The auto industry has a lot to cheer about after an announcement from earlier this week. The newly installed government of the United States has pledged to replace all gas powered vehicles in the federal fleet with electric models. This is not going to be a mean feat, and it has the potential to have huge impact on the world of EVs.
Just how large is this undertaking? You get the idea when you consider that there are more than 600,000 vehicles on the road being driven around by federal government employees. They drove an estimated 4.5 billion miles in 2019. By comparison, over 1.4 million pure EVs had been sold by the end of 2019 in the US
This is going to be a huge windfall for auto makers based in the US. And just in time for many of them. After Ford has committed to spending $11 billion on new EVs, they will be looking forward to a slice of the pie. The mood won’t be different either over at GM headquarters, with their plans to spend $27 billion on their electric models. If the administration wants to start out the swap with USPS’s fleet of delivery buses, GM has the exact answer, in its new product line under the BrightDrop umbrella
The rookies (startups, if you will) won’t be left out of this bonanza. Even if they get outmuscled in the jostle for federal supply contracts, they stand to get easier access to funding from investors that would be less shy to bet on them now. This has already proven to be the case since the meteoritic rise of Tesla but things can only get better from here.
Another plus for the EV industry is the further normalization of EVs that will take place. When 225,000 USPS electric vans start delivering letters all over the country, people are bound to take note and be more willing to make similar auto purchases. And with more than 550,000 nation-wide charging stations coming as part of the package, battery anxiety is expected to drop considerably. This will create more room for players like Rivian and Lordstown to grow. This is the proverbial tide that lifts all boats.
This is also a win for the environment. Recall the 4.5 billion miles covered by government drivers? That was accomplished by expending 375 million gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel. This in turn released more than 3.4 million tons of carbon dioxide in to the atmosphere. Surely humanity will breathe a bit easier when all those vehicles are replaced.
Written by D.O. for www.ShargeMe.blog