While GM is making strides with the new Chevrolet Silverado EV, its other subsidiary, BrightDrop, has taken to the stage of this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to announce it has received a hefty order of 5,000 delivery vans from Walmart. This business transaction acts as a GM's contribution to the company's goal of achieving a zero-emissions logistics fleet by 2040. Further expanding on this successful deal is the announcement that FedEx has ordered an additional 2,000 vans for its operations.

Both companies placed orders for BrightDrop's EV600 and smaller EV410 electric delivery vans. For FedEx, this order is an addition to the 500-unit reservation it placed not too long ago but it's said that the shipping company aims to add up to 20,000 more in the following years. In the meantime, FedEx has plans to expand testing of the EP1 electrified container in 10 markets.

BrightDrop says that these two transactions signify the growing momentum the brand is experiencing in the delivery solution sphere. After all, a deal this big involving two Fortune 500 companies is no laughing matter. What's even more impressive is that BrightDrop only launched as a company at last year's CES.

The first batch of EV600 units was delivered to FedEx only last month. This product makes use of the GM's Ultium Platform and was put together 20 months before the delivery took place. GM says that this makes it the fastest vehicle to be developed for the market in its entire history.

Walmart will be using BrightDrop's two van options as part of its InHome delivery service which will be expanding to accommodate 30 million U.S. households, up from the current six million. The service was launched in 2019 has been designed to save time by employing a selection of trained workers to deliver fresh groceries on a daily basis. With the new order of vans, Walmart announces it will be hiring 3,000 more associates for the service.

As a result, we could be seeing BrightDrop's vans roaming around the streets by 2023. The company also has a goal of using electrified vans for deliveries of third-party retailers and brands via Walmart GoLocal service. Walmart says it feels confident in GM's product offerings and recognizes the automaker as a great partner.

FedEx also hopes to become carbon neutral on a global scale by 2040. That's why the company needs to electrify its parcel pickup and delivery fleet. It will double-down on this by adding hundreds of thousands of medium electric delivery vehicles throughout the next 20 years.

The aforementioned EP1 container formed part of a Toronto-based pilot that was announced 12 months ago. This project resulted in a 25 percent increase in package deliveries per day. It also completed this system in New York City which resulted in a 15 percent delivery increase per hour. The company has a plan to expand this test to 10 markets fairly soon.