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General Motors Planning Battery Electric Work Van

General Motors will produce a battery-electric work van at its Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant in Michigan starting in late 2021, a new report indicates.

GM decided to greenlight the all-electric fleet van so it does not leave the door open for emerging automakers like Tesla to monopolize the market for battery-powered business vehicles, sources familiar with GM’s product plans told Reuters this week. The van, which carries the codename BV1, will ride on the GM’s BEV3 electric vehicle platform and will use the new Ultium lithium-ion battery pack that debuted during its ‘EV Day’ event earlier this year.

In a statement, GM said it is “committed to an all-electric future and is implementing a multi-segment, scalable EV strategy to get there,” but added that it does not have “any announcements to make regarding electric commercial vehicles,” at this time.

The Reuters report published this week is not the first time we have heard rumors of a new battery-electric GM work van. In fact, GM Authority was among the first to report on such a model. Back in 2017, GM published a diagram showing off the large variety of vehicle types that could be underpinned by its new electric vehicle platform. Among them was an electric work van, referred to in the diagram as an ‘LCV’ or ‘Light Commercial Vehicle’, which we theorized early last year could be an electric work van of some type.

Additionally, we heard last year that GM was planning to build both an electric truck and an electric van at its Detroit-Hamtramck plant. We now know the electric truck will be the GMC Hummer EV and it seems the rumors of the electric van are starting to come to fruition as well.

It’s currently not clear if the electric van set to be built at Detroit-Hamtramck will replace the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana, or if it will be a different product entirely. We previously reported the Express and Savana would stay in production until at least 2023, however, so it seems the electric van will arrive before the current Express and Savana are expected to go out of production.

Reuters‘ report indicates GM is also deliberating whether to sell the vehicle under its established Chevrolet or GMC brands or if it should market it under a different brand entirely. GM may even revive the Maven nameplate for the vehicle, the publication also claims, which was the name of its now-defunct app-based car-sharing program.

Design proposal for Rivian electric van

While General Motors may beat Tesla to market in offering a fully electric commercial vehicle, it will still have plenty of competition in the segment when the van goes into production in late 2021. Ford currently has a battery-electric Transit van in the works, which is also expected to arrive for the 2022 model year, and Michigan-based startup Rivian is working on a similar product as well. The Rivian van is being built under contract for Amazon, which gave the upstart a $700 million cash injection to help develop and produce the vehicle. Rivian plans to deliver the first 10,000 units to Amazon by 2021 and have the full 100,000 unit production run on the road by 2030.

We’ll have more details on General Motors’ upcoming electric work van as they become available. For now, be sure to subscribe to GM Authority for more General Motors electric vehicle news, Chevrolet Express news, GMC Savana news and ongoing General Motors news coverage.

Sam loves to write and has a passion for auto racing, karting and performance driving of all types.

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Comments

  1. Game Changer is true. Fleet owners will save a ton of money.

    Reply
    1. Fleet owners will save some money in many incidences, but charging times and higher upfront costs will eat into the savings.

      Reply
      1. Future electric vehicles will charge overnight when no one is driving them, just like present EVs do now. Ask any EV owner (including Volt and Bolt ). Upfront cost is not as much as important, but maintenance savings will pay off their loans sooner. As a perk, there will be very few breakdowns, so the EVS will be running more and longer.

        Reply
    2. As a fleet buyer, I can sure tell you that unless it costs less than 40k, can go at least 250 miles on a charge (while loaded down), and haul 3,000 lbs GM will not get many buyers.

      For 40k, I bought a brand new Sprinter 2500. 3,000 lb payload, and with the v6 diesel, the guy averages 18 mpg.

      For 32k, I can buy a V6 F150 (with a truck cap), loaded to about 1400 lbs it gets around 17 mpg.

      For 38k I can buy a Silverado 2500 diesel that will get about 17 while towing a freaking villlage!

      In business, time is money. I’d much rather spend the money on fuel and have it take 15 mins to fill up, than to risk having guys run out of battery power or forget to plug it in. Then they are wasting time switching trucks, or waiting for the vehicle to charge. Or get home from work, plug it in, but 3 hours later before its fully charged the guy gets called back to work on an emergency. Then hes screwed!

      Reply
      1. I am pretty much in line with you on this. I deal with many sole proprietors in combined rural/urban conditions. G33405 vans are a staple in the HVAC industry, and I have not found a single company interested in any electric replacements.

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      2. And how much does it cost for maintenance on your whole Fleet per year?

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        1. Right around $850 annually.

          You still have to put brakes and tires on an electric vehicle.

          Reply
        2. My EV requires tire rotation and wiper fluid every 7500 miles. That’s it. No oil no radiator fluid. I rarely use brakes due to regenerative brakes. I have to use them just to excessive them once in awhile. Charging stations are now being built that are 150 & 350 KV so that means 10 minute charging. No smog Certs very few moving parts (200) compared to an ICE (2000) and you can charge overnight from battery storage after your solar fills them all day. What you don’t use you sell back to the grid. I charge two vehicles and get a return on my solar monthly. You will be able to plug tools into the truck as well. Clean quite power for the job site. Upfront investment on a vehicle with low maintenance cost and longevity. I’m buying an EV van as soon as they come out for my company.

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      3. As for “filling up”, an EV can do it overnight while parked. Installing a charge station takes few days and every lot can have more than one. Can you fill up a gas or Diesel vehicle while you sleep?

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        1. So I’m going to spend a bunch of money to install 9 car chargers at my shop? And then have to pay to have em installed at houses of employees who may take the truck home at night?

          No I cannot, but it’s easy enough to pull into a fuel station and spend 5 minutes filling up and be back on the road.

          What if an employee forgot to plug in the truck at night? Then he’s spending time transferring tools and material into another vehicle the next morning.

          What if the power goes out at our shop and I have no knowledge of it? Looks like I don’t have a fleet the next day! And convenient too, considering we are electrical contractors…the people you call when storms hit and theres no electricity.

          Reply
          1. That’s what solar and batteries take care of.
            Lead follow or get out of the way. There’s a transportation energy disruption happening like it or not. Trust me once you drive an EV the ICE seems so sluggish and archaic.

            Reply
            1. To prove how great EVs are in the long term, Linda should immediately break out a 2010 eMachine computer and only use that. Because electronics and computers always last at least a decade. And look, you never see ICE vehicles that are from 2010 still on the roads. Oh and forgot to add buzzword buzzword disruption buzzword.

              Reply
  2. no resale value on these. They won’t save as much as you think.

    Reply
  3. A Ford is a Ford. A Tesla is a Tesla. Chevrolet has way too much equity built up in the Chevy Express name and commercial business to go and start up yet another brand name for the Chevy Express van. Just call it what it is.

    Reply
    1. @Matt
      I totally agree with you. Call it the Chevy Express EV

      Reply
  4. You wonder how committed GM really is to “an all electric future” BS if they are going to put this van under a new brand.

    Reply
  5. Under Mary’s management it’ll never happen, she’s to busy having inclusivity committees

    Reply
  6. Call me old fashioned but the thing of most interest to me is whether there will be a gasoline version with a high roof.

    Reply
  7. Oh boy! Another thing that GM won’t be able to supply. GM s a Grand Master at creating demand for things they cannot make.

    Reply
  8. “Ford currently has a battery-electric Transit van in the works” Actually, as published by Ford Authority in a past article, Ford has many electric Transits on public roads, and as far as Great Britain. The electric F-150 will be officially announced soon, and I expect that more than one Transit model will be electric soon. Ford will beat GM, Rivian, and Tesla in the electric truck and van market.

    Reply
  9. I am a fleet manager, and this van is the inevitable future that the company i work for is preparing for. Our fuel bill is insane. We run propane conversions to help cut our gasoline expenses.

    Reply
  10. GM already made an electric van in the early 90s.. i have one

    Reply
  11. ExCDL-Atx driver many truck work jobs (electronic to nursery fuel ….) retired Fed State line driver SSDI Teamster Pension Lifetime . Love to change over to E status van. Widower so plug in nights no matter! Push more toward 300 miles like VW bus claims. Stay AMERICAN USA

    Reply

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