General Motors has begun deliveries of its first next-generation electric vehicles, the GMC HUMMER EV Edition 1 Pickup and BrightDrop EV600 light commercial vehicle, both built on the Ultium Platform. This dedicated EV architecture and propulsion system is the foundation for GM’s all-electric future, giving the company the capability not only to build an entire retail and commercial portfolio, but also leverage the technology to expand its business to non-automotive applications.

With 30 all-new EVs planned globally through 2025, two-thirds of which will be available in the North America, Ultium will be the key driver of GM’s expansion and next phase of growth.

The Ultium Platform will:

• Enable GM to make nearly every type of vehicle across its different brands and up and down the portfolio by building everything from affordable, high-volume crossovers and passenger cars to full-size pickups and SUVs, performance, and commercial vehicles.

• Feature competitive range, performance and overall customer-friendly integration of components compared to designs that retrofit electric propulsion systems to existing internal combustion vehicle frameworks.

• Greatly reduce proliferation of parts combinations used in today’s internal combustion lineups, helping enhance EV profitability.

• Enable mobility beyond GM’s own portfolio through third-party licensing of its EV technology, co-development agreements and partnerships.

GMC HUMMER EV. The Ultium Platform also helps GM innovate in core areas such as the interdependent body frame and battery structure of its all-new EVs.

The first 2022 GMC HUMMER EV Pickup Edition 1 exits Factory ZERO in Detroit and Hamtramck, Michigan. VIN 001 was auctioned in March 2021 at the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction for $2.5 million to benefit the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. (Photo by Jeffrey Sauger for General Motors)

The GMC HUMMER EV Pickup’s combined battery pack and body structure allows outstanding off-road proportions, strong protection of the vehicle’s battery, which doubles as a stiffening member of the body, and enough stability to enable features like removable Infinity Roof panels that would have been difficult to achieve on a conventional pickup.

BrightDrop EV600. In addition to enabling dynamic all-new vehicles such as the GMC HUMMER EV off-road supertruck, Ultium is helping GM to grow its business in new ways. BrightDrop, the new tech startup from GM, is on a mission to reimagine commercial delivery and logistics for an all-electric future through products like the EV600 light commercial vehicle.

BrightDrop delivers the first five of 500 electric light commercial vehicles to FedEx, the first customer to the receive the EV600s, which are the fastest built vehicles, from concept to market, in General Motors history. Photo courtesy of FedEx

Ultium will allow BrightDrop to accelerate rapidly toward electrifying last-mile delivery and reduce vehicle emissions while also helping other companies meet their sustainability targets. BrightDrop is now delivering its first EV600s to FedEx, moving from concept to market introduction faster than any other GM vehicle in history.

Ultium Ship-To-Commerce. Factory ZERO in Detroit and Hamtramck, Michigan, will assemble multiple Ultium-based vehicles, including the fully autonomous Cruise Origin1 purpose-built for driverless ride hail and delivery, the GMC HUMMER EV Pickup and SUV, the Chevrolet Silverado EV and the recently announced GMC electric Sierra Denali.

GM has invested more than $4 billion specifically in EV production and another nearly $5 billion has been spent on battery cell manufacturing targeting at least 140 gigawatt hours of cell-making capacity in the US.

GM’s next Ultium-based vehicle, the Cadillac LYRIQ, is expected to launch as scheduled in the first half of 2022 and will be assembled in Spring Hill, Tennessee. The Chevrolet Silverado EV officially debuts next month at CES.