Toronto, Ontario — In today’s EV/AV report, General Motors makes the first delivery of electric vans for Fedex’s new fleet, Tesla hikes prices for some of its most popular EVs and a Canadian OEM announces a battery EV designed for the Canadian winter.
Vans on Volts
On June 21, FedEx announced that the company received its first 150 electric delivery vehicles from BrightDrop – a subsidiary of General Motors.
This marks the first step in FedEx’s roadmap to fully electrify its pickup and delivery fleet by 2040, with negotiations for another 20,000 vans currently underway.
“In just under six months, we’ve taken delivery of 150 BrightDrop EV600s for our parcel pickup and delivery fleet,” said Mitch Jackson, chief sustainability officer at FedEx. “In today’s climate of chip shortages and supply chain issues, that’s no ordinary feat.”
According to BrightDrop, the EV600 light commercial vehicle is General Motors’ fastest-built vehicle, taking just 20 months to go from concept art to commercial sale.
Red Alert
Much like balloons, birds and grocery bills, Tesla prices are rising – again.
Previously in May 5, Tesla North reported that the titular OEM had raised its prices. The company did not provide a reason for the price hike, but Sarah Lee-Jones at Tesla North says this is likely the result of the global supply chain problem and chip shortage.
While no reason was provided by Tesla for this month’s price hike, this may be linked to the company’s decision to downsize as much as 10 percent of its office-based staff.
Here are some of the price changes as of June 15.
Model S
Long Range – $136,990 (+$7,400)
Plaid – $178,590 (no change)
Model X
Long Range – $157,990 (+$10,400)
Plaid – $185,590 (no change)
Model 3
RWD – $61,980 (no change)
Long Range – $76,990 (+$2,000)
Performance – $83,990 (no change)
Model Y
Long Range – $86,990 (+$3,000)
Performance – $91,990 (+$1,600)
SUV, not Snack
If you think the Maple Majestic Kombi-Kross sounds delicious, we did too – until learning it was the name of a made-in-Canada EV, courtesy of Maple Majestic.
According to the company, the Kombi-Kross as a plug-in EV with a hybrid electric generator “that is only dreamt of at this time” capable of “extreme climate performance without adversely affecting the climate.”
While the idea of an environmentally conscious EV that can handle Canada’s winter and salted roads, that idea is closer to a goal than a consumer-ready product. Information from the Maple Majestic site suggests that the vehicle is still in the planning phase, rather than a road-ready prototype.
Furthermore, a press release from Oct. 2020 estimates that the vehicle will clock in at the $150,000 range – an estimate made before supply chain issues worsened in the past two years.
Maple Majestic is a division of AK Motor International Corporation, founded in Canada in 2012 with the vision to be Canada’s first multi-brand automotive OEM.
