The U.S. Postal Service’s mail-delivery Jeeps and the slab-sided Grumman Long Life Vehicles (LLVs) that replaced them are two of the most recognizable vehicles on the road. Now a new model is rolling up to America’s mailboxes. That’s the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV) developed by Oshkosh Corporation for the U.S. Postal Service, and we’ve driven it at the company’s headquarters in Wisconsin.
The NGDV we drove was the battery-electric version. which will account for about 70 percent of the $2.98 billion initial order by the USPS. For longer and more challenging routes and climates, the remaining 30 percent will use a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder from Ford, with front- or all-wheel drive.
Passersby will be hard-pressed to tell the difference between gas- and battery-powered versions, since they share the same odd appearance (and 90 percent of their parts). Oshkosh designed the two to operate identically, so postal employees can easily swap from one to the other.
For Sale Near You
See all results for used cars for sale near 100000
From Envelopes to Packages
The word “duckbill” comes up a lot when discussing the NGDV. Oshkosh said the design of the van’s nose is USPS intellectual property, but the commercial-vehicle maker is allowed to sell the basic van to other clients—as long as what’s in front of the windshield is visually different.
The front of the vehicle only looks low because the rest of it is far taller in comparison. At 111.0 inches tall and 235.8 inches long, the NGDV is about two feet taller and five feet longer than the Grumman LLV.
That design strategy serves the evolving USPS mission, which nowadays is less about delivering envelopes and magazines and more involved with e-commerce boxes and packages, meaning more trips for drivers from the seat to the cargo racks and back again. Therefore, the NGDV has a 330-cubic-foot cargo bay, a payload rating of 2000 pounds, and a ceiling-to-floor height of 78.5 inches with the roller door open—tall enough to fit a 95th-percentile human (at 5’10”, I had headroom to spare).
The windshield is huge and panoramic, and the driver sits (on the right) high enough to see right past the nose. Even better, the hood line falls downward from the center’s peak, further improving the driver’s ability to spot small children, dogs, mailboxes, driveway posts, and all the other anomalies that pop up along a mail route.
The insides of the NGDV are utilitarian. Tough plastic fittings and rubber mats, along with a bevy of large knobs and switches, all indicate that this vehicle prioritizes durability and long service life over style and decor. A manual winder opens the driver’s window. To the left of the driver sits either a two-tier shelf for placing mail and small parcels or a passenger’s seat.
No Idle Creep, Good Regen
Power for the battery-electric NGDV comes from a 94-kWh lithium-ion battery pack and a 201-hp motor that drives the front wheels. EPA documents indicate that the roughly 6400-pound vehicle ought to have a driving range of around 120 miles. Recharging the battery pack should take around six hours via the truck’s 19.2-kW onboard charger when connected to a Level 2 charging station.
Oshkosh expects the battery pack to last at least 10 years. If its NGDVs stay in service as long as the LLVs have, then many of these vans may undergo one or more pack replacements throughout their service life, which could net the NGDV greater range or efficiency down the road.
The prototype NGDV that Oshkosh let us pilot had a driver’s door that stiffly slid open and closed, and it emitted a grinding sound from one of the fender wells during hard right turns. In other words, typical prototype stuff. Despite its heft and size, the NGDV was easy to maneuver in tight quarters. Though the vehicle is far from quick, the electric motor delivers power predictably, making it easy to modulate the van’s pace when crawling from one mailbox to the next along neighborhood streets. Regenerative braking is fairly smoothly integrated after a fraction of a second’s pause. The NGDV is programmed not to have any idle creep—a safety feature for a vehicle that stops hundreds of times a day. It doesn’t offer full “one-pedal driving,” as the driver must use the left pedal to bring the vehicle to a complete stop.
Tears for the Air Conditioning
A full suite of modern active driver-assistance systems, including not just a high-resolution backup camera but features like rear pedestrian alert and automatic braking, brings postal vehicles into the current century. The LLVs had a gigantic blind spot at the rear, with only a loud reversing beeper to warn bystanders.
Among USPS drivers, though, the single most appreciated feature of the NGDVs was one LLVs never offered: air conditioning. Oshkosh execs related the story of a USPS test driver who burst into tears after the drive because the new vehicle was so much more comfortable and usable than the LLV they drove every day. As well it should be, given the cost of around $59,600 a pop.
Expect the NGDVs to start showing up in your neighborhood over the next few years. And the sooner the better, given that the rickety, failure-prone Long Life Vehicles—the youngest of which is now 31 years old—now cost the Postal Service an average of $10,000 a year in maintenance. Once the new, duckbill delivery truck takes to the streets in quantity, it can carve out its place alongside its predecessors as an American icon.
➡️ Skip the lot. Let Car and Driver help you find your next car.
John Voelcker edited Green Car Reports for nine years, publishing more than 12,000 articles on hybrids, electric cars, and other low- and zero-emission vehicles and the energy ecosystem around them. He now covers advanced auto technologies and energy policy as a reporter and analyst. His work has appeared in print, online, and radio outlets that include Wired, Popular Science, Tech Review, IEEE Spectrum, and NPR’s “All Things Considered.” He splits his time between the Catskill Mountains and New York City and still has hopes of one day becoming an international man of mystery.
Nguồn: Chi tiết
- Chưa có bình luận nào.
