Electric vehicle manufacturers have faced difficulties in recent months in making and delivering their products to consumers.
Electric vehicle makers blame global supply chain shortages, low availability of semiconductors, Covid-related factory closures in China, financial difficulties and even bankruptcy for delaying the delivery of their vehicles to market.
Electric Last Mile Solutions, which had plans to deliver commercial electric delivery vans and even claimed to have a pending purchase order for 50 vans, slammed on the brakes on June 12 and filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy to liquidate their assets.
Rivian Tesla Rival (RIVN) – Get the report from Rivian Automotive Inc.which is backed by amazon (AMZN) – Get the report from Amazon.com Inc. and ford (F) – Get the Ford Motor Company reportit lost 7% of its stock value on May 16 after announcing that it may delay the delivery of an order of electric delivery vans to Amazon due to problems with a supplier. dot.LA reported.
Rivian has an order to deliver 100,000 EV commercial trucks to Amazon by 2030, with 10,000 delivered by the end of 2022. The company has said it will likely produce 25,000 EVs in 2022. produced 1,015 in 2021.
Rivian was founded in 2009 and went public in 2021. From its factory in Normal, Oklahoma, the automaker produces three vehicles: the R1T electric pickup truck, the R1S electric SUV, and the RCV electric commercial truck.
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GM delivers first of 2,500-vehicle order
General Motors’ (GM) – Get the General Motors company report electric vehicle subsidiary BrightDrop is on the positive side of the road when it comes to providing electric delivery vehicles to its customers, including FedEx (fdx) – Get the FedEx Corporation report.
BrightDrop said on June 21 that it provided FedEx with its first 150 Zevo 600 electric vehicles in its mission to transform its entire package pickup and delivery fleet to all-electric, with zero tailpipe emissions by 2040, according to a report. FedEx Statement. GM said BrightDrop’s marketing of its Zevo 600 was the fastest vehicle to market in its history.
The first FedEx Zevo 600s were delivered throughout Southern California to FedEx Express, one of the world’s largest express carriers. The Zevo 600 runs on GM’s Ultium platform and is designed for last-mile deliveries, with an estimated range of up to 250 miles on a full charge. The first delivery of 150 vehicles is part of a larger agreement between FedEx and BrightDrop in which FedEx will purchase a total of 2,500 Zevo 600s across all FedEx operations over the next few years.
“This shows how BrightDrop is delivering sustainable solutions at scale to customers today, and we couldn’t be happier to be a part of FedEx’s sustainability journey,” Travis Katz, BrightDrop president and CEO, said in the statement. “Our Zevo 600 has been a record-setting vehicle from the very beginning. From unprecedented time to market to delivering one of the largest fleets of electric delivery vans on the road today, BrightDrop is showing the world what sustainable delivery looks like.”
Installation of 500 charging stations
Along with purchases of electric delivery vans from FedEx, the company is building a charging infrastructure across its network of facilities and has installed 500 charging stations throughout California.
“At FedEx, we have ambitious sustainability goals, and our phased approach to vehicle electrification is a crucial part of our roadmap to achieving carbon-neutral global operations,” said Mitch Jackson, FedEx chief sustainability officer, in the release. “In just under six months, we have taken delivery of 150 BrightDrop Zevo 600s for our package pickup and delivery fleet. In the current climate of chip shortages and supply chain issues, this is no ordinary feat and is a true testament to the collaboration between FedEx and BrightDrop.”