Walmart and FedEx order thousands of electric delivery vans from GM's Brightdrop

Walmart has struck a deal with General Motors-backed BrightDrop to reserve 5,000 of the company's electric delivery vans, the companies announced today. The retail giant says it will add EVs to its fleet in the coming years.

BrightDrop, which is GM's dedicated electric delivery spinoff, will sell both of its vehicles: the EV600 and EV410, to Walmart. The EV600, which went into production last fall, has 600 cubic feet of cargo space, can travel up to 250 miles on a full battery, and has a gross vehicle weight of less than 10,000 pounds. The smaller EV410 has 400 cubic feet of cargo space and can cover a range of 250 miles on a single charge.

Meanwhile, FedEx is expanding its order with BrightDrop, reserving an additional 2,000 vans it will add to its fleet over the next few years. FedEx previously said it would buy 500 vehicles from Brightdrop and recently took delivery of the first five vans.

To be sure, none of these deals are exclusive, and both FedEx and Walmart have said they may be interested in buying EVs from a variety of companies. “We are talking to BrightDrop and leaning into their expertise,” FedEx Executive Vice President Richard Smith said in a call to reporters. "But we are not exclusive with anyone when it comes to advancing infrastructure."

In addition to Brightdrop, Ford, Rivian and Arrival are all working on their own electric vans for commercial customers. Amazon has said it will buy the vans from Rivian and Stellantis, while UPS is interested in Arrival.

GM's autonomous vehicle subsidiary Walmart is also testing with Cruise. Cruze has delivered to 2,700 Walmart customers in Scottsdale, Arizona in the past year.