Jan 14 2010

The Little Trike That Could

Posted by: Jonathan Marshall

Green doesn't get much cuter than this.

As part of its ambitious program of energy conservation and environmental stewardship, the U.S. Postal Service is experimenting in several Southern California cities, as well as parts of Arizona and South Florida, with a nifty three-wheel electric vehicle for delivering mail.

With the world's largest civilian vehicle fleet, annual travel of 1.1 billion miles and fuel costs of more than $2 billion, the USPS can make a big difference to the environment by its leadership in clean transportation technology. It has experimented with advanced diesel, ethanol, hybrid electric and fuel cell vehicles, but I'm most taken by the T3 Series Electric Stand-up Vehicle, with optional solar-powered trailer, that the postal service has developed with T3 Motion, Inc. in Orange County.

T3 Motion claims the vehicles have a range of 40 miles, a maximum speed of 12 mph and a carrying capacity of 450 lbs. Its quiet operation and maneuverability make the vehicle a favorite of police forces as well. "Most importantly, it produces zero emissions and costs less than 4 cents a mile to operate," the company added in an announcement today.

The U.S. Postal Service aims to reduce its energy use 30 percent by 2015. Kudos to it for thinking outside the (four-wheel) box.

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