How Green Tech could save the Saturday mail

Detroit Free Press (Rick Jarman, President & CEO, National Center for Manufacturing Sciences) - The postal fleet represents an ideal test environment for the development and deployment of new battery technology. The vehicles are government owned, maintenance facilities are already in place, and mail routes and distance are well documented. Further, the nature of mail delivery with low city speeds and stop/go movement are exactly where battery powered vehicles excel.

Demand drives quantity; quantity drives down costs. The volume of batteries required by the Postal Service would all but ensure that Michigan battery manufacturers add staff, creating thousands of new jobs in the state. And with the sudden mainstreaming of battery powered vehicles in the form of those ubiquitous delivery trucks, it won’t be long before newly affordable (and technically innovative) battery technologies become more realistic in consumer vehicles as well. USPS savings will be so great that Saturday mail delivery will remain safe, even as the Postal Service’s massive vehicle fleet emits less pollution. Innovation exists at the crossroads of talent, infrastructure, investment, and need. There can be no argument that the Postal Service needs to do something if it is to continue with its appointed rounds. Of course, if the auto industries would agree initially on a standard battery, that would drive volume too! But that’s for a different day…This unique opportunity for collaboration between technical innovators and the ideal customer can usher in an era of affordable, green power for vehicles of all kinds.