Brightdrop Zevo 600: GM’s Electric Delivery Van Proves The Future Is Cooler Than We Ever Thought

I’m calling it right now: the BrightDrop Zevo 600 is the most exciting car I’ve driven all year. More exciting than a Hyundai Ioniq 6, more exciting than a 2024 Ford Mustang GT, and more exciting than something I bought with my own money last week.

This is despite the fact that most people have never heard of it BrightDrop, and the fact that the everyday person will not be able to walk into a showroom and buy for themselves. However, this is not some kind of exotic seven-figure export machine forged by artisans from pure unobtanium. Its acceleration stats, handling stats, and Nürburgring time don’t matter. Not that anyone would try to ‘Clock a clock in this amazing slab of machinery. (Editor’s note: Well, now I want to. -PG) Instead, the BrightDrop Zevo 600 may soon be at your door, delivering packages—if you’re lucky enough to live near a place where the first products have been released, they may already have.

When I was invited by a friend to run the BrightDrop Zevo 600, how could I say no? This was not a media event per se, as evidenced by the leagues of stewards and shipmasters in attendance. However, an event is an event, and a car like this felt too important to miss. So sit back, pour yourself a drink, and get ready to learn a little about the electric car you never knew you wanted.

Can Someone Tell Me What BrightDrop Is?

Indeed, General Motors has always been a multi-product company, and BrightDrop is its crack at the electric commercial vehicle market—specifically focused on last-mile delivery, which means. the final step of the package’s journey to your doorstep. Like Cruise on the robo-taxi side, GM sees some real potential in delivering products in a zero-emissions fashion, which will be just as important in combating climate change as passenger cars.

In addition to offering automated warehouse carts, BrightDrop dropped a cart line as fun as it is innovative. Equipped with GM’s standard Ultium battery packs and built at the same CAMI factory that previously assembled the Geo Metros, the BrightDrop pickup trucks (smaller 400 and larger 600) look to shake up the last-mile delivery field.

FedEx is already testing the vans, with the first 150 being delivered in June 2022. Currently, customers include Ryder, Purolator, Hertz, Walmart, DHL Express, and American Tire Distributors, with thousands of trucks are scheduled to roll out CAMI over the next few years.

An Inside View

Let’s start inside the most important part of BrightDrop cars: The cargo area. Not surprisingly, both of the BrightDrop carts are affordable, offer a realistic walking height for relatively tall people and plenty of wall space for shelving.

You can carry auto parts, clothes, electronics and whatever else people are shopping for online in the back of one of these babies, up to 615 cu.-ft. in the Zevo 600. The cargo area of ​​the Zevo 400 is shown above, so just know that things are about 50 percent larger than that.

Every modern driver assistance system imaginable is on deck, from automatic emergency braking to a handy 360-degree camera system. GM’s latest infotainment system is here, too, the same one you’ll see in cars like such as Chevrolet Trax and GMC Canyon.

However, beyond all the driving and connectivity gadgets and gizmos, there is a small set of features that delivery drivers are sure to inspire.

It has been said for a long time GM starts with the air conditioning system and then builds the car around it, and that feels right here. Not only is the Zevo 600’s climate control snappy, it’s unexpectedly powerful for a commercial vehicle, and that’s before we even get to creature comforts like a heated driver’s seat, steering wheel and heated mirrors. It is completely different from the cabins of conventional cars that are not air-conditioned, and should reduce driver fatigue, which can increase safety and well-being.

Beyond the climate-conscious creature comforts, the interior of this car is well thought out. There’s a cup holder on top of the dashboard to the left of the steering wheel for that morning cup of joe, a set of bright red seat belts for a more convenient location, awesome folding visors for low sun protection, and handy grab handles for easy entry. and. egress in slippery mode.

I didn’t expect the build quality to feel this solid. Sure, almost everything from the dashboard plastic to the rubberized floor mats has been installed with stiffness in mind, but I couldn’t find a single dent or piece of trim that was misplaced. Cadillac division, take note.

Get Short

While the BrightDrop Zevo 600 has been spotted and is about to do mailing duties, its little brother the Zevo 400 has just started production, and it’s looking to take some of the lunch money of the traditional 239-inch cargo market. That’s a short inch. than the regular-length Ford Transit, while the overall length clocks in at nine feet, more than two inches lower than the high-roof Transit. The BrightDrop Zevo 400 is a surprisingly large car, it looks so big because it is shaped like a brick.

And a large 412 cu.-ft. of cargo volume and a maximum payload of up to 2,450 pounds, the BrightDrop Zevo 400 should be an excellent choice for city-oriented businesses not constrained by height. You certainly don’t fit this thing in a parking garage and most driveways aren’t quite right, but it has the right kind of marks for broad appeal.

However, the Zevo 400 at the event was an unfinished build filled with empty buttons and with an unfinished undercarriage. To get a taste of how BrightDrop drives, I’d need to get into the big boy Zevo 600.

Running the BrightDrop Zevo 600

You can expect driving over a 24 foot step van to be scary, like navigating the Suez Canal knowing full well what the internet will do if you mess things up. However, this large package transporter is fit’s easier than a labradoodle, and easier to drive than most full-size trucks. How did GM manage that?

Let’s start with the appearance. Forward visibility is excellent thanks to the large windshield and A-pillar windows, while the microwave-sized mirrors have convex features to show you where your rear wheels are. Even without using the 360-degree camera system, drivers will know exactly where their wheels are at all times.

Then there’s the comfort gained by designing a commercial vehicle around an electric powertrain from scratch. BrightDrop Zevo 600 is incredibly quiet, like a six-seater car of very different lines. Even with a trunk the size of an average New York City apartment behind you, this thing would be a cool ’90s Lexus if it weren’t for the clatter of metal racks over potholes and speed bumps. Ah yes, then there is pSuperior quality provided by independent front suspension, rigid rear axle with composite leaf springs, and BrightDrop construction techniques.. There’s none of the body-to-frame vibration associated with heavy cars, and the damping is palpable.

Add in light steering, a relatively tight circle, and super-smooth single-pedal driving, and you’ve got a formula that makes driving a breeze. Next to the BrightDrop Zevo 600, even the Chevrolet Tahoe feels stiff and unrefined, to say nothing of the litany of combustion-powered vehicles currently in use. I’m not suggesting you throw away the keys to your student’s permit, but this is about as stressful as an apartment building with cars gets. I dare say, it might be my favorite EV I’ve ever driven as it’s a step ahead of its combustion-powered predecessors and none of the desirable features have been lost in the switch to electric power. Imagine jumping off the wagon and onto the USS Enterprise. That’s what the BrightDrop Zevo 600 feels like.

Future Electricity

Driving from the event, I thought about how often we might see BrightDrop cars in the next few years.

Well, domestic delivery is the perfect use case for electric vehicles. Passenger cars cover relatively short distances within a highly localized area, stop and start frequently, and come home to the depot overnight. The suspension efficiency of electric trains, the ability to charge overnight, and an average range of 250 miles are ideal for parcel drop-offs, and could, in theory, make the neighborhoods of the future cleaner, quieter, and more pleasant. in general.

What does the future hold for BrightDrop? Well, GM doesn’t have a great history other than new subsidiaries. Zohari was slowly extinguished by an old, yellow river of business bureaucracy, and more recently, its Cruise car startup. it doesn’t go on as smooth as butter. However, BrightDrop doesn’t tread on the toes of existing products; building a commercial electric vehicle with most of the existing bin technology certainly seems possible, and it feels like GM might have something here.

A BrightDrop representative confirmed that sales of minivans and even chassis variants are on the cards for the future. One use case car may not be suitable? Recreational vehicles. Although a BrightDrop representative claimed that the RV industry has expressed interest in the vehicle, loading concerns may prevent it from being a viable option. Even with the 11,000-pound GVWR option box rated, payload only comes in at 2,800 pounds for the Zevo 600 and 2,450 pounds for the Zevo 400. Once you add the water tanks, furniture, interior panels, rear HVAC, and commode . , the capacity to carry people and their belongings becomes very thin.

With any luck, the BrightDrop Zevo 600 could be the Tesla Model S of commercial vehicles. It’s a huge leap forward for urban transport fleets, both for driver comfort and for running costs.

While battery-powered cars have historically been a hit, GM’s latest crack could make combustion-powered alternatives feel like they’re from decades past. We don’t know what the future holds, but if these fun BrightDrops are a part of it, I’m here for it.

You can keep your flying cars, I’ll take the electric car.

(Photo credit: Thomas Hundal)

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