With their distinctive duck-billed profile and boxy posterior, they're not the sleekest beasts on the road. But the new electric mail trucks are immediately the joy of those tasked with riding them. They're more spacious, comfortable and manoeverable than the ancient Grumman gas-guzzlers they replace—not least due to the novelty of air conditioning. The New York Times:
The new mail trucks — 10 years in the making — have started rolling into American neighborhoods, and the early reviews from letter carriers are positive. Many have complained for years that the mail trucks they have been driving, which were introduced in the 1980s, break down frequently and are stiflingly hot, as climate change pushes temperatures to greater extremes. The rear cargo space is so small, they say, that they have to crouch inside to grab packages. … Brian L. Renfroe, the president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, said that the new trucks have several advantages over the model they are replacing, the Grumman Long Life Vehicle. In addition to air-conditioning — perhaps the most critical upgrade — they have more cargo space, because letter carriers now deliver far more packages and far fewer letters and magazines than they did in the 1980s.
I was thinking they should sell them to consumers, but they're very tightly specced to purpose: they can take weight, but only about 70 miles a charge.
Yes, It 'Looks Like a Duck,' but Carriers Like the New Mail Truck [NYT, archive]
