GM CAMI – Becoming Canada’s First Full-Scale EV Plant

 CAMI-based BrightDrop production is on track for Q4. The start of something big.

GM Canada’s CAMI Assembly plant in Ingersoll Ontario today begins retooling and preparation for dedicated production of BrightDrop fully electric commercial delivery vans. (AutoInformed: BrightDrop? General Motors New Business Claims It Will Electrify, Improve Goods and Services Delivery; GM’s CAMI Assembly Hastens BrightDrop EV600 Production)

When BrightDrop’s Zevo 600 production begins in Q4 2022, CAMI will become Canada’s first full-scale EV plant. BrightDrop’s Zevo 400, a smaller version of the electric van, will also be built at CAMI beginning in 2023. 

BrightDrop is an all-new business at GM offering commercial customers connected and electrified products and services designed to improve the delivery of goods and services from the “first to last mile.” It aims to help B2B customers reduce cost of ownership, improve productivity and safety, and improve their carbon footprints and sustainability efforts. Its initial products include the EP1 electric e-pallet, a software platform for fleet and asset management, and the EV600 light commercial vehicle that will bring the Ultium platform to commercial vehicles.

By September, the GM team will have prepped the building and installed the new BrightDrop production equipment. CAMI expects to begin returning employees in October for training on the new line. The first BrightDrop Zevo 600 is planned to roll off the line at CAMI in before the end of the year.

BrightDrop currently has more than 25,000 production reservations for its electric delivery vans to serve the growing market for electric delivery solutions, from some of the world’s largest companies. CAMI is anticipated to ramp up to two shifts of production in early 2023, with the ability to accelerate to three shifts, market permitting. GM Canada will share updates on the transformation of CAMI over the coming months.