General Motors plans to launch a new, fully electric van, the EV600, by this year. The first 500 vehicles will be sold to FedEx.
GM
General Motors said on Tuesday it plans to launch a fully electric van called the EV600 this year.
The van – part of GM’s plan to invest $ 27 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles by 2025 – will be the first vehicle under a new commercial business unit in GM called BrightDrop. According to Pam Fletcher, vice president of global innovation, the EV600 will be capable of up to 250 miles per charge.
“The game changer about BrightDrop is that it’s a one-stop ecosystem,” Fletcher said. “End-to-end, BrightDrop can help with the deliveries that fleet needs.”
Fletcher declined to discuss pricing and other details, but she said BrightDrop products will be sold via a new independent sales and service network. She said GM has a complete portfolio of electrical products, not just vehicles, planned for BrightDrop.
The first 500 buses will go to FedEx starting this year, Fletcher said. Wider availability of the vans is expected in early 2022. The EV600 is the first commercial vehicle with GM’s next-generation Ultium battery system, on which the carmaker spent billions as the basis for future EVs.
GM’s first BrightDrop product is the EP1, an electric pallet supported by propulsion, designed to move goods easily over short distances – for example from the delivery vehicle to the customer’s front door.
GM
The commercial market is expected to be a major growth area for EVs. Other new carmakers like Amazon-backed Rivian, as well as carmakers like Ford Motor and Daimler, have announced plans to enter the segment. GM estimates that the combined market opportunity for parcels, food delivery and reverse logistics in the US will be more than $ 850 billion by 2025.
The EV600 will be the second product under the new BrightDrop brand. The first will be an electric pallet with propulsion, called EP1, Fletcher said. It has been developed to easily transport goods over short distances – for example from the delivery vehicle to the customer’s front door. It is expected to go on sale early this year, Fletcher said.
“The interest in these products has been tremendous,” Fletcher said. According to a pilot program with FedEx of the pallets last year, drivers were able to deliver 25% more packages per day, she said. The pallets, like all the products of the company, will be electric and contain functions for logistical purposes.
BrightDrop CEO Travis Katz, who joined venture capital firm Redpoint Ventures this month, said the company’s mission is to develop a new range of “intelligent, connected products and services” aimed at to help commercial enterprises improve the efficiency and safety of employees.
The first vehicle from GM’s BrightDrop is the EV600 – an electric light commercial vehicle specially built for the delivery of goods and services with a distance of up to 250 kilometers per charge.
GM