Ryder has joined BrightDrop, General Motors’ electric delivery van division. Ryder will lease and rent 4,000 BrightDrop EVs by 2025.
BrightDrop’s scaled EV delivery wins another significant commercial customer. The high-volume CAMI Assembly manufacturing facility in Ontario, Canada, has shipped over 500 Zevo 600 delivery vans, the business said Monday.
According to Amazon’s blog, Rivian, one of BrightDrop’s business competitors, has supplied 3,000 electric vans. Amazon wants 100,000 Rivian delivery trucks by 2030. Rivian stated in its fourth quarter financial report that it would produce 50,000 units this year, although not all delivery vehicles. Rivian makes the R1S pickup and R1T SUV.
BrightDrop believes it can improve with GM support. As DHL Express Canada became its first customer in December, CAMI began manufacturing. BrightDrop expects to create 50,000 Zevo vehicles annually by 2025, ramping up manufacturing.
The firm sold out of 2023 Zevo 600s and must reach high unit figures to satisfy its over 30 commercial clients. BrightDrop announced over 25,000 bookings and letters of intent from FedEx, Walmart, Hertz, WasteNot Compost, and others during GM’s investor day in November.
Ryder will acquire 4,000 BrightDrop EVs, including Zevo 600s and 400s, with cargo capacities of over 600 and 400 cubic feet, respectively. In addition, Ryder will acquire the first 200 vans this year, mostly the 2023 Zevo 600s, for its rental fleets in California, Dallas-Fort Worth, and New York City.
Ryder said it will add 2024 Zevo 600s and 400s to the fleet this year and next. BrightDrop started booking the vehicles on Monday and expects to deliver by mid-2023.
BrightDrop may exceed its $1 billion revenue goal this year because of rising car demand. BrightDrop hopes to use BrightDrop Core, a SaaS platform, to boost automobile revenue. During GM’s investor day last November, the subscription-based software platform promised clients precise operations information. The platform should launch this year.
