Walmart signed an agreement to reserve 5,000 of BrightDrop's EV600 and EV410 electric delivery vans to support its last mile delivery network and goal of operating a zero-emissions logistics fleet by 2040.
Walmart and FedEx plan to add thousands of electric delivery vans produced by General GM to their massive vehicle fleets in the coming years, the companies announced Wednesday.
FedEx is building on an initial order of 500 vehicles that GM began delivering last month, and Walmart has signed a new agreement with the Detroit automaker to reserve 5,000 BrightDrop vans.
FedEx said it has agreed to a deal for 2,000 more vehicles. Richard Smith, FedEx regional president of the Americas, said that the order could potentially increase to 20,000 electric vans.
BrightDrop is real. They are here now. Smith said that their trucks are on the road in California for them to deliver packages. They have a vehicle that works as advertised. We want to buy more of them.
BrightDrop has 25,000 confirmed reservations for its vans, according to the CEO. He said GM expects to deliver 500 vans for FedEx this year and another 500 for Walmart in 2023.
We are both looking at this market through the lens of technology, which is exciting. How do you use technology to rethink operations? The CNBC interviewer asked if he told them.
GM and others are rushing to launch new electric vehicles for corporate customers like Walmart, FedEx and Amazon that deliver directly to consumers as the increase in reservations comes.
By the end of this year, 10,000 of Amazon's electric delivery vehicles will be produced by Rivian, as part of a deal the company has with the EV start-up. Rivian has a 20% stake in the retail giant.
Arrival, a start-up based in the UK, has a deal in place to deliver 10,000 electric vehicles to the United States. The U.S. Postal Service will need 165,000 EVs over the next decade.
The BrightDrop EV410 is an electric commercial van that is planned for the year 2023.
GM, Walmart and FedEx declined to reveal any financial details about the deals, which were announced Wednesday as GM CEO Mary Barra delivered a keynote address at the CES technology show.
This is a story that is gaining traction. I can tell you that demand for these vehicles is high. We are seeing a lot of customer interest.
The purchases from BrightDrop are a combination of savings and sustainable. The cost to charge an EV is 75% less than the cost to fuel a gas-powered vehicle. Walmart and FedEx want to have zero emissions delivery fleets by the year 2040.
FedEx was the first customer for the large EV600 delivery van, which was announced by GM at last year's CES. The EV410 is a smaller electric van that will be produced in late 2023.
Walmart plans to use BrightDrop's electric vans as part of an expansion of its InHome delivery service. The company plans to grow its service area from 6 million to 30 million by the end of the year.
BrightDrop is part of GM's plan to grow from $2 billion today to $80 billion by 2030.
FedEx received the first five of 500 electric Light Commercial Vehicles from BrightDrop.
