Fleet Renewal with Electric Vehicles at La Poste

We provide a decision model for La Poste, the French national postal operator, to address its adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) for mail and parcel distribution. Two competing technologies are available—internal combustion vehicles (ICVs) and EVs. We consider uncertainty about future fuel price and future EV battery costs. Within this framework, we derive the optimal timing of EV adoption and sensitivities to key model parameters. We evaluate the total cost of fleet renewal over a 15-year horizon and the value of flexibility stemming from technology and timing options. This allows us to formulate an optimal strategy for EV adoption for La Poste and to support negotiations with major stakeholders, including energy companies and EV manufacturers.