General Motors (GM) began large-scale production of the BrightDrop Zevo 600 electric van on Monday at its assembly plant in the Canadian town of Ingersoll (Ontario), in the suburban Toronto.
The American manufacturer highlighted that the Ingersoll plant is the first in Canada to mass-produce electric vehicles.
GM also announced today that freight and courier company DHL Express Canada will acquire vehicles from BrightDrop, a unit created by General Motors to produce electric commercial vans.
DHL Express Canada is scheduled to start using the Zevo 600 vans in early 2023.
BrightDrop’s president and CEO, Travis Katz, said in a statement that the start of production of electric vans in Canada “is a big step in providing electric vehicles on a large scale.”
In November, BrightDrop announced that it had signed a contract to supply 18,000 electric vans to US company Merchants Fleet (MF). Of the total, 12,600 units will be of the Zevo 600 model while the remaining 5,400 will be the smaller Zevo 410.
Verizon and FedEx Express have also purchased BrightDrop vans.
GM has earmarked C$2 billion (US$1.473 billion) to convert its Ingersoll assembly plant to electric vehicle production.
In addition, the Government of Canada and the Government of the province of Ontario, where the plant is located, have contributed another 259 million Canadian dollars (191 million US dollars).