The BrightDrop Zevo 600, GM’s new all-electric delivery van, could face production constraints stemming from the limited number of Ultium battery cells available, according to an industry analyst.
GM expects to build up 30,000 units of the BrightDrop Zevo 600 per year at the GM CAMI plant. However, in a report by Automotive News Canada, vice president of global vehicle forecasting for AutoForecast Solutions, Sam Fiorani, predicts that only about 16,500 units could be built due to the strong Ultium battery demand from other GM products.
“With such a limited number of batteries available, concentrating on higher priced and potentially higher profit models such as the $115,000 GMC Hummer EV makes more sense than the fleet-focused BrightDrop vans,” Fiorani was quoted as saying.
If the limited supply of Ultium batteries persists for some time, then production of the Zevo 600 may fall even lower. With the impending launch of the Chevy Silverado EV, GMC Sierra EV, Chevy Equinox EV and Chevy Blazer EV, GM may decide to dedicate more batteries to those units rather than the BrightDrop van.
It’s worth noting that the first examples of the Zevo 600 are currently in service in California.
As a reminder, the BrightDrop Zevo 600 began regular production at the GM CAMI plant just a few weeks ago. This recent development came as the result of a massive retooling effort at the facility, where GM managed to install new equipment at the plant in just seven months. As a whole, the Zevo 600 has had an accelerated developmental timeline, requiring just 20 months to establish.
GM has reason to push production of the EV delivery van as quickly as it can. BrightDrop announced back in November 2022 that it’s poised to reach $1 billion in revenue by 2023, which would make it one of the fastest companies to ever hit this milestone. Additionally, BrightDrop expects to achieve $10 billion in revenue by 2030.
In regards to the BrightDrop Zevo 600 specifically, the all-electric delivery van features Ultium batteries and Ultium Drive motors. Offering up to 250 miles of range and 600 cubic feet of cargo space, the Zevo 600 comes equipped with a wide range of standard safety features, including Front and Rear Park Assist, Automatic Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Alert, Following Distance Indicator, Front Pedestrian Braking, and more.
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Comments
Not sure the analyst is correct here – the smaller Chevys will probably have smaller hardware margins, but the biggest potential here is the software margins possible with fleets using Brightdrop’s dedicated software to help manage the fleets. I am sure ongoing software fees won’t be cheap and they can keep them paying for the life of the vehicle. I am sure a lot of Chevy Equinox EV owners will just use Carplay or Android Auto for their software needs rather than pay GM every year.
The writer downplays the 7 month time frame for the “where GM managed to install some equipment” for the “massive retooling”. The entire plant was completely gutted from wall to wall and floor to ceiling. The massive stamping pressess were removed, entire weld / body shop for the Equinox – Terrain were removed. Most of the paint shop including floors between the previous levels of paint production, all storage levels of vehicles between body shop and paint shop and painted body supply before the assembly shop were removed. Massive tear out of concrete floors and filling in of previous pits there to accommodate moving floors and other production equipment were removed and or filled in. Then the new previously assembled production lines developed and tested at the KUKA facility in Michigan were disassembled a reassembled at CAMI, Ingersoll. This was a huge undertaking and was completed in that record 7 months. Given the industry new lead time to plan and develop all of this in such a short time span since inception in December 2019 instead of the previous industry norm of 5 to 7 years is what makes this monumental and commendable to all involved in the process.
LOl not surprised, I’m staying with ICE.
I’m staying with ICE too. No modern refrigeration for me!