History
BrightDrop was one of the first successful businesses started in GM's Global Innovation incubator, headed at the time by engineer Pam Fletcher.[10] Study of potential concepts for urban delivery began in September 2019 under the code name Smart Cargo. By February 2020, the Smart Cargo concept had evolved to include a potential electric delivery van and an electrically propelled container for delivery businesses. Later that year, GM appointed technology entrepreneur and investor Travis Katz to become president and CEO of BrightDrop.[11] Previously, Katz had held executive roles at Redpoint Ventures, Skyscanner, and MySpace; he was also CEO and co-founder of Trip.com.[12]
GM CEO Mary Barra introduced the BrightDrop brand as part of her address at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2021. After the announcement, GM's stock reached its highest price since its initial public offering in 2010.[13]
In 2021, FedEx was announced as the first commercial customer for BrightDrop vehicles,[12] which placed an initial order for 500 Zevo 600 vehicles.[14][15] Merchants Fleet, a fleet management company, is slated to purchase an additional 12,600 Zevo 600s starting in 2023.[16][17]
BrightDrop changed the names of its entire lineup of products in April 2022. The EV600 was renamed to Zevo inclusive of two variants, the Zevo 600 and Zevo 400 (previously known as EV600 and EV410 respectively) and the BrightDrop Trace (previously known as EP1.)[18]
In 2022, GM retooled the CAMI Assembly plant in Ingersoll, Canada to the BrightDrop platform, to become General Motors Canada's first commercial electric vehicle manufacturing plant. GM stated that it invested $2 billion converting the plant to a state of the art EV manufacturing facility.[19] Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford attended the opening of the plant in December, 2022.[20]
In March 2023, BrightDrop shipped the first 500+ Zevo 600s built at the CAMI Assembly facility.
As of, BrightDrop had more than 30 commercial customers, including Walmart, Hertz, DHL Express, Purolator Inc., American Tire Distributors, WasteNot Compost and Rexel USA.[21] Ryder plans to purchase 4,000 BrightDrop Zevo 600 and Zevo 400 electric vans for its lease and rental fleet through 2025, with the first 200 arriving in 2023.[22]
On November 16, 2023, GM integrated BrightDrop more closely into GM's Envolve commercial business to provide fleet customers with an "efficient single point of contact."[23] CEO Travis Katz stepped down from the CEO role.[24]
