General Motors' subsidiary BrightDrop said Monday it has entered its first international market, Canada, by adding DHL Express Canada as a customer.

BrightDrop, which makes all-electric delivery vans and other technology to help in the delivery business, also said production of its Zevo 600 delivery van started at GM’s CAMI Assembly plant in Ontario, making the plant Canada’s first large-scale EV factory. The Zevo 600, which can carry up 2,200 pounds of packages and can travel as far as 250 miles on a full charge, resembles the commonly known UPS brown trucks.

The announcements were part of the grand opening of the CAMI facility, which will also build the smaller Zevo 400 midsize electric delivery van starting in late 2023.

DHL Express Canada said it plans to add its first Zevo 600 van to its fleet early next year. DHL, an international shipping and logistics company, is also conducting a test of BrightDrop's Trace eCarts − an electrically-powered pallet that helps move packages to ease the burden on workers' bodies − and BrightDrop's software platform in Toronto, "with additional regions to follow" in testing the products.

For BrightDrop, entering the Canadian market is key for capturing more of the $250 billion delivery industry, especially as competition in the space heats up with global companies setting goals to electrify their fleets.

“Bringing BrightDrop to Canada and starting production at CAMI is a major step to providing EVs at scale,” said Travis Katz, BrightDrop CEO, in a statement. “Having DHL Express Canada come on board as a new customer shows the confidence legacy brands have in our ability to deliver.”

BrightDrop, which recently told investors it is on pace to reach $1 billion in revenue in 2023, will sell a variety of products beyond the vans, including the Trace eCarts and mobile asset management software for the Trace to monitor its location, battery status, remote commands to lock and unlock, and over-the-air updates of connected features. The newest product, BrightDrop Core, is software that combines data generated from the Zevo and Trace products to provide customers with better visibility, insight and control of their operations.

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GM started BrightDrop in 2021 and made an $800 million investment to convert the CAMI Assembly plant to an EV factory to build the vans.

In the U.S., BrigthDrop has more than 30 customers including Walmart, Hertz, FedEx, Merchants Fleet and Verizon. Katz said BrightDrop plans to share additional customers in the coming months.

In December 2021, BrightDrop started delivery of its 150 vans to FedEx. FedEx plans to incorporate 2,500 Zevo 600s to its fleet in the next few years. BrightDrop made those first vans in small volume at a temporary factory at one of BrightDrop's U.S. suppliers in southeast Michigan, said BrightDrop spokeswoman Maria Violette. FedEx currently has 150 of them on the road in Los Angeles, with all production shifting to CAMI.

Katz has said BrightDrop expects to be making 50,000 trucks a year there starting in 2025. Scaled production of the Zevo 600 will start in January, Katz said.

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Contact Jamie L. LaReau: jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. Read more on General Motors and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: GM's BrightDrop expands to international market, starts production