General Motors (GM) received 25,000 reservations for its BrightDrop EV600 cargo van. The BrightDrop cargo van is part of GM’s Ultium Platform, a key factor in the company’s plans of launching ~20 electric vehicles in North America by 2025.
“Some of the world’s largest fleet customers, including FedEx Express, Merchants Fleet, and Walmart, are adopting BrightDrop’s electric vehicles and technology to make their delivery operations more efficient. All told, we have more than 25,000 production reservations for BrightDrop cargo vans,” GM stated in its Q4 and Full-Year 2021 Shareholders Letter.
In December 2021, GM delivered the first BrightDrop electric light commercial van to FedEx. On December 17, 2021, the shipping company reported receiving five BrightDrop cargo vans out of an order of 500. FedEx aims to operate an all-electric, zero-emission global pickup and delivery fleet by 2040.
Merchants Fleet, a fast-growing fleet management company in the United States, also plans on procuring some BrightDrop cargo vans. GM reported that Merchants Fleet intends to purchase at least 18,000 BrightDrop electric vehicles. As per public announcements on November 18, 2021, Merchant Fleet plans to buy 12,600 BrightDrop EV600s and reserved 5,400 BrightDrop EV410s. The fleet management company expects BrightDrop EV600s to enter its clients’ fleets by early 2023. Merchant Fleet aims to have 50% of its mobility fleet portfolio be electric by 2025 and 50% of its managed fleet portfolio fully electric by 2030.
GM will also be supplying BrightDrop EV600 cargo vans to Walmart. The American multinational retail corporation signed an agreement with General Motors to reserve 5,000 BrightDrop EV600 and the smaller EV410 delivery van. Walmart plans to use the BrightDrop electric vans for its InHome delivery service. The company will hire more than 3,000 associate delivery drivers for its all-electric fleet of delivery vans. Walmart aims to operate a 100% zero-emissions logistics fleet by 2040.
Overall, General Motors reported strong demand for the BrightDrop cargo van in its Earnings Deck Q4 2021. The legacy automaker plans to invest ~0.5 billion to expand its BrightDrop business.
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