Walmart wants to buy 5,000 electric delivery vans from GM’s BrightDrop

Enlarge / A BrightDrop EV600 delivery van in Walmart's livery. The retailer wants to buy 5,000 BrightDrop EVs in total. (credit: BrightDrop)

The electric delivery vehicle startup BrightDrop is on a roll. Set up by General Motors, BrightDrop leveraged the automaker's investment in its new Ultium battery platform and Ultium Drive electric motors to bring the EV600 delivery van to market in just 20 months—faster than any other vehicle in GM history.

Last month, the company delivered the first five EV600 vans to FedEx, its first customer. Now, FedEx is increasing its order from 500 vans to 2,000 over "the next few years" and has plans to add up to 20,000 more in time.

Now, BrightDrop can add another marquee customer to its books. The retail giant Walmart has signed an agreement with BrightDrop for 5,000 vans, split between the bigger EV600 and smaller EV410 models. (The number indicates the van's cargo storage in cubic feet.) Walmart will use the electric vans for its InHome delivery service.

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