The BrightDrop EV600 electric delivery van will at first be built in an unused area of the GM CAMI Assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario while the actual assembly line is being prepared for full series production.
According to Automotive News, the first examples of the BrightDrop EV600 will be built in a body shop area of the Canadian plant that is currently sitting empty. The EV600 is set to enter production later this year, with the first 500 examples set to be delivered to FedEx.
CAMI in Ingersoll, Ontario
The assembly line at the CAMI plant will continue to build the Chevrolet Equinox throughout 2022 before production of the crossover ends late in the year. The redesigned next-generation Equinox is due to arrive for the 2024 model year and will be built at two GM plants in Mexico, AN reports. Once Equinox production moves to Mexico, full series production of the BrightDrop EV600 on the assembly line at CAMI will begin.
The BrightDrop EV600 is among the first products from GM’s newly launched BrightDrop delivery and logistics brand. The light commercial electric van has an estimated 250 miles of range thanks to its GM Ultium battery and Ultium Drive motor technology and supports DC fast charging at rates of up to 120 kW. The van also boasts a maximum payload of just under 10,000 pounds and 600 cubic feet of cargo area.
GM Authority recently compared the BrightDrop EV600 dimensions to that of some of its closest ICE-powered rivals and found the van to be bigger than much of the competition in crucial areas like length, height and width. Its payload is lower than many comparable ICE offerings, however.
GM recently announced it would invest $791 million USD into the CAMI plant in order to retool it for BrightDrop EV600 production. Around 1,900 hourly workers are currently employed at the facility. Local labor union Unifor said previously that it expects the employment levels to remain the same at the plant once the Equinox departs and full production of the EV600 begins in late 2023.
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Comments
I’m one of the people who got extremely excited about these vehicles but unfortunately this update doesn’t sound promising. Bodyshop? Seriously, what is this ,Ringbrothers? GM better get its stuff together and bring the dam vehicle on the market as soon as possible, before it’s tool late, all the hungry rivals about the launch their entries in this calendar year.
Doesn’t really matter when rivals are launching; it’s about contracts. Rivian has Amazon and GM has FedEx and other unnamed customers.
So, you got one contract with FedEx and you are good now? You don’t want to sell anybody else and make much more money? And after delivering the final vehicle to FedEx you will pull the plug on this vehicle?
How about pursuing more contracts and also the retail market? Selling millions of this sucker and printing money?
Here’s a new enormous contract opportunity for you;
“President Joe Biden said Monday that the entire U.S. federal fleet of vehicles would be replaced by EVs made in the United States. The U.S. fleet is made up of 645,000 vehicles”
If they keep continue drag the program this and all other contract will go to others, you can’t sell vaporware or the concept vehicles that barely put together in empty spaces in body shops. You need proven platforms that already in serial production. This is the best thing GM has come up with for a very long time and i don’t want them to mess this up.
If you want GM to get the “dam vehicle” on the market as soon as possible, then you do exactly what they’re doing. That way you can make the vehicle without having to wait for assembly line tooling to be designed, manufactured and problems worked out.
I worked at this plant until I retired last year. The body shop they’re talking about is a huge weld shop that was left vacant after we retooled for the high-volume equinox/terrain in a new weld shop they added on. While I can’t say exact sq. footage, we are easily talking about a Walmart, parking lot included, size of building. This is one of GMs newer plants so this new endeavour will be given all the space it needs!
Don’t see how the two Mexican plants can handle 200k units more of the Eqinox AND build Evs without the Terrain and/or Blazer being moved to a US plant.
So Ingersoll’s whole wagon gets hitched to this thing in 2023? Great, fickle low profit fleet business….not exactly the kind of thing an outside vendor (me) likes to hear.
Mexico won’t build EVs.
The Chevy and Honda EV CUVs are going to be built in Mexico.
Not to mention that 90 skilled trades people will be given permanent layoffs when the Equinox comes to an end. When Mexico gets Covid under control they can run 60 jobs per hour on two ten hour shifts with betyer profit margins. CAMI can only run 42 jobs per hiur and only have staff for two shifts. In my minds eye Equinox will end early at CAMI the bulldozers will come in and there will be a big lay off while tje new li es come in tje this bright drop. Mind you this vehicle need limited automation to assemble it goes together like lego with a wiring harness. Skilled workers at CAMI with less than 10 years seniority better start looking for work now……