With the commercial electric van market quickly becoming crowded, companies are going to be looking for anything to stand out. GM’s electric van division BrightDrop has done just that with a new Guinness World Record for distance driven on a single charge for a commercial van. A BrightDrop Zevo 600 (previously called EV600) made a delivery from New York City to Washington, D.C., in a distance of nearly 260 miles.
Yes, it actually was a delivery. The van, one operated by FedEx, had a shipment of Full Circle cleaning products for a MOM’s Organic Market. Though neither FedEx nor GM said how big the shipment was. And while this was a publicity stunt, it’s still an impressive feat for the van, which has a claimed range of around 250 miles.
This van is one of a number that have already been built and sent to FedEx fleets. The delivery company also has a total of 2,500 vans on reservation. GM says it has 25,000 reservations from a variety of companies for Zevo 600s.
Range is definitely an area in which the BrightDrop Zevo 600 has an advantage over the competition. Rivian’s highest-range electric vans have a reported range of 201 miles, and the Ford E-Transit tops out at 126 miles. However, the Zevo 600’s 2,200-pound payload capacity is similar to the payload range for the Rivian models, while the E-Transit features much greater capacity at 3,800 pounds for a full van and 4,290 pounds for a chassis-cab model.
The electric van space will be getting even more competition shortly from the upcoming electric Ram ProMaster van. It’s slated to go on sale next year. Specifications aren’t out for it, though.
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Source: www.autoblog.com