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DaimlerChrysler Electric Minivan create 'All-Electric' Post Office in California City

3 September 1999

DaimlerChrysler Electric Minivan create 'All-Electric' Post Office in California City

           Harbor City replaces gasoline-powered delivery vehicles
           Electric vehicle is perfect fit for mail delivery routes
              DaimlerChrysler adds to California fleet of EPICs

    AUBURN HILLS, Mich. and STUTTGART, Germany, Sept. 2 -- Harbor
City, California, will be served by the nation's only "all-electric" post
office with the delivery of 12 DaimlerChrysler EPIC electric
minivans this month.
    The EPICs, based on DaimlerChrysler's popular Dodge Caravan minivans,
replace gasoline-powered vehicles in the Harbor City Post Office's mail
delivery fleet.
    Harbor City has been using three Electric Long-Life Vehicles (ELLVC),
electric versions of the traditional mail delivery vehicle, under a 1995 test
program and is adding two more ELLVs to its mail delivery vehicle fleet.  With
the 12 EPICs, the entire fleet will be completely converted to electric
vehicles.
    "The Postal Service is a perfect place for an electric vehicle," said Mike
Clement,  Director of Alternate Fuel Vehicle Sales and Marketing for
DaimlerChrysler Corp.  Clement noted that mail delivery routes involve a lot
of stop-and-go driving, which increases the number of high-emission cold
starts when gasoline-powered vehicles are used.  With electric vehicles, cold
start emissions are eliminated.
    The 1999 EPIC features advanced nickel-metal-hydride batteries which give
the vehicle a range of 60 to 90 miles per charge, well beyond that needed for
the typical 10-20-mile-per-day routes for Harbor City postal vehicles.  The
vehicles can be recharged at the Harbor City Post Office's central station
overnight -- six to eight hours is the typical time for recharging.  In
addition, the EPIC batteries have fast-charge capability, meaning that they
can be recharged in about 30 minutes for a 25-30 mile drive.
    The electric minivans also feature air conditioning as standard equipment,
which is valued by Postal Service employees in the heat of Southern
California.  Also, mail delivery personnel note that the electric motor does
not produce elevated temperatures inside the passenger compartment as is
typical with gasoline-powered vehicles.
    Other standard equipment on the EPIC includes dual air bags, anti-lock
brakes with regnerative breaking to re-charge the batteries, and an AM-FM
radio, another feature favored by Postal Service workers.
    DaimlerChrysler is making EPICs available in California under a voluntary
agreement with the California Air Resources Board to demonstrate electric
vehicle technology in the State.  EPIC, which stands for Electric Powered
Interurban Commuter, are being leased from 11 dealerships in San Diego, Los
Angeles, San Francisco, and Sacramento.
    The Postal Service vehicles are part of a growing fleet of EPICs in
California.  Other California customers include the U.S. Navy and Air Force,
the University of California at Los Angles (UCLA), the motion picture studios
Dreamworks and Universal Studios, the electric utilities and numerous small
businesses, the cities of West Hollywood, Santa Monica, and Ventura, and the
State of California.
    The Postal Service first used electric vehicles a century ago in 1899,
noted Ray Levinson, Environmental Policy Manager for the Pacific Area of the
Postal Service.  "We're very excited about adding electric vehicles to our
growing fleet of alternate fuel vehicles," Levinson said.  The U.S. Postal
Service has more than 7,500 compressed natural gas delivery vehicles, the
nation's largest fleet, and recently purchased 10,000 flexible fuel vehicles
that run on either gasoline or ethanol blend.