The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) believes the more than 6,300 retail post offices across the country serve as the perfect locations to create a network of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.
Chief Shop Steward of CUPW Craig Dryer is a fan of EVs and has long been promoting charging stations in Newfoundland and Labrador.
With the recent announcement of $2.2 million in funding from the provincial government to install 28 new charging stations across the island, Dryer told VOCM he is disappointed CUPW wasn’t consulted in the discussions.
Dryer says that many of the retail post office locations across Canada are the only federal building in town, and it only makes sense to use the existing infrastructure to help build out a national EV charging network.
Canada Post has been considering the use of EVs as part of its fleet of delivery vehicles for more than a decade. In 2011, they piloted 10 fully electric delivery vehicles, but those have since been removed from service and not yet replaced.
According to their most recent Sustainability Report, Canada Post introduced 374 hybrid-electric vehicles in 2019, and has plans to add 500 more this year.
