GREY:AZDDQ - Post by User
Post by
deedayon Mar 01, 2010 10:57am
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Post# 16829441
USPS and BEV-TC
USPS and BEV-TCThey must be talking to them as its a great fit and the timing is right 300,000 of these need to be replaced between 2011 and 2018, here are a few facts:
Postal trucks typically travel a short range rarely more than 25 miles daily, easily navigable on one battery charge battery. They usually move at low speeds, reducing the drain on the batteries.
Postal trucks are subject to constant stops and starts and low-speed idling, the type of driving "that is about the worst use of a gasoline engine"
But that type of use, is ideal for an electric van with regenerative braking, which feeds the energy created by slowing and stopping the vehicle back to its battery system.
The aging LLVs were built by a predecessor of Northrop Grumman Corp. in the 1990s. They have a modified General Motors S-10 Blazer powertrain and chassis and can carry 1,000 pounds of mail.
The typical LLV gets about 10 miles to the gallon and is on its second engine and its third or fourth transmission, according to the postal service. It is driven five to six hours a day, 302 days a year and about 16 miles a day.