Brightdrop EV600 van
Source: Brightdrop
DETROIT – General Motors is bringing its all-electric BrightDrop commercial vans to the Chevrolet brand in a bid to increase sales, affordability and awareness of the vehicles.
The move is expected to expand sales and service locations from a handful of dealerships to Chevrolet’s large dealer network across North America, including more than 500 commercial-focused stores in the U.S., according to Sandor Piszar, vice president of GM Envolve’s fleet business in North America.
“It's got the strength of the Chevrolet brand behind it,” he told CNBC. “It's definitely going to drive volume. It helps our customers who choose electric vehicles do so easily by working with the Chevrolet dealer they know and trust now for their other fleet needs.”
The number of new dealerships will be based on how many people choose to sell and service the vans. To sell commercial electric vehicles, dealers must have dedicated vehicle lifts, service areas and employee training, among other things.
GM declined to disclose the average cost for a dealer to become certified to sell BrightDrop products, citing that expenses will vary by store.
BrightDrop currently sells two all-electric commercial vans, called the Zevo 400 and Zevo 600, which are used for tasks such as package delivery. Beginning later this year with the 2025 model year, those vans will be renamed the Chevrolet BrightDrop 400 and 600.
“Chevy is General Motors' best-selling fleet brand,” Piszar said. “This makes perfect sense for GM Envolve and Chevrolet.”
Thursday’s announcement is the latest change for BrightDrop, which GM launched in 2021 as a wholly owned subsidiary before folding it into the company’s fleet business last year.
GM had high hopes of turning BrightDrop into a lucrative new growth business for the automaker, but sales and revenue are not believed to have met the company's initial expectations.
BrightDrop was expected to generate $1 billion in revenue by 2023. GM declined to disclose BrightDrop's revenue, but it is highly unlikely that the target has been met.
The automaker only sold about 500 BrightDrop vans in 2023. GM reports BrightDrop sales through the first six months of 2024 were 746 units.
The vans are produced at GM's CAMI assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario.
