USA: Ryder orders 4,000 BrightDrop EVs

The order for the first 200 EVs will already be placed this year. The EVs will be introduced to Ryder‘s rental fleet in California, Dallas-Fort Worth Airport (Texas), and New York City. Deliveries are expected as early as summer and will go into the first quarter of 2024. The company does not specify when it plans to order and receive the remaining electric vans.

“Electrifying lease and rental vehicles can have a significant impact on transportation-related emissions, and our goal is to make that switch as easy and enticing as possible for our customers,” says Steve Hornyak, chief commercial officer for BrightDrop.

Both the Zevo 600 and the Zevo 400 have a range of up to 250 miles (about 400 kilometres). They can support a payload of around 2,000-3,400 lbs (900-1587 kg) and have a capacity of 17 and 11 cubic metres, respectively.

Meanwhile, BrightDrop has begun deliveries of the first 500-plus Zevo 600s built in the first quarter of the year at its new plant in Canada. The 2023 model year Zevo 600 is already sold out and BrightDrop is now accepting reservations for 2024 model year vehicles, with deliveries expected to begin mid-2023. By 2025, production at Ingersoll is expected to reach 50,000 electric transporters annually.

“Electrifying lease and rental vehicles can have a significant impact on transportation-related emissions, and our goal is to make that switch as easy and enticing as possible for our customers,” said Steve Hornyak, chief commercial officer for BrightDrop. “Ryder’s plan to introduce 4,000 of our electric vans to their fleet shows their commitment to sustainable options for customers, and their confidence that BrightDrop will help them deliver on that.”

In the USA, BrightDrop already delivered the first 150 Zevo 600 (formerly EV600) electric vehicles to FedEx in June 2022. The delivery is part of a larger order from the logistics company for a total of 2,500 Zevo 600s, which are to be delivered to FedEx over the next few years. And in December 2022, BrightDrop also won its first Canadian customer: DHL Express Canada.

Update 21 September 2023

The US commercial vehicle fleet management company Ryder has announced the deployment of its first BrightDrop Zevo 600 electric vans at four strategic Ryder facilities in California, Texas, and New York. These are the first vehicles delivered under the plan to introduce 4,000 BrightDrop electric vans to the Ryder fleet through 2025, with the first 200 to be delivered this year.

ryder.com, gobrightdrop.com, ryder.com (update)