USPS selected Oshkosh Defense to produce the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV), with a contract awarded in early 2021 and an initial order of 50,000 units placed in 2022, potentially up to 165,000 NGDVs over a decade.

Between the LLV and NGDV, the FFV produced from 1999 to 2001 offered a smaller, flexible alternative—2,239 units—designed to meet Energy Policy Act requirements for alternative fuels and sharing a body style with the LLV.

Each NGDV costs around $59,600, with the initial 50,000-unit batch totaling roughly $2.98 billion, and, like prior models, the NGDV does not use license plates.

The NGDV is poised to replace the long-running LLV, which served since 1986 and saw 99,150 units produced through 1994 at costs exceeding $1.1 billion, with aging vehicles incurring about $10,000 in annual repair costs per unit.

About 70% of the initial NGDV batch will be battery electric, equipped with a 94 kWh battery and a 201-horsepower motor for roughly 120 miles of EPA range and six-hour Level 2 charging; the remaining 30% will use a Ford-turbocharged four-cylinder internal combustion engine, including some all-wheel-drive variants for longer routes and tougher climates.

Compared to the LLV, the NGDV is taller and longer, offering more than double the cargo capacity to support USPS’s expanded role as a low-cost nationwide delivery service.

The NGDV’s distinctive duckbill nose is USPS intellectual property, and Oshkosh is permitted to market the NGDV to other buyers with a redesigned front end for non-USPS customers.

Production is centered in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where Oshkosh plans to hire more than 1,000 workers and repurpose a large warehouse to meet USPS production needs.

The NGDV brings significant upgrades over the LLV and FFV, including air conditioning, airbags, parking sensors, 360-degree cameras, an infotainment touchscreen, a heads-up display, automatic emergency braking, a large 263-cubic-foot cargo area, and a standing-enabled interior up to about six feet four inches.