General engines he teased many new electric vehicles in its digital presentation Consumer Electronics Show, including Cadillac’s iconic pilot Celestiq and a pair of Corvette-looking crossovers, which are apparently Buicks. There was also a Chevy truck. Lots of electric vehicles, really.
Given all those fresh faces, it’s easy to miss one of the more grounded, more concrete GM ads of the day. This would be BrightDrop, a new GM company that will build commercial electric vehicles for delivery companies – as well as software solutions to connect them and help customers manage their fleets.
Right now, BrightDrop is two products that GM says will begin deliveries this year. In December 2021, the EV600 will take place, the first BrightDrop van, which is powered by the same Ultium battery platform as GM’s consumer EVs.
The EV600 has an estimated range of 250 miles on a charge and should be able to offer a range of 170 miles after a connected hour, thanks to the fast speed of 120 kilowatts loading. Inside, the EV600 will provide more than 600 cubic meters of cargo space. FedEx will receive the first 500 BrightDrop versions of the EV600.
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The EV600 is, as my colleague Justin put it, “a beautiful van.” However, it seems to play a more important role in BrightDrop’s plans.
More interesting is the EP1, an electric pallet that has a built-in motor to facilitate movement. GM says the EP1 will start reaching customers immediately after this month. The EP1 has been designed to be easy to move in tight spaces, easy to load and unload from delivery vehicles, and several can be chained together for larger deliveries.
As it turns out, FedEx tested EP1 and saw encouraging early results. According to FedEx Regional President for America Richard Smith:
BrightDrop products will help FedEx Express meet unprecedented demand, improve safety, security and timeliness of deliveries, reduce our impact on the environment and protect the well-being of our couriers.
In an initial pilot we ran with BrightDrop EP1, our FedEx Express couriers were able to efficiently and safely manage 25% more packages per day. The feedback from our team members was excellent. EP1s were easy to handle and helped reduce physical exertion. We are so pleased, we have a second EP1 driver scheduled to take place this quarter and we expect the results to be even more impactful.
Pam Fletcher, GM’s vice president of global innovation, suggested that Detroit Free Press that BrightDrop negotiated transactions with customers beyond FedEx:
“You will have a sense of how we treat this opportunity – making it an independent business, a great team and a new leader – that we think the possibilities with this are very impressive,” Fletcher said. “The contribution it will make is more than worth the commitment.”
Fletcher added that “the bottom line contribution will start very quickly,” because BrightDrop already has letters of intent from customers beyond FedEx, but she declined to name them.
One thing absent from BrightDrop’s revelation was any pricing discussion for the EV600 or EP1. Ford promised the future E-Transit will start under $ 45,000 when it is revealed that the electric van in November. However, E-Transit appears to target both commercial and commercial sales BrightDrop only courtesy commercial customers at this time.
The E-Transit is also designed to offer half the EV600’s range: 126 miles, compared to 250. That might seem like a glaring shortcoming from Ford, but remember: Delivery vans make many short trips.
Indeed, much of the Ford language surrounding E-Transit seems to prioritize a low cost of ownership and a low need for costly maintenance over vans powered by internal combustion engines. It’s quite different from how GM introduced the EV600, as the economic maintenance of the van, especially for small businesses, was not mentioned in the keynote. (For what it’s worth, official page EV600 projects “over $ 7,000 in annual operating cost savings compared to [a] diesel alternative. ”)
Then again, the way GM launches BrightDrop, the van side seems almost like a later thought. GM sees BrightDrop as a “delivery ecosystem” for large companies that need it – not just a commercial electric vehicle manufacturer. And the future of BrightDrop clearly revolves around the EP1, not the EV600.
In the keynote, Fletcher talked about the company exploring several vehicle concepts, including a “medium-distance solution that carries multiple EP1s,” as well as a “fast cargo delivery concept” van that can open a side panel and place a few EP1 sidewalks at once. GM is obviously affected by this idea of the electric pallet.
Commercial vehicles offer a major opportunity for electrification to bring about positive change. This is especially true for delivery vans, which spend a lot of time idling and produce disproportionately large emissions for the short distances they travel. I hope BrightDrop can do something good here; Also, I wouldn’t mind an army of EP1s making my request.