GM invests $800 million to produce new BrightDrop electric vans in Canada

GM recently launched its new BrightDrop electric van to electrify delivery vehicles, and now the automaker announced that it is investing $800 million to produce new electric vans in Canada.

GM’s BrightDrop Electric Vans

Last week, General Motors announced BrightDrop, a new division and brand, which will offer an “ecosystem of electric first-to-last-mile products” for logistics companies.

The flagship product of the new brand is the BrightDrop EV600 electric van.

GM lists the features of the EV600 electric van:

• Powered by the Ultium battery system, the EV600 is targeted to have an estimated range of up to 250 miles on a full charge ¹.
• Peak charge rate of up to 170 miles of EV range per hour via 120kW DC fast charging.
• Over 600 cubic feet of cargo area.
• Available at a GVWR of less than 10,000 pounds.
• Segment leading safety features
  • Standard safety features2 include: Front and Rear Park Assist, Automatic Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Alert, Following Distance Indicator, Front Pedestrian Braking, Lane Keep Assist with Lane Departure Warning, IntelliBeam automatic high beams, and HD Rear Vision Camera.
  • Additional available safety and driver assistance features include: Rear Cross Traffic Braking, Blind Zone Steering Assist, Reverse Automatic Braking, HD Surround Vision, Rear Pedestrian Alert, Enhanced Automatic Emergency Braking, among others.
• Cargo area security system with motion sensors to help keep cargo secure.
• A 13.4-inch-diagonal, full-color infotainment screen.
• Front sliding pocket doors, wide cabin walkways, and a large auto-open cargo bulkhead door all contribute to optimizing driver efficiency.

GM invests in electric vehicle production in Canada

Today, GM announced that it is investing $1 billion CAD (~$800 million USD) to convert its CAMI manufacturing plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, to electric vehicle production for its new BrightDrop division.

The company announced in a press release:

“The nearly $800 million (1 billion Canadian dollar) investment will support GM’s timing to deliver BrightDrop EV600 in late 2021. The investment will enable GM to convert CAMI into Canada’s first large-scale electric delivery vehicles manufacturing plant.”

GM currently uses the factory to produce the Chevrolet Equinox SUV.

It plans to move quickly in order to start producing the new electric van by the end of the year and start deliveries to BrightDrop’s first customer, FedEx.