U.S. Postal Service starts nationwide electric vehicle fleet, buying 9,250 EVs

Re:U.S. Postal Service starts nationwide electric vehicle fl... by Tade0 on Thursday March 02, 2023 @06:31AM (#34994539)

I suppose it makes sense to at least power the AC with them, as its drain correlates with the amount of sunlight.

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Re:U.S. Postal Service starts nationwide electric vehicle fl... by rout39574 on Thursday March 02, 2023 @08:12AM (#34995215)

AC is pretty power hungry; solar panels on the roof of an average van (best case) aren't going to make much of a dent. I find estimates of 10-20 miles per day of range in the best cases.

At current prices, my sense is that solar panels on vehicles are marketing, not materially contributing to the energy budget. Nothing wrong with that but I wouldn't like to spend my feature money on the option.

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Re:U.S. Postal Service starts nationwide electric vehicle fl... by Gordonjcp on Thursday March 02, 2023 @08:56AM (#34995641)

> AC is pretty power hungry; solar panels on the roof of an average van (best case) aren't going to make much of a dent.

If you space them off the roof by about an inch, like the old Landrover "Safari" roof, it'll make a hell of a difference.

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