Lucas Bell 
As the 2021 iteration of CES wrapped up about a week ago, General Motors pulled the cover off of their first new brand since Geo appeared in 1989. BrightDrop is the automaker’s new electric commercial vehicle and services brand, aimed directly at combating the efforts of Rivian and Bollinger Motors in the delivery market space. GM showed off two of the products BrightDrop will have on offer during CES, including the EV600 commercial van and the electrically-powered pallet known as EP1. FedEx has already signed on as an inaugural customer, with some 500 BrightDrop EV600s slated to be delivered to the company later this year. And while GM wants us all to wait with baited breath for more info about the new brand, MC&T has discovered a trove of new BrightDrop trademark filings with the USPTO.
MC&T found eight trademark filings with the USPTO that relate to the new General Motors commercial EV brand. All of the filings were made on January 15, 2021, and all are still awaiting review from a USPTO attorney. The USPTO notes that this process won’t start for a minimum of three months after the filing date, which means nothing official will happen until after March at the earliest. The trademarks break down as follows:
Starting with the things we are already familiar with, General Motors has filed a trademark for the BrightDrop nameplate as a whole. While this is a bit of a no brainer, the official descriptions provided for the brand are worth a look. They note that BrightDrop is focused on “Non-downloadable software, namely, software for the optimization of fleet management and mobile asset management; charging stations for electric vehicles,”. Furthermore, a secondary description for the brand notes that it will focus on electric vehicles and self-driving transport vehicles, as well as mobile storage and cargo containers, namely electrically-assisted in design.
Another trademark we are familiar with belongs to the BrightDrop EV600, which is the first vehicle announced by the automaker. While the trademark only notes that this is an electric vehicle, GM has already shared some info with us. We know that the delivery van will utilize the same Ultium Battery Pack as the GMC Hummer EV and the upcoming Cadillac Lyriq, providing 250 miles of range in this spec. The van will also be fast-charge compatible, with a maximum charge rate of 170 miles of range per charge hour. The BrightDrop EP1 also received its own trademark, but not new information is available outside of GM’s description at CES 2021.
The USPTO also showed trademarks have been filed for three other BrightDrop electric vehicles: the ESR1, the ELRV, and the ERLM1. The trademark filings themselves don’t really contain much information about the new vehicles, except for one key description. The BrightDrop ESR1 is listed not only as an EV, but as a self-driving transport vehicle. This again confirms that GM is indeed actively working towards autonomy, despite American’s overall hesitation surrounding the technology. Furthermore, this could hint at the proliferation of the tech throughout General Motors’ new EV-centered lineup.
Last but not least, General Motors filed two separate trademarks for BrightDrop logo designs. Both designs feature what appears to be the famous Tweet bubble, with a lowercase “d” slotted inside a larger lowercase “b”. One design features a blue and white color scheme, while the other is finished in black and white. The design mirrors the adjustments made to GM’s own logo as of late, right down to the social media app inspiration. We’re not sure this one is a winner either.
So then it appears that General Motors has some major plans in store for the BrightDrop EV brand. The commercial vehicle space represents a huge opportunity for electric vehicle manufacturers, as EVs promise to reduce fleet ownership and maintenance costs. That said, the competition is heating up already thanks to the efforts made by Rivian, Bollinger, and of course Tesla. We’ll have to wait and see if the BrightDrop EV600 and its stablemates have what it takes to corner the market.
