Production of the BrightDrop EV600 electric delivery van will begin at the CAMI Assembly plant in Ontario in November 2022, General Motors confirmed this week.
In a shareholder letter published this week, General Motors Chair and CEO Mary Barra revealed the automaker “will now transition BrightDrop production to CAMI in November 2022.” The automaker had previously intended to begin production of the BrightDrop EV600 at the facility in late 2021, as indicated in a press release first sent out this January.
That said, the first batch of BrightDrop EV600 vehicles is still set to arrive later this year. This initial run of vehicles, which will be delivered to FedEx, will be produced by German automotive supplier Kuka AG at a facility in Livonia, Michigan. Production of the Kuka-built version of the electric delivery van will begin in the coming months, with the first deliveries slated for late 2021. Only about 500 examples of the EV600 will be produced by Kuka.
BrightDrop EV600 production at CAMI will eventually ramp up to two shifts in 2023 and, market permitting, three shifts by as soon as 2024. Production of the Chevy Equinox at the CAMI plant will end in April of next year.
The BrightDrop EV600 is a fully electric delivery van that is powered by GM’s new Ultium Drive electric motors and Ultium lithium-ion batteries. Thanks to this battery-electric powertrain, GM says the EV600 offers over $7,000 in annual operating expensive savings versus an equivalent diesel alternative. The van also has over 600 cubic feet of cargo area, 2,200 lbs of estimated payload capacity and a 250 mile estimated range. It is specially designed to work with the rest of the BrightDrop ecosystem, as well, which includes the EP1 electrically assisted delivery pallet and various fleet support services.
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Comments
Why the one year delay?
I think GM is going to be tight on batteries with the Bolt recall, Hummer and Lyriq launch, they are going to use up all their capacity at LG in MI, and until the Lordstown plant gets up to full production, which will take a year or more after it starts production. Battery plants start very slow, if you rush battery plant start up we might be Bolt style recalls on the Hummer’s and Lyriq’s.
The Bolt recall shouldn’t affect this as it’s old battery architecture/ tech that only affects the the 2017-2019 model years (when the batteries were sourced directly from South Korea). From what I remember reading, it has more to do with retooling the existing plant which is currently building Chevy Equinoxes. Once they move production to Mexico, they will revamp the plant to start building the EV600.
Of course the Bolt recall will effect this…. Where do you think the batteries come from? Out of Thin air? LG has a plant in Holland Michigan, which produces the current Bolt, and EUV batteries, and has the pilot lines for Ultium Cells, which they have been building for about a year to power the HummerEV, Lyriq, and Bright Drop EV600 prototypes. That Holland plant is maxed out already, before the Bolt recall, and now GM needs an extra 60k battery packs to replace the 2017-2019 Bolt ASAP… Building battery cells has to be done carefully and methodically. If you tool the plant for 10 gWh annually you do not magically get 15 gWh annually to cover a recall.
As for CAMI the work on the plant is already underway, new paint shop, and body shop, it will also reset to a final assembly like Factory Zero, with individual stations instead of a moving line.
The battery technology of the Bolt and the Ultium battery are NOT the same. Different chemistry, different production process, and different production lines.
You said it yourself – the batteries are being produced for the prototypes. Not the production models. The plants in Ohio and Tennessee will be production.
The idea that the Bolt battery replacement is somehow going to set back GM’s future product outside of the BEV2 platform doesn’t track.
They probably have to retool a plant for the Equinox. It will be a challenge since the Nox’ moves 200k units a year. Mexico cannot handle all of that capacity so Orion or Fairfax may pick up the slack.
Cami should start making Geo Metro’s again. Proven quality!
If I was a cami worker I wouldn’t be too happy. Noway do they sell as many brightdrops then equinox. They’re going to go from 3 shifts to 1 soon. This is yet another win for Mexico and a loss for Canada.
Mary hates Unifor…..and especially Cami since that wildcat strike a few years back. The EV600 will never achieve sales numbers to support 3 or even 2 shifts, and demand will be so erratic that it will be a constant state of layoffs and call backs. Ingersoll is one of my favorite plants to be in, great people but their union leadership is too combative IMO.