The United Auto Workers union, sixteen states, and four environmental groups recently filed lawsuits against the United States Postal Service (USPS). The groups aim to stop the Postal Service’s plan to purchase and produce gas-powered delivery vehicles to update its fleet.
Background
The USPS announced it would spend up to $11.3 billion on up to 165,000 gas-powered NGDVs. The Biden Administration urged the Postal Service to reconsider its plans. President Biden had ordered federal agencies to phase out the purchase of gas-powered vehicles, and the USPS makes up a third of the U.S. government fleet.
In March, the USPS received criticism from U.S. lawmakers in the House Oversight Committee for its gas-powered Next Generation Delivery Vehicles (NGDV). The Committee sent a letter to the USPS Inspector General requesting an investigation into the agency’s NGDV order. According to the Committee’s letter, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the White House Council for Environmental Quality (CEQ), and numerous environmental stakeholders were concerned that the USPA did not meet NEPA obligations with its gas-powered NGDV fleet.
The USPS responded to EPA feedback with a record of decision (ROD), which outlined the Postal Service’s decision to purchase and deploy 50,000 to 165,000 NGDVs over the next ten years. The agency stated that the NGDV fleet would be a mix of ICE and battery electric delivery vans. Electric vehicles would make up at least 10% of the agency’s fleet. However, the Postal Service also determined that ICE NGDVs were the “most achievable” replacements for its existing fleet.
USPS Lawsuits by States
As per Reuters, sixteen states, led by New York and California, filed a lawsuit against the USPS for its flawed and unlawful environmental analysis of the NGDV program. The lawsuit also accuses the Postal Service of signing the contracts to purchase the gas-powered NGDV before completing a draft environmental review.
According to the CEQ, the Postal Service’s final review for the NGDV program was “flawed in some ways that cannot be so easily remedied.” For example, USPS estimated that the gas-powered NGDVs would get 29.9 miles per gallon, but the EPA discovered that the vehicles would only get 14.7 miles per gallon or less.
UAW and NRDC Lawsuit
Besides the states lawsuit, the UAW filed a joint lawsuit with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), claiming the USPS “failed on multiple levels” when it evaluated and finalized the contract for the NGDVs. The two parties demand that the agency stop producing the next-generation delivery vehicles. As per the complaint, the UAW and NRDC stated that the NGDV contract is “based on an unlawfully deficient environmental analysis issued after the Postal Service had already decided on a course of action.”
The two parties also criticized the agency’s Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The UAW and NRDC claim that the Postal Service did not consider the impact NGDV production — opposed to the operation — would have on the local environment. The EIS did not disclose that the vehicles would be produced in South Carolina by Oshkosh Defense, a Wisconsin-based contractor.
“With this contract, USPS and Oshkosh Defense abandoned the Wisconsin workers that built the company and failed taxpayers with a sham process to evaluate the environmental and community impacts of these vehicles. The USPS’s Next Generation Delivery Vehicle is an opportunity for the Biden administration to reverse-court and make real investments in both a cleaner future and good union jobs The contract as it currently stands fails on both accounts. It’s time to halt production and start the procurement process over,” said Ray Curry, president of the United Auto Workers.
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News
Tesla back on top as Norway’s EV market surges to 98% share in February
Tesla became Norway’s top-selling brand with 1,210 registrations, representing a 16.6% share.
Tesla reclaimed the top spot in Norway’s auto market in February as electric vehicles captured more than 98% of all new car registrations.
The rebound follows a sharp January slump triggered by VAT rule changes, which prompted numerous car buyers to advance their purchases into late 2025.
As per data from the Norwegian Road Traffic Information Council (OFV), 7,127 new electric vehicles were registered in February, representing a 98.01% market share. Fossil-fuel vehicles and hybrids accounted for just 2% of total new registrations.
Total new car registrations reached 7,272 units in February, hinting at a rapid recovery after January sales fell nearly 75% year-over-year following VAT adjustments.
OFV Director Geir Inge Stokke noted that similar patterns were observed after previous VAT changes in 2022, with demand temporarily weakening before normalizing, as noted in an Allt Om Elbil report.
“We are now seeing signs that the market is returning to a more normal level of activity, which we also experienced after the VAT change in 2022. At that time, changes in demand led to a weak start to 2023. We have seen the same pattern this year,” he said.
Amidst this trend, the Tesla Model Y made a strong comeback in the domestic market. After an unusually weak January that saw the Tesla Model Y drop to seventh place, the model returned to the top of Norway’s sales chart in February.
The Model Y recorded 1,073 registrations, giving it a 14.8% market share for the month. Tesla also became Norway’s top-selling brand with 1,210 registrations, representing a 16.6% share. Toyota followed with 941 registrations, while Volkswagen, Volvo, and Skoda rounded out the top five brands.
The February data suggests that Tesla’s January dip was tied more to timing effects around VAT adjustments than to structural demand shifts. It would then be interesting to see how the rest of the year unfolds for Tesla, particularly as the company pushes for the release of its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system to Europe this year.
News
Tesla arson suspect pleads guilty, faces up to 70 years in prison
The update was announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada.
A Las Vegas man has pleaded guilty to federal arson charges tied to a March 2025 attack on a Tesla Collision Center in Nevada.
The update was announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada.
According to court documents, on March 18, 2025, Paul Hyon Kim spray-painted the word “RESIST” on the front entrance of the Tesla Collision Center before damaging the facility and multiple vehicles.
Federal prosecutors stated that Kim used a PA-15 multi-caliber firearm equipped with a .300 BLACKOUT upper receiver and a 7.62mm silencer to shoot out surveillance cameras. He then fired multiple rounds into Tesla vehicles on the property.
Authorities stated that Kim later threw three Molotov cocktails into three separate Tesla vehicles. Two of the devices exploded and ignited the vehicles, while a third did not detonate. In total, five Tesla vehicles were damaged in the incident.
Kim pleaded guilty to two counts of arson of property used in interstate commerce, one count of attempted arson of property used in interstate commerce, and one count of unlawful possession of an unregistered firearm classified as a destructive device.
The mandatory minimum sentence for the charges is five years in federal prison, though the total maximum statutory penalty is 70 years, as per a release from the United States Attorney’s Office of the District of Nevada.
Sentencing is scheduled for May 27, 2026, before U.S. District Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey. A federal judge will determine the final sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The case was investigated by the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, with assistance from the Clark County Fire Department.
Elon Musk
SpaceX pursues 5G-level connectivity with Starlink Mobile V2 expansion
SpaceX noted that the upcoming Starlink V2 satellites will deliver up to 100 times the data density of the current first-generation system.
SpaceX has previewed a major upgrade to Starlink Mobile, outlining next-generation satellites that aim to deliver significantly higher capacity and full 5G-level connectivity directly to mobile phones.
The update comes as Starlink rebrands its Direct-to-Cell service to Starlink Mobile, positioning the platform as a scalable satellite-to-mobile solution that’s integrated with global telecom partners.
SpaceX noted that the upcoming Starlink V2 satellites will deliver up to 100 times the data density of the current first-generation system. The company also noted that the new V2 satellites are designed to provide significantly higher throughput capability compared to its current iteration.
“The next generation of Starlink Mobile satellites – V2 – will deliver full cellular coverage to places never thought possible via the highest performing satellite-to-mobile network ever built.
“Driven by custom SpaceX-designed silicon and phased array antennas, the satellites will support thousands of spatial beams and higher bandwidth capability, enabling around 20x the throughput capability as compared to a first-generation satellite,” SpaceX wrote in its official Starlink Mobile page.
Thanks to the higher bandwidth of Starlink Mobile, users should be able to stream, browse the internet, use high-speed apps, and enjoy voice services comparable to terrestrial cellular networks.
In most environments, Starlink says the upgraded system will enable full 5G cellular connectivity with a user experience similar to existing ground-based networks.
The satellites function as “cell towers in space,” using advanced phased-array antennas and laser interlinks to integrate with terrestrial infrastructure in a roaming-like architecture.
“Starlink Mobile works with existing LTE phones wherever you can see the sky. The satellites have an antenna that acts like a cellphone tower in space, the most advanced phased array antennas in the world that connect seamlessly over lasers to any point in the globe, allowing network integration similar to a standard roaming partner,” SpaceX wrote.
Starlink Mobile currently operates with approximately 650 satellites in low-Earth orbit and is active across more than 32 countries, representing over 1.7 billion people through partnerships with mobile network operators. Starlink Mobile’s current partnerships span North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania, allowing reciprocal access across participating nations.
Tesla back on top as Norway’s EV market surges to 98% share in February
Tesla arson suspect pleads guilty, faces up to 70 years in prison
