Merchants Fleet plans to add 12,600 EV600 electric vehicles as part of a sustainability plan. This new van by BrightDrop, a new General Motors company, is expected to hit the road in 2023.
Merchants Fleet plans to add 12,600 EV600 electric vehicles as part of a sustainability plan. This new van by BrightDrop, a new General Motors company, is expected to hit the road in 2023.
Ram's forthcoming all-electric ProMaster commercial van has another buyer.
Merchants Fleet, a New Hampshire fleet management and rental provider, has agreed to purchase 12,500 of the battery-electric vans "over the next several years," according to a news release. The electric van will make its debut later this year, becoming the first full EV from Stellantis NV in North America. The automaker by 2030 expects EVs to represent 40% of its commercial sales mix, and it wants to be the world's largest light-commercial vehicle manufacturer.
"At Ram, we are laser-focused on offering our customers electrified solutions with disruptive, leading-edge advanced technology that meets real-world demands, and we are thrilled Merchants Fleet recognizes our all-new ProMaster EV will do exactly that," Ram CEO Mike Koval Jr. said in a statement. "Our all-new ProMaster EV is Ram's first EV offering in North America, and an integral step in our electrification journey that will offer more efficient options to all of our customers."
The purchase will help Merchants, a quickly growing company, to provide fleet managers with short and long-term EV leasing options. It already offers a slew of electrified offerings, including the Chrysler Pacifica plug-in hybrid minivan, electric vans, trucks and other vehicles from General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. and still more from Tesla Inc. to startup Fisker Inc.
BURGESS
"We take great pride in our partnership with Stellantis, which plays a crucial role in our strategy to create an innovative EV ecosystem for our clients," Brad Burgess, senior vice president of fleet sales and strategic solutions at Merchants Fleet, said in a statement. "This collaboration allows us to provide our clients with exclusive access to EVs, and a level of flexibility they simply can't get anywhere else."
Merchants Fleet is the second major buyer announced for the van after Ram last year said Amazon.com Inc. had entered a long-term agreement to purchase thousands of ProMaster EVs every year. Ram will have additional ProMaster EV commercial customer announcements in the coming months, according to the news release.
The electric ProMaster will be built at Saltillo Van Assembly Plant in Mexico, where Ram is investing nearly $200 million by the end of 2024 to expand production of gas-powered and electric vans.
Ram already has unveiled the all-electric Ram 1500 REV pickup truck, which will launch at an undisclosed location in the United States in the fourth quarter of 2024.
The news of the Merchants Fleet deal comes after Stellantis last week said Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis will take over as CEO of the Ram Trucks brand effective July 1. Koval will transition to lead the Mopar aftersales brand in North America.
