergency braking, and collision avoidance systems. The sliding door cab is air-conditioned.[11][12]

Around 50% of the first order will be battery-electric, the remainder using a 3.5 Liter 6-cylinder gasoline engine. Either powertrain option can be built for future orders, and ICE configuration models can be converted to battery-electric if required. Ford Component Sales will provide Oshkosh with key parts for both the battery-electric and ICE versions including the engine and transmission, plus suspensions and other components including cabin interiors. An earlier Oshkosh proposal had been based around the Ford Transit van.[11][12]

Oshkosh's design would have a fuel efficiency of just 14 miles per gallon, or 8.6 mpg when the air conditioning is on.[13] The combined vehicle weight including payload is 8,501 pounds, just one pound over the EPA's threshold to be considered a heavy-duty truck, allowing it to avoid pollution emissions standards for light trucks.[13] Senators Ed Markey and Martin Heinrich, joined by other members of Congress and environmental organizations, sent a letter criticizing USPS and Oshkosh for the vehicles' inefficiency and the use of incorrect data in their environmental impact statement.[14]

Environmental Controversy

In February 2022, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Biden Administration, Zero Emission Transportation Association, Climate Activists, and the Congressional Progressive Caucus of the Democratic Party criticized Oshkosh and the United States Postal Service for ignoring President Joe Biden's climate change executive order mandating that the U.S. government fleet of vehicles must be 100% all-electric vehicles by 2035.

Despite the USPS and Oshkosh saying that the ICE-powered versions of the NGDV vehicles have been designed to be converted to battery-electric vehicles (100% all electric vehicles) if required, the criticism comes after USPS and Oshkosh announce that only 10% of the upcoming fleet of Oshkosh NGDVs will be manufactured as all-electric vehicles, while the remaining 90% of the NGDV fleet will be manufactured as low-emission internal-combustion engine vehicles.[15][16][17]

In April 2022, 16 states, six non-profit groups, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, the District of Columbia, and the city of New York filed a variety of lawsuits against the USPS demanding a more stringent environmental review or the acquisition of 100% electric vehicles.[18]

During the 2022 National Post Forum in May 2022, the USPS announced that it will increase the orders of the BEV version for the Oshkosh NGDV vehicles that will be used to replace the fossil fuel-powered Grumman LLVs. This means that at least 10,019 NGDV vehicles will be manufactured as all-electric vehicles, allowing the fleet to be more compliant with Biden's executive order that mandates 100% all-electric vehicles in the US government fleet of vehicles by 2035.[19][20]

In July 2022, USPS revised the May 2022 Oshkosh NGDV order to now have at least 50% of the NGDV vehicles to be manufactured as all-electric vehicles making the fleet even more compliant with Biden's climate change executive orders that mandates government fleets to replace their fossil fuel-powered vehicles with 100% all-electric vehicles by 2035.[21]

The Inflation Reduction Act allocated an additional $3 billion for the electrification of the NGDV fleet.[2]

References