ZAP designing EV for Postal Service
ZAP, a pioneer in the electric vehicle market, will convert a standard gasoline mail truck to run on electricity at a facility in Santa Rosa, CA. Following completion later this year, the vehicle will travel to Washington, DC, for field-testing.
USPS operates approximately 142,000 LLVs, most making frequent stops in the delivery of mail on a daily basis.
The USPS fleet consumed 444 million gallons of fuel in 2009 with the average vehicle achieving 10.4 mpg.
Rep. Jose E. Serrano (D-NY) has introduced legislation calling for at least 20,000 electric vehicles to be put into service with the USPS to reduce fuel consumption. He also has called for the allocation of $1.86 billion to the Energy Dept. and Postal Service to convert current mail trucks or manufacture new ones.
H.R. 4399, entitled the American Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Act, has been referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
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Wind Leading Power
LONDON - Wind turbines have generated more electricity than gas for the first time in the UK.
In the first three months of this year a third of the country's electricity came from wind farms, research from Imperial College London has shown.
National Grid has also confirmed that April saw a record period of solar energy generation.
By 2035 the UK aims for all of its electricity to have net zero emissions.
"There are still many hurdles to reaching a completely fossil fuel-free grid, but wind out-supplying gas for the first time is a genuine milestone event," said Iain Staffell, energy researcher at Imperial…