Delivery of the 1st BrightDrop EV600s and GMC HUMMER EV Pickup highlights the versatility of GM’s flexible Ultium Platform
DETROIT – A new era begins today for General Motors with the deliveries of its first next-generation electric vehicles, the GMC HUMMER EV Edition 1 Pickup and BrightDrop EV600 light commercial vehicle, both built on the Ultium Platform. This dedicated EV architecture and propulsion system is the foundation for GM’s all-electric future, giving the company the capability not only to build an entire retail and commercial portfolio, but also leverage the technology to expand its business to non-automotive applications.
With 30 all-new EVs planned globally through 2025, two-thirds of which will be available in the North America, Ultium will be the key driver of GM’s expansion and next phase of growth.
“This is the first chapter for Ultium – and for GM’s transition to a zero-emissions future,” said GM President Mark Reuss. “Both commercial and retail customers will benefit from the EV experience, from exhilarating acceleration to low cost of operation, versatility and ability to customize after the sale. GM is ideally positioned to provide EVs for every customer in every segment, retail or commercial.”
The Ultium Platform will:
- Enable GM to make nearly every type of vehicle – across its different brands and up and down the portfolio – by building everything from affordable, high-volume crossovers and passenger cars to full-size pickups and SUVs, performance, and commercial vehicles.
- Feature competitive range, performance and overall customer-friendly integration of components compared to designs that retrofit electric propulsion systems to existing internal combustion vehicle frameworks.
- Greatly reduce proliferation of parts combinations used in today’s internal combustion lineups, helping enhance EV profitability.
- Enable mobility beyond GM’s own portfolio through third-party licensing of its EV technology, co-development agreements and partnerships.
GMC HUMMER EV
The Ultium Platform also helps GM innovate in core areas like the interdependent body frame and battery structure of its all-new EVs.
The GMC HUMMER EV Pickup’s combined battery pack and body structure allows outstanding off-road proportions, strong protection of the vehicle’s battery, which doubles as a stiffening member of the body, and enough stability to enable features like removable Infinity Roof panels that would have been difficult to achieve on a conventional pickup.
BrightDrop EV600
In addition to enabling dynamic all-new vehicles like the GMC HUMMER EV off-road supertruck, Ultium is helping GM to grow its business in new ways. BrightDrop, the new tech startup from GM, is on a mission to reimagine commercial delivery and logistics for an all-electric future through products like the EV600 light commercial vehicle.
Ultium will allow BrightDrop to rapidly accelerate toward electrifying last-mile delivery and reduce vehicle emissions while also helping other companies meet their sustainability targets. BrightDrop is delivering its first EV600s to FedEx beginning today, moving from concept to market introduction faster than any other GM vehicle in history.
Ultium Ship-To-Commerce
Factory ZERO in Detroit and Hamtramck, Michigan, will assemble multiple Ultium-based vehicles, including the fully autonomous Cruise Origin1 purpose-built for driverless ride-hail and delivery, the GMC HUMMER EV Pickup and SUV2, the Chevrolet Silverado EV3 and the recently announced GMC electric Sierra Denali4.
GM continues to expand and reimagine its manufacturing and development footprint, bringing together high-scale vehicle production expertise established over more than a century and passion to become a leading technology company.
More than $4 billion has been invested specifically in EV production and another nearly $5 billion has been spent on battery cell manufacturing targeting at least 140-gigawatt hours of cell-making capacity in the U.S.
GM’s next Ultium-based vehicle, the Cadillac LYRIQ, is expected to launch as scheduled in the first half of 2022 and will be assembled in Spring Hill, Tennessee. The Chevrolet Silverado EV officially debuts next month at CES.
