General Motors launches BrightDrop (...) to electrify/improve delivery of goods & services

12/01/2021

PRESS RELEASE

GM Launches BrightDrop, a New Business That Will Electrify and Improve the Delivery of Goods and Services

– GM’s new business will offer an integrated ecosystem of electric products, software and services for the first to last mile

– BrightDrop’s electric pallet, the EP1, will be available in early 2021, and its electric light commercial vehicle, the EV600, will be on roads in late 2021

– BrightDrop introduces GM’s Ultium platform to the commercial vehicle segment, and features Level 2 and DC fast charging capabilities

– FedEx Express will be the first customer of the new, integrated solution

DETROIT – General Motors announced today a new business, BrightDrop, which will offer an ecosystem of electric first-to-last-mile products, software and services to empower delivery and logistics companies to move goods more efficiently. These BrightDrop solutions are designed to help businesses lower costs, maximize productivity, improve employee safety and freight security, and support overall sustainability efforts.

“BrightDrop offers a smarter way to deliver goods and services,” said Mary Barra GM Chairman and CEO. “We are building on our significant expertise in electrification, mobility applications, telematics and fleet management, with a new one-stop-shop solution for commercial customers to move goods in a better, more sustainable way.”

BrightDrop was born out of GM’s Global Innovation organization and joins the lineup of other recently launched Global Innovation startups, such as OnStar Insurance, OnStar Guardian and GM Defense. From a growth strategy standpoint, this new business will unlock areas of B2B, expansion of the Ultium platform and software and service opportunities.

GM estimates that by 2025, the combined market opportunity for parcel, food delivery and reverse logistics in the U.S. will be over $850 billion. According to the World Economic Forum, demand for urban last-mile delivery, fueled by e-commerce, is expected to grow by 78 percent by 2030, leading to a 36 percent increase in delivery vehicles in the world’s top 100 cities. At the same time, this increase in demand is expected to cause delivery-related carbon emissions to rise by nearly one-third.

To help meet this surge in demand, while reducing the impact on the planet, BrightDrop is developing an integrated set of solutions to help improve almost every aspect of first-to-last-mile delivery.

The full release is here.

Now read: “General Motors’ CES reveals include a flying Cadillac“.

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