The BrightDrop EV600 all-electric delivery vehicle is poised to offer emissions-free cargo moving using the latest in General Motors EV technology. Interestingly, the BrightDrop EV600 is the fastest-built vehicle in General Motors’ history with regard to development from concept to commercialization.
General Motors recently announced that the first production builds of the new BrightDrop EV600 are now complete. The all-electric light commercial vehicle will be used by FedEx for last-mile deliveries throughout the upcoming holiday season.
The BrightDrop EV600 was developed in a mere 20 months, and is equipped with General Motors’ Ultium battery platform. The BrightDrop EV600 was also developed using the same virtual processes implemented with the new GMC Hummer EV.
General Motors is partnering with a U.S. supplier partner for initial low-volume production. Conversion of the automaker’s CAMI Assembly Plant in Ingersoll, Canada is currently underway. When the upgrade is completed next year, the CAMI facility will serve as the large-scale BrightDrop EV600 production base, with production expected to ramp up by November of 2022.
“Getting our first electric vehicles on the streets in record time before another peak holiday shipping season is the best gift we could receive this year, especially when we consider the supply chain headwinds the world is facing right now,” said BrightDrop president and CEO, Travis Katz. “This is a strong statement to the market of how our unique operations setup, which marries the cutting-edge innovation, agility and focus of a technology startup with the scale and manufacturing might of a major automaker, can deliver real value to both customers and the planet.”
General Motors says that fleet managers can expect an estimated annual savings of $7,000 with the all-electric BrightDrop EV600 as compared to an equivalent, diesel-powered vehicle.
In addition, General Motors has announced the new BrightDrop EV410, a mid-size all-electric light commercial vehicle designed for shorter, more-frequent trips. Verizon is the first customer slated to use the new BrightDrop EV410 as part of its field maintenance and service fleet.
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Comments
That is quite fast in the auto industry, and this is a segment the will see explosive growth, as delivery companies cannot afford to compete against EV delivery vans with diesel. UPS, FED EX, and others cannot afford not to buy these as not having them is a huge competitive disadvantage. Fed Ex says each truck will save them $7K per year in fuel and maintenance cost, not to mention much nicer to drive for their workers.
I work at a massive warehouse with over 3k people per shift. And we are nation wide we just got thousands of Mercedes’ Benz sprinter vans and more in order. These won’t be as popular as you think.
Well lets see… Amazon ordered 100K from Rivian as a first step, with an option for 500K over 10 years. Thats a lot of vans, UPS, FedEX, and others will have to follow suit, as you simply cannot be competitive with Diesel. So the cold hard business facts don’t support your comment. I see GM selling 20-30K of these a year with ease, and up to 100K a year by 2025.
Businesses order things all the time following through with it is another thing. Funny thing you mention Amazon I work at Amazon and they are notorious for placing orders on things they refuse later.
Haha, I figured you clean toilets at Amazon, hence pointing out that Amazon ordered 100K. Clearly you are not a business manager at Amazon, as Amazon is heavily invested in BEV’s and their “Climate Pledge” . They don’t share the business plan with janitors like you… Amazon has also invested $ Billions into Rivian, and is the largest outside shareholder.
Here is what Bezos said in 2019…
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said the company has placed an order for 100,000 electric delivery vans from Michigan-based startup Rivian. The announcement came during an event on Thursday in Washington, DC where Bezos unveiled Amazon’s sweeping plan to tackle climate change.
Bezos said he expects 100,000 Rivian vans to be on the road by 2024, according to USA Today reporter Nathan Bomey. The first vans will hit the road in 2021, with prototypes possibly arriving as soon as 2020.
Indeed the first vans have been delivered to Amazon and are running on routes today.
I’m an assistant manager but hey whatever you need to say to make yourself feel better about your massive company with your 2 employees. How many of these do you have on order? Amazon employees don’t clean the toilets either they have another company come in and do it.
Don’t argue with this guy. This dude does nothing but lie he claims he has all this stock in all these companies but everyone knows he is joker who is broke. Stick around for a while and you will see yourself with this guy says. He also believes he is a financial advisor lol. He said the other day his supposed “employees” are all vaccinated because he would fire them if they didn’t and claimed they were “smart” even though he has not idea about the long term side affects. The dude is a shill for gm that beats his own drum constantly. Just ignore him and downvote him.
Wow, such a mature comment… Clearly you have not read my comments very closely as I bash GM quite often (if they deserve it) and complement them also when they deserve it. As for vaccines, and employees, if the employees do not what to do what is best for themselves, the company, and society in general, they should be fired. As for the Vaccine, we are not doctors or scientists, so we personally have no idea what the long time effects are, but the doctors and scientists that run the FDA, approved it, and I tend to trust the system overall. I get on airplanes too, trusting the airline has done their due diligence to make the flight safe, so far it has worked out.
Now, with your comment about just ignoring and downvoting, wow, that really shows some intelligence, and great strategy. If you believe that I am broke, it must be true, regardless, does it matter? If I am rich or broke, does it make any difference to you or in your life? I don’t think so! I wonder why I get so much rent free space in your mind? Weird…
Haha, back to your original post that BEV Vans are not going to take over and see explosive growth, we find that your own company, where you are assumed to be an assistant manager of the janitors closet, has ordered 100K BEV vans, and invested billions into an EV startup. Hmmm, seems your assessment of your own surroundings are a bit off… and clearly you don’t know a thing about the strategic plans within your own company. As for my company, we have investments into EV’s and EV companies, as clearly this is a disruptive time in the auto industry, there is money to be made with foresight.
What do your 2 employees think about your “supposed ev plan”? Or do they know not to question the führer sorry I meant “boss”
Do you happen to know if it’s true that the final design of the Tesla cybertruck will look a lot different then the one we have seen so far? I hope that rumor is not true I will be the first to admit that I did not like the cybertruck at first but now I love it. I think between it and the rivian truck and suv they are the best looking electric vehicles. I am honesty considering buying a cybertruck when it’s available it will be my first ev.
I have no idea what is going on with Cybertruck, it will be interesting to see. I did see a spy photo of a windshield that looks to be sized for a Cybertruck, but was not flat glass, so the final version might have some curves for aerodynamic benefits.
What do you think about the cybertruck? Do you like it? If you don’t mind me asking where did you see the spy photos?
I am not a fan of the Cybertruck design, to me it has some glaring issues besides the awful esthetic. In a crew cab truck, the back seat should sit level to or be higher then the front seat, so the people in the back do not feel like they are in a dungeon , In the Cybertruck the rear seat is lower than the front due to the sloping roof line, this to me would be awkward. If you search Tesla Glass pics, you will see the photo come up. To me that large glass looks like a ringer for the opening of the cyber truck, and would not fit any of their other vehicles. We may be getting close to seeing a real Cybertruck production prototype as I am sure they windshield was for something?
Doesn’t that just demonstrate how popular these will be?
All you did was state that large corporations still need vans. Which is what this is.
What a stupid comment.
This article is incorrect as the fastest developed car was the Pontiac Solstice, which went from concept to full production in 18 months! This kind of development is easy when you use already proven parts. The solstice used a Malibu engine and shortened Colorado driveline. All that they needed was the body and frame to splice it all together. Of course this delivery van also is an easy construction as it doesn’t bring anything new to to table and it doesn’t need to look any better than a lego brick
I was a GM Design Manager on the Solstice and an now the GM Design Manager of the Brightdrop EV600. Both were fast-to-market challenges and both achieved amazing things on short timelines. Thanks for the reminder that we’ve done crazy-quick programs before. I will say the EV600 was a much bigger leap considering it’s a real segment-buster of a vehicle and required entirely new manufacturing, engineering, design and part sourcing plans. I t probably didn’t NEED to look better than a Lego brick but I think it does 🙂
I hope this works out but unfortunately gm’s favorite word other than China is recall.
The General has a difficult time launching a vehicle in normal time and having everything run smoothly. With the automotive climate the way it is currently and the General in hot water already with the bolt and its electrical problems, perhaps rushing onto a brand new segment and bragging about the timeframe at which you do it may not be the best amd most secure way to develop this new product.
What about poster boys at the Blue Oval that haven’t had a good launch in a decade?. I’ve only seen a handful of overpriced Broncos..
The Bronco launch has been a disaster, quality problems and recalls already… But the vehicle is cool as heck, I see them every day now.
Disaster is a nice way of putting it.
Yea like the $10k markup my dealer did on mine. I walked and got a 22 Jeep Wrangler Willy’s on order.
The United States Postal Service needs a new fleet. To bad they don’t look into these. They would need to be right hand drive. These look a lot better than the ugly ones they are looking at getting.
I think GM will go after then next, right now Osh Kosh has the contract, but only for the first batch, then it goes out for a new RFP
Do these come with fire insurance?
They come with a fire extinguisher and a hot discount.
Different battery technology, you dunce.
Fishing for likes again I see
GM will capture most future delivery vehicle sales because very shortly they will offer EV delivery vehicles with (mostly) autonomous driving. Initially, we’ll see advanced Level 4, speed limited, geo-fenced, but those qualifiers will decrease rapidly. Amazon will try, but it won’t be as good as GM. Google can try, but the GM system will get there “the fastest with the mostest”. UPS, USPS, FedEx, will all go GM EV/AV.
Cruise and Waymo got their permits today to run real autonomous robotaxi’s in San Fransisco. Science fiction becoming Science Fact.
Not hard to see why these were developed in just 20 months…..boxes on electric chassis with no windows. GM needs something for the everyday consumer to replace the aging Express and Savana vans, and possibly making a smaller version of that consumer EV van…..the more options for the public, the better.