Walmart and FedEx plan to add several thousand electric delivery vans to their fleets over the next few years, the two companies announced Wednesday (Jan. 5).
According to multiple published reports, Walmart has inked an agreement with General Motors’ BrightDrop division to reserve 5,000 electric vans, while FedEx plans to request 2,000 additional vehicles from the company, after getting their first order of 500 vans last month.
That number could balloon to 20,000 vans, Richard Smith, Fedex’s regional president of the Americas, told reporters at a news briefing.
“BrightDrop’s real,” he said. “They’re here now. Their trucks are on the road in California for us delivering packages. They have a vehicle that works as advertised, and we love it. We want to buy a lot more of them.”
In an interview with CNBC, BrightDrop CEO Travis Katz said the company has 25,000 confirmed reservations for its vans. He said General Motors should complete FedEx’s initial order this year, followed by deliveries for Walmart’s starting next year.
“So part of what is exciting about the conversations we’re having with them is we’re both really looking at this market through the lens of technology,” Katz said. “How do you use technology to rethink operations and to drive more efficiency?”
Learn more: General Motors Unveils Electric Truck, Electric Pallet And Software For ‘First- To Last-Mile Delivery’
General Motors announced the launch of BrightDrop last year to create what the auto giant called an “ecosystem” of software, services, electric trucks and other equipment to give shippers eco-friendly delivery.
“BrightDrop offers a smarter way to deliver goods and services,” GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra said at the time. “We are building on our significant expertise in electrification, mobility applications, telematics and fleet management, with a new one-stop-shop solution for commercial customers to move goods in a better, more sustainable way.”
GM said it launched the new division because it expects the American market for food and parcel, delivery and reverse logistics to surpass $850 billion by 2025.
The automaker also points to estimates from the World Economic Forum that show the demand for urban last-mile delivery increasing by 78% by 2030 due to higher eCommerce demands. And that increase will in turn increase the number of delivery vehicles in the world’s 100 largest cities by 36%.
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