GM to sell electric delivery vans to FedEx, other fleet buyers

[DETRIOT] General Motors is making a push into electric commercial-delivery vehicles starting this year with a new wholly owned company called BrightDrop that not only supplies battery-powered vans but also offers fleet-management services.

BrightDrop - whose customers will include FedEx - plans to sell electric pallet movers this year and an electric cargo van next year, GM said in a statement Tuesday. The automaker announced the new business at CES, which used to be called the Consumer Electronics Show, where chief executive officer Mary Barra gave a keynote speech.

"We believe in an all-electric future, and we think it will take more than electrification of our consumer vehicles to get there," Pam Fletcher, the company's chief innovation officer, told reporters.

GM has a deal to sell the van to Fedex and has letters of intent from many other shipping companies, Ms Fletcher said.

BrightDrop will offer software and services to enable fleet customers to track goods and vehicles and also plan shipping routes. GM estimates the market for delivery of food and packages and related logistics in the US could be as big as US$850 billion by 2025.

Sales of an enclosed cargo pallet known as EP1 and capable of carrying 200 pounds of goods will begin this quarter. GM said the vehicle can be used to move items around a warehouse or from a truck to the front door of a package recipient.

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

Early next year the automaker plans to launch the electric van, which can travel up to 250 miles on a charge and will be dubbed the EV600 - a play on the vehicle's 600 cubic feet of cargo space.

The van is bigger than Ford Motor's planned E-Transit and has twice the range, said Guidehouse Insights analyst Sam Abuelsamid.

The new business unit will be led by Travis Katz, who came from online travel company Skyscanner and before that, Trip.com, where he was CEO and co-founder.

BLOOMBERG