Industry
General Motors Co halted its bid in the growing electric delivery vehicle industry Tuesday, with CEO Mary Barra announcing plans to deliver the first BrightDrop commercial vans to FedEx by the end of the year.
PHOTO FILE: Mary Teresa Barra, Chairman and CEO of General Motors Company is present at the unveiling of the C8 Corvette mid-engine, the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 2020, in Tustin, California, USA, July 18, 2019. REUTERS / Mike Blake
DETROIT: General Motors Co. halted its bid in the growing electric delivery vehicle industry Tuesday, with CEO Mary Barra announcing plans to deliver the first BrightDrop commercial vans to FedEx before the end of the year.
The move puts square GM in competition in the commercial sector with crosstown rival Ford Motor Co. as well as start-ups such as Rivian, Arrival and Canoo who are developing electric commercial vehicles for customers from Amazon to Hyundai Motor.
Reduced to some extent by the COVID-19 outbreak, GM estimates that the U.S. market for parcels and food delivery will reach more than US $ 850 billion by 2025. And one segment is Tesla’s EV sales director is yet to crack.
Barra said BrightDrop will offer a range of products and services to delivery and logistics customers such as FedEx that will benefit the automaker’s experience in fleet electronics and management.
The BrightDrop EV600 will use a version of the GM Ultium battery system that will power many of the company’s electric vehicles in the future, including the Hummer EV build and the Cadillac Lyriq crossover.
Barra introduced BrightDrop in an online keynote address at the annual CES tech and tool show.
In a pre-presentation briefing, Pam Fletcher, vice president of global innovation, said the EV600 is a large purpose-built delivery van with a range of 250 miles (400 km) between costs, with a long list of advanced. security features and established internet connection.
Unlike Cruise, a GM-owned, San Francisco-based self-driving startup that is developing the robotaxi industry, BrightDrop does not plan to operate its own fleet of vehicles, but will focus on providing electric vans and related services to commercial customers.
A source familiar with the details of the EV600 said it will share its basic core architecture with the Hummer EV and a mix of other large GM trucks and SUVs that will hit the market over the next three years.
The first 500 units will go to FedEx before the end of the year, with delivery to other customers starting in early 2022, Fletcher said.
The BrightDrop commercial van family could eventually include a smaller model designed for medium-speed delivery and a larger model designed for fast loading and unloading, she said.
In November, GM said it would challenge Tesla with increased consumption and accelerated vehicle production targets. The higher investment will be funded by extended construction and SUV production.
Tesla’s high market capitalization, and growing pressure from regulators to eliminate carbon-emitting gasoline engines, have pushed established traders to accelerate the production of EVs, even if these models fail. -now promises less profit than conventional trucks and SUVs.
GM said it planned to increase spending on electric and autonomous vehicles to US $ 27 billion by 2023, up 35 percent from previously announced plans. The Detroit automaker will offer 30 EVs worldwide by 2025, and wants to surpass annual sales of 1 million EVs in China and the United States by then.
(Reporting by Ben Klayman and Paul Lienert in Detroit; edited by Richard Pullin)