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BrightDrop To Get Its Own Dealer Network

General Motors is gearing up to offer a range of new electrified commercial delivery vehicles and services under the BrightDrop brand. Now, General Motors says that BrightDrop will get its own dedicated dealer network to help support growth.

According to a recent report from Reuters, the new BrightDrop dealer network will be smaller than GM’s retail network and will be focused on urban markets, as confirmed by BrightDrop chief executive Travis Katz. The automaker is currently in talks with existing GM dealers, but could expand as well.

Katz also said that the new BrightDrop dealer network will be designed to serve major fleet customers under contract with GM, such as Verizon and FedEx.

With an expansion in global e-commerce, General Motors has framed BrightDrop as essential to the automaker’s growth, with revenue expected to top $10 billion by 2030 and profit margins around the low-20 percent mark.

General Motors has previously stated that it expects to double its revenue by 2030.

According to Katz, there are currently no plans to spin-off the BrightDrop business or seek outside investors, as GM did with its autonomous vehicle subsidiary, Cruise. Rather, Katz said that BrightDrop is structured and run as a wholly owned entity.

The first BrightDrop vehicle to market is the EV600, an all-electric light commercial vehicle built for the delivery of goods and services. Produced at GM’s CAMI Assembly plant in Ingersoll, the EV600 boasts an estimated range-per-charge of 250 miles, with a peak charging rate of 170 miles per hour when connected to a a 120-kW DC quick-charger. Those specs are courtesy of GM’s Ultium battery and Ultium drive motor technology.

The BrightDrop EV600 also offers 600 cubic-feet of cargo room, and a GVWR of less than 10,000 pounds. Drivers will have a wealth of safety technology features at their disposal, including Front and Rear Parking Assist, Automatic Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Alert, and Following Distance Indicator, among others.

A smaller BrightDrop EV410 commercial vehicle is expected by 2023.

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Jonathan is an automotive journalist based out of Southern California. He loves anything and everything on four wheels.

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Comments

  1. Interesting , I thought GM would find a way to direct sell these.. Thats too bad that they are establishing dealers, as that just eats a part of the margin.

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    1. Maybe the sale will include some type of maintenance agreement that the dealer will manage? Or, are they expecting significant quantities to be purchased by smaller companies that don’t have their own maintenance team and GM wants them to have the support needed if there are issues?

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      1. Anything is possible, but I would think GM has enough demand just from big fleets that maintain themselves for at least the first 5 years of production.

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      2. Onsite and at night too. Just go mobile technicians.Amazon DSP’s have huge issues because to keep these vehicles on the road by day these services and maintenance must be done by night.Not that EV’s have a lot of maintenance but latches,lights and tires are a lot in delivery vehicles.Getting these things done at night are a big advantage.

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    2. It sounds more like GM is selling direct and dealers are handling the deliveries and service. But hard to tell exactly

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    3. Not sure why Brightdrop would consider selling through any existing dealers.These dealers are one of the biggest enemies of EV adoption.I think that GM should have an entirely separate brand and division for all EV’s and sell factory direct.Completely seperate service centers or even field technicians.The legacy dealers do not want to sell them,service them or invest in any tooling or training either.

      Reply
  2. I’m guessing dealers are going to be apprehensive, seeing as how dealers have been screwed in the past with Hummer and Saturn and with the corporate re-design deals…..

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  3. Not sure why Brightdrop would consider selling through any existing dealers.These dealers are one of the biggest enemies of EV adoption.I think that GM should have an entirely separate brand and division for all EV’s and sell factory direct.Completely seperate service centers or even field technicians.The legacy dealers do not want to sell them,service them or invest in any tooling or training either.

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    1. Amazon has a huge issue with their DSP’s because in order to keep these delivery vehicles on the road by day the maintenance and services must be done at night.UPS is like this.

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  4. I think GM should have a separate division and brand for all EVs.These legacy dealers are the worst enemy of EV adoption.They don’t want to sell them,service them or invest in any of the tooling or training.Just sell them factory direct and have separate service centers or mobile field techs if they are going to compete in the EV space.

    Reply
  5. Just go mobile technicians.Amazon DSP’s have huge issues because to keep these vehicles on the road by day these services and maintenance must be done by night.Not that EV’s have a lot of maintenance but latches,lights and tires are a lot in delivery vehicles.Getting these things done at night are a big advantage.

    Reply
  6. “Two all-electric Rivian EDV vans were recently seen on a highway by Overland Travel Adventures, but without any further details in the description.”

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  7. I am going to have to do the Adventure Van and Overland expos soon.

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  8. I have a personal thing with UPS and I think I could wipe them and their drivers union out.”I am the chief transportation engineer here and you are just a cardboard slinging delivery boy.”

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  9. A modular multifuel free piston linear generator/range extender would round out the Overland package quite nicely too.

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  10. It will be like an Iveco Daily Overland but electric.

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  11. Whaaaaa!”France’s Gaussin is developing a range of hydrogen-electric commercial vehicles, and to prove the technology the company will enter one specially developed for racing in the 2022 Dakar Rally.
    The version developed for the Dakar is known as the H2 Racing Truck, and it will be entered in a new alternative energy class being introduced in the 2022 rally.”

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    1. You just never know where you are going to have to deliver packages to.

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  12. Rivian is already searching for field service engineers.

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  13. I am working a deal with Bezos right now,okay?”Rivian had disclosed the vans would have a range of between 120 miles and 150 miles depending on their size. But that range is much lower depending on the weather, the report said.”

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  14. Ford pulled out of Rivian too and Tesla ain’t got no batteries.

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  15. Who needs chargers when you have Magment and Momentum Dynamics? “A big challenge is clearly on the vehicle side, agreed Mauricio Esguerra, chief executive and co-founder of Magment. “The automotive industry is so busy with making batteries, making software, so that confronting them right now with inductive charging is a priority which is far away. The spirit of this project is to concentrate first on the technical challenges of demonstrating that it works.””

    Reply
  16. Bus charged 7-10 minutes every hour, up to 16 hours/day, maintaining 75% SOC.
    Battery Usage
    Opportunity charging (Partial State of Charge) enabled over 190% of bus battery capacity per day.
    Driving Range
    Range extension of up to 313 miles, or essentially unlimited driving range.
    Weather Impacts
    No impacts from extreme hot or cold temperatures. Charged through snow and ice with no service interruptions.

    Reply

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