First and foremost, what exactly does BrightDrop mean? Founded in January 2021 by General Motors, the BrightDrop subsidiary is a business focused on delivery companies. Previously known as EV600, the Zevo 600 all-electric delivery van is a medium-duty truck with Ultium battery tech.
Unveiled at the 2021 Consumer Electronics Show to much critical acclaim for its driving range and cargo area volume, GM’s zero-emission delivery van has been hit with a safety recall. More specifically, 234 units produced for the 2023 and 2024 model years might have been assembled with an incorrect passenger-side upper B-pillar panel.
Said vehicles were optioned with a passenger jump seat. As for the panel mentioned earlier, said trim can interfere with the deployment of the roof rail-mounted airbag. This, in turn, increases the risk of injury for the passenger in the event of a crash.
Why did the workers at CAMI Automotive in Canada install the wrong B-pillar trim piece no fewer than 234 times between March 3, 2023 and June 29, 2023? According to documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the supplier of said panel shipped an obsolete design to GM’s assembly plant.
General Motors became aware of this mistake on August 11 after a supplier quality engineer at CAMI Automotive discovered the wrong design in the assembly plant’s inventory. He submitted his concern through Speak Up For Safety, a program created by the Detroit-based automaker in 2014 due to the ignition switch blunder that forced GM to recall nearly 30 million vehicles. The ignition switch fiasco resulted in at least 124 deaths.
Photo: GM / NHTSA / edited
Turning our attention back to the Zevo 600, the resulting investigation determined that US Farathane Corporation shipped two batches containing incorrect B-pillar trim pieces: first on June 15, then on August 11. Containment efforts were completed on August 15, yet General Motors took its sweet time until October 5 to finally decide on issuing this recall. Thankfully, no incidents related to said condition have been reported as of October 2023.
As you might have guessed by now, the remedy comprises the redesigned part that should’ve been fitted to the Zevo 600 in the first place. BrightDrop dealers nationwide have been instructed to replace the incorrect part with the right one on October 12. Customers, meanwhile, will be informed by means of first-class mail no later than November 27.
According to a bulletin forwarded to all BrightDrop dealers in the nation, inspecting and replacing the B-pillar trim takes an estimated 0.3 hours of labor time. Of course, Zevo 600 customers won’t be charged a cent for the remedy part and labor.
AWD by default, the Zevo 600 promises up to 250 miles (402 kilometers) of GM-estimated range. Capable of juicing up the high-voltage battery to the tune of 170 miles (274 kilometers) per hour, the Zevo 600 is listed with a payload of 1,460 pounds (662 kilograms) and a cargo volume of 615 cubic feet (17,415 liters). By comparison, the smaller Zevo 400 boasts 1,800 (816) and 412 (11,667).
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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