GM is making the electric walk-in van part of its Chevrolet franchise as the automaker looks to expand the BrightDrop line’s commercial reach

General Motors is moving BrightDrop to its Chevrolet portfolio, the company announced today.

The American automaker says this is a strategic move to expand the reach of its startup EV brand. The goal is to put more of BrightDrop’s commercial electric vans (the 600 and 400 models) into customers’ hands.

“We’re taking BrightDrop to the next step of a logical evolution and combining it within the Chevrolet franchise for it to be a Chevrolet BrightDrop EV van,” says Sandor Piszar, vice president of GM Envolve, in an interview with Electric Autonomy.

“We think this move really opens up the aperture to make the [BrightDrop] available on the market for a much broader audience. Those customers who are interested to start transitioning from ICE to EV…now they have an opportunity to get into a BrightDrop EV van with Chevrolet.”

Win-win-win

Today’s announcement follows GM’s earlier decision, announced last November, to disband BrightDrop as an independent unit and fold it into GM’s core organization.

In addition to the customer benefits that come with this latest step, Piszar anticipates GM’s move enhances BrightDrop’s sales potential.

“It helps us ramp up production,” says Piszar, who confirms the BrightDrop will continue to be made in Ingersoll, Ont., at the GM CAMI plant.

“It’s going to spur growth within the fleet space for EV vans. We think this is a great win for the folks at CAMI.”

(Piszar declined to comment further on Unifor members authorizing a strike at CAMI ahead of September bargaining. That news came out just days before GM Canada announced that BrightDrop would fold into the Chevrolet brand.)

On the dealer side, Piszar says individual Chevrolet dealerships may seek approval to retail the BrightDrop. They must meet certain requirements including being responsible for the maintenance of the vehicles.

“It really enhances it to a level that a startup EV company could only fantasize about,” says Piszar. “We’ve got a nationwide network of Chevy dealers. They’re EV certified now, they’re already working on and servicing Chevrolet EVs. So, now, this is getting added to the portfolio.”

Evolving customer base

One of the key learnings GM has gained since BrightDrop launched is about who their customers are or could be.

“As we’ve interacted with customers and done our research, we’ve had asks from from fleet customers outside of last mile,” says Piszar.

“The big part of the fleet market is the service industry and local businesses, and Joe the plumber and floral deliveries, all of those that represents over half of the fleet business.”

In addition to providing the vehicles, Piszar says there is room to expand GM Envolve’s support offerings for customers.

“We’re looking at opportunities to support our customers with their [charging] infrastructure needs. There is more information to come,” says Piszar.

But, for now, the focus is on making a smooth transition of BrightDrop into Chevrolet custodianship.

“Really, it’s us doubling down on the success we’ve had so far with BrightDrop,” says Piszar.

“We’re leveraging technology across a variety of platforms so we can quickly bring EVs to scale and bring the cost down and really open up EVs to everyone.”