The US Postal Service has a navy tank producer manufacture “ugly” new supply electrical autos

Yes, you read that heading correctly. While it doesn’t seem to make absolutely any sense, it’s 2021 and the world is on fire. Lets see what happens.

The United States Postal Service announced yesterday that it has signed, sealed, and shipped to Oshkosh Defense a 10-year multi-billion dollar contract to electrify its vehicle fleet. Autoblog reports that it is expected to be worth around $ 6 billion over its lifetime.

For the uninitiated, Oshkosh Defense is a military vehicle maker that usually makes armored vehicles for war zones. It’s clearly the perfect solution for delivering packages to homes on the suburban streets of America.

I suppose it’s not that crazy. Oshkosh knows how to build unique vehicles for a specific purpose. There are even plans to work with American automaker Ford on its plans for an all-electric transit van.

[Read: How do you build a pet-friendly gadget? We asked experts and animal owners]

That sounds good, but unfortunately the USPS is not just focusing on electrifying its fleet. The contract with Oshkosh provides for the delivery of 50,000 to 165,000 vehicles over a period of 10 years, which will be a mix of internal combustion engine and battery electric vehicles.

Given that the average USPS vehicle is nearly 30 years old, literally anything would be better than what the delivery service is currently using. Even a damn armored personnel carrier.

The possible design for the new USPS delivery vehicles is already divided as Politico’s Sam Mintz conducts a quick Twitter poll – the majority say the van is an “ugly duckling”.

Let’s get some highly polarized answers to these questions. This design is:

– Sam Mintz (@samjmintz) February 23, 2021

The USPS says its new vehicles could be retrofitted with electric vehicle technologies in due course. It’s not exactly clear what that means, but presumably it suggests that the internal combustion engine might be swapped out for a battery and motors in the future.

In addition to many mechanical improvements, the new USPS vehicles will include air conditioning, heating and improved vehicle safety features such as airbags and surround view cameras.

Expect to see them on U.S. roads in 2023. And don’t worry, you don’t have to take cover if you see one of these on the horizon.

SHIFT is brought to you by Polestar. It’s time to accelerate the transition to sustainable mobility. That’s why Polestar combines electric driving with state-of-the-art design and exciting performance. Find out how.

Published on February 24, 2021 – 09:21 UTC