The Chevy van is alive… ish. In a move to increase recognition, and increase sales, General Motors and BrightDrop will fold the all-electric delivery van into the Chevy brand.
Yes, we still have a Chevy van known as the Express van, but it’s been in production since the mid 90’s. BrightDrop, an EV company was recently fully integrated into General Motors. They built a delivery vehicle that competes with the Mercedes-Benz EV, Ford E-Transit and Rivian van – among others. Unfortunately, only a handful of companies knew about, and purchased the van. Production numbers are well below expectations.
BrightDrop vans are produced at GM’s CAMI Assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario. In 2023, approximately 500 of these EV vans were sold. This year could double that, but it’s still well below expectations. Folding the van into Chevrolet could help with recognition and sales.
“It’s got that strength of the Chevrolet brand behind it. It’s absolutely going to drive volume. It helps our customers that choose to go into EVs to easily do so working with the Chevrolet dealer they know and trust now for their other fleet needs.”
Sandor Piszar, vice president of the GM Envolve fleet business in North America (Via: CNBC)
This electric Chevy van will be a burden on some dealerships.
Simply put: the BrightDrop 400 and 600 are anything but small, or ordinary. In order to service, repair and prep these vehicles, many dealerships need upgrades. Many upgrades.
These dealerships will need a dedicated staff just for these EVs. We are talking about complex electronics that require special training to service. In addition, these vans weigh a lot more than a pickup truck. Special, heavy-duty lifts will be needed as well. On top of all that, dealerships that have been resistant to installing chargers will have to reconsider.
BrightDrop currently sells two all-electric commercial vans, called the Zevo 400 and Zevo 600, will be rebranded as Chevrolet BrightDrop 400 and 600 vans. The specs remain the same, but there’s bound to be a few branding changes, but there has been no announcement about any significant changes.
Both vans have a GVWR of up to 11,000-lbs, and have 3,180 and 3,580-lbs of cargo capacity, depending on the model The big news is the range coming from some massive Ultium power packs. The BrightDrop 400, which has 412.1 cubic feet of cargo space, has a maximum combined range of 159 miles, combined. The larger BrightDrop 600, which has 614.7 cu-ft of cargo space gets up to 164 miles.
Unladen, both trucks have an estimated 272 miles of range, combined. In addition, they both come standard with all-wheel drive (AWD) and currently have a base price of around $75,000, but that’s before incentives and tax credits.
The big question: can non-fleet buyers get one?
Talk about a sweet undercarriage for an all-electric RV, or the potential as an EV people mover. Unfortunately, GM and Chevrolet have been mum on non-fleet sales. If there’s enough interest, and potential for GM profits, something may change.
The Chevrolet BrightDrop 400 and 600 will be in dealerships soon.
