The 2026 Chevy BrightDrop is the second model year for the electric commercial van in the Chevrolet lineup. The model line includes two variants: the short-wheelbase 400 and the long-wheelbase 600. Now, GM Authority has learned when production will begin for these work-ready EVs.
The start of regular production (SORP) for the 2026 Chevy BrightDrop line is scheduled for July 14th, 2025. Dealers will be able to submit orders starting on April 17th, 2025. These dates are tentative and subject to change.
No major changes are expected for the 2026 Chevy BrightDrop. Like on other GM EVs, we are expecting the integration of a native North American Charging Standard (NACS) connector rather than the Combined Charging System (CCS) port that GM EVs currently use.
GM previously said its EVs would get a NACS port sometime in 2025, but the automaker later added that it would be introduced on some 2026 model-year vehicles. However, we know that the 2026 Cadillac Vistiq and 2026 Cadillac Lyriq-V will still have a CCS port. A native NACS port would eliminate the need for an adapter to charge at a Tesla Supercharger station, which GM EVs finally got access to last fall.
As we recently reported, 300 U.S. Chevy dealers have signed up to sell BrightDrop vans in 2025, a sharp increase from just seven dealers that sold them in 2024. BrightDrop customers have largely been big companies like Merchants Fleet, FedEx and Walmart ordering by the thousands, but with the number of U.S. Chevy dealers offering BrightDrop vans increasing from seven to 300, the electric vans will be more widely available for small businesses.
The Chevy BrightDrop’s sole production site is the GM CAMI Assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario. Since these vans are exclusively built in Canada, they could be subject to new tariffs from the U.S., which President Donald Trump has threatened to impose up to 100 percent. However, tariffs on Canadian imports are on hold for now as negotiations on trade and border security continue.
General Motors announced last August that it was moving its all-electric BrightDrop commercial vans under the Chevrolet brand, effective for the 2025 model year. GM Authority suggested way back in March that it was only a matter of time before BrightDrop would fall under the Chevy brand umbrella. General Motors frames the move as an expansion to the Chevy EV portfolio, giving customers “access to one of the industry’s largest and most extensive commercial sales and service networks.”
Comments
Is this only sold to Fleet customers or can any customer order one?
Wonder how many billions gm has lost producing and selling these sleds.
This is basically GM’s version of an electric Isuzu NPR or their take on a Rivian van. The gum ball name is absolutely doing a disservice to the product. It will never be remembered fondly of. They would do well to rename it. If they wanted to sell in volume; drop the price. Or continue to wither until they drop production in usual GM form. They will say “it didn’t sell well”. You think? Was it the name or the price? An electric express would have sold better. An electric body on frame would have sold better.
Hummer and ‘Silverado’ EV are “lifestyle” vehicles and not work vehicles. Maybe if the economy was like it was back in the Hummer H2 days they would sell. But GM seems to have no memory or any pulse on the economy or reality.
I thought GM understood the new economy when Trax/Envista were introduced. Unfortunately, that was a one off to increase S Korean plant efficiency.
GM wants high margins so overprices. Barra was so proud of Bright Drop that it premiered like an indepent division. GM does this to peak investor interest much like GM Defense.
GM tried to be Tesla and, in the process, skipped hybrids even though they had the technology. Volt was excellently made but instead of calling it an ultra hybrid the company introduced a vehicle no one understood.
The salvage yard is filled with great GM ideas that failed!