GM is ending production of the Chevy Brightdrop electric pickup truck, according to parts of a transcript of a recent earnings report published by The edge. The decision was made due to slowing demand in the electric vehicle market, as hundreds of Brightdrop vans began piling up on dealer lots.
“This is not a decision we made lightly due to the impact on our employees,” CEO Mary Barra said on the earnings conference call. “However, the commercial electric van market has developed much more slowly than expected, and changes to the regulatory framework and incentives for fleets have made the business even more challenging.”
Those regulatory framework changes she mentions likely refer to the recent demise of the federal electric vehicle tax credit. The policy offered prospective buyers a $7,500 tax credit and was supposed to end in 2032, but the Trump administration canceled it in September as part of the so-called Big and Beautiful Bill. Brightdrop vans were also eligible for a $7,500 rebate for commercial electric vehicles under 18,000 pounds, which disappeared along with the tax credit.
In other words, Brightdrop electric vans are simply too expensive for most consumers. They started at $74,000. The double discount brought the starting price down to $59,000, but that’s no longer the case. Additionally, rival Ford’s E-Transit van starts at $51,600.
GM first launched Brightdrop vans in 2021, and it appeared to be a serious attempt to capture the commercial electric vehicle market. The company created its own fleet management software and signed agreements with Walmart, FedEx and others. However, money is money and not many business customers have an extra $15,000 available to offset those expired credits and refunds.