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Last May, General Motors completely relaunched its commercial and fleet consultant and sales organization, now known as GM Envolve, which reportedly takes up nearly a quarter of the automaker’s annual volume. The remodeled business is back to selling everything from data analytics, OnStar, and SuperCruise services, to full on fleet vehicle sales of black livery SUVs, cargo vans, and now upfitted, pursuit-rated police trucks and all-electric cars. We sat with Sandor Piszar, Vice President of GM Envolve, for a brief chat about the 2024 Chevy Blazer EV PPV, 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ EV three-row SUV, future Chevy Express van, and more at this year’s New York International Auto Show, and to figure out new business opportunities of EVs and the future of policing.
From GM Fleet to GM Envolve
“We launched GM Envolve last May, and it goes far beyond just a name change from GM Fleet. It’s really about having a single point of contact that can truly understand the industry of that business customer and what they need to help them grow their business. And then we leverage the full portfolio of products and services that GM brings to market, and we’re able to help those customers with their needs. It all starts with the vehicle,” Piszar told us from the Chevy booth on the show floor. From there, Envolve engages as a multi-solution consultant with the full breadth of its business and supplier connections.
That can play out in a package or with individual products and services, and Envolve is still flexible to both ICE and EV demand, Piszar says: “If they’re interested in getting into EVs, we can help with charging infrastructure through GM Energy. As their needs for data analytics grows, we coordinate with OnStar to have business solutions available to manage their fleets, as they need accessories to maximize resale value, we coordinate with GM Accessories. It’s really about minimizing any hassle that a customer could have through GM Envolve and bringing solutions to them so they can focus on growing their business. That’s really not how the auto industry has done it for the past century. You had the fleet folks sell the car, and then a different department did financing, another one talked uptime with service and parts; by having this GM Envolve as a single point of contact, we can truly work one-on-one as a consultant.”
OnStar and SuperCruise as Fleet Solutions
A huge chunk of the modern fleet and commercial business model is now in data and analytics, Piszar explains: “Analytics is asked for and in high demand for business customers. OnStar Business Solutions provides data analytics, we’re able to help them manage their fleet for everything from maximizing the efficiency of routes and the safety of their drivers, to also managing things like maintenance schedules, seeing when an oil change is due, scheduling appointments. We’re able to utilize that functionality not only with GM vehicles, but if they have multi-brand fleets, they’re able to help manage that full fleet to keep an eye on the operation through OnStar Business Solutions, and it’s growing in demand every year.”
Is there a fleet application for the automaker’s available SuperCruise driver assistance system, which features pre-loaded mapping of hundreds of thousands of U.S. highways and roadways, but critically can’t operate yet in more urban environments? “We do have a lot of interest in Super Cruise from our fleet commercial customers.” Piszar offers an example: “Right now, it’s more probably something like pharmaceutical companies that have sales people on the road, driving great distances, a lot of highway use, which is where SuperCruise is designed to be used. It really is a safety item, and a fatigue item. Safety is really a critical component for commercial customers, because many of them are self-insured, they’re worried about liability and the safety of their drivers.”
“Commercial customers and livery, it’s a subset of the broader general population,” Piszar continues. “As interest in autonomy grows with the general public, you’ve got to experience it to believe it. At first you’re tentative, and then after a few minutes, it seems so natural, it’s like using cruise control. As that technology continues to expand and offer additional functionality, not just in highway but in city, I have no doubt that it will carry into the fleet and livery space.”
How EVs Will Effect the Black Car and Livery Business
“Escalade is the gold standard for livery service. It’s a known commodity. Black Suburbans, it’s almost like Kleenex. You know when you order a large livery vehicle, if it’s not an Escalade it’s probably a Suburban. There is a lot of interest from the livery industry on what the possibilities could be with that size vehicle as an EV. We’re going to be focused on that, it’s an important component of business for Cadillac and Chevrolet, we’re a leader in [the livery industry], and we intend to continue to do that with our lineup of EVs. The great thing is, all of the functionality you have with the full-size ICE SUV lineup, you’re going to get that functionality with the EVs as well. So it’s really going to be a no compromise opportunity for livery services,” Piszar promises.
Chevy Blazer EV PPV Updates
Piszar tells MotorTrend that the just-launched Chevrolet Blazer EV PPV is sold out for the 2024 model year, though it’s not clear how many units this entails. “GM fleet is about 23 percent of annual volume, generally that’s the rule of thumb, but this is a specialized product within that. We’re just ramping up so we expect the sales volume to rapidly increase in 2025 and beyond, we’re excited about it.” Chevy reportedly delivered 482 Blazer EVs last year, and 600 more in the first quarter of 2024 (despite a temporary stop-sale over a software issue that’s now over). Envolve has previously advertised that the Blazer EV PPV would go into production in the first quarter of 2024.
If there’s demand for it, what’s the selling point for departments, especially as an EV up against ICE alternatives? Piszar says: “It’s a new thing for police departments, getting into the EV space. The fact that it’s police pursuit rated gives it a lot of credibility. They have to really experience the vehicle, so we’ve been working with our dealers to have a few units available so that local municipalities can try it out, and when they drive it, they’re blown away. [The Blazer EV PPV] has the same enablement for upfit as a traditional Tahoe PPV, which is really important as you’re rolling it out. The electrical architecture, you have to have everything fully integrated, so having that pre-loaded and ready to go from the factory enables it to just be upfitted like any other regular police car even though it’s an EV.”
Good (or Bad) News? You Won’t Hear an Electric Police Car Coming
Piszar says there are inherent advantages to utilizing an electric vehicle as a police platform. “As police officers have driven it, they really like the quietness of the [Blazer EV PPV]. That’s really important as they’re going into perhaps a difficult situation and need to be stealthy, it’s completely silent rolling up. You know EVs are quiet but now you’re thinking about it in a context that’s completely different than a normal user, it’s part of the strategy. Obviously, the performance is phenomenal, it’s got 498 horsepower, very low center of gravity as EVs have because of where the battery packs are located, so the handling is phenomenal. Overall package, it’s easy to get in and out because of the SUV architecture, [officers] are blown away. There’s a lot of idling time; EVs are perfect for that kind of scenario versus an ICE vehicle. We work with the [departments] to determine how many miles they’ll be driving, what’s the best efficiency for them, and then help them with the charging infrastructure to meet their needs.”
“We have a single point of contact that works with the business or police outfit, we’ve got government specialists, and we assess what they’re needs are and we’re able to leverage the full portfolio of products and services that GM has. If they’re interested in a Blazer EV PPV but they don’t have charging infrastructure, we can coordinate with GM Energy and we’ve got partners for installation, so we can install a Level 2 charger either at a central location, like the police department, or if the officers take their vehicle home, we can install that Level 2 charger at home. Whatever the needs are of that department or business, it’s something that enables them to adopt an EV and making it as turn-key and painless as possible.”
“For police, or business customers, as they’re interested in getting into the EV space, typically the very next question is ‘what about charging infrastructure and chargers?’ That’s where GM Envolve is really approaching the business differently than a lot of our competitors,” Piszar offers; “Uptime is everything for fleet and commercial customers, and obviously for government and police use as well. Depending on their usage, if it’s local, the great thing about our Ultium platform vehicles is they have phenomenal range. They’re going to be able to get about 300 or more miles of range out of that vehicle. Depending on their use case is, they’re able to get a full day’s service out of that vehicle, and if they’re taking it home for the night or leaving it there, they can charge just like your cell phone. If it’s a shorter duty cycle, and they’ve got multiple shifts, they’re able to utilize for back-to-back shifts.”
The vehicles already come with plenty of modification, as Piszar points out: “When they order the 9C1PPV, it’s got a delete on the center console so they can put their police-specific equipment there, the seats are designed to accommodate an equipment belt and the firearm on an officer so they’re not lopsided or it’s not a pain point, because that’s their office for their shift. The materials are extremely durable to hold up under severe police use, we eliminate the carpet and put a heavy vinyl flooring. Everything about it is designed to maximize the available space, and to make it as pleasant an environment as possible for the officer.” The Blazer EV PPV is all-wheel drive and also comes equipped with center-capped 20-inch black steelie wheels on pursuit-rated rubber, steel skid plates, Brembo brakes, performance suspension, and capable of 190 kWh DC fast-charging. GM is also “looking into” V2L capability using the full 102-kWh battery pack and electrical system on offer for the Blazer EV in the near future.
Vans Have A Future
There’s been some reported doubt in development of a next-generation replacement for the Chevy Express and GMC Savannah vans, so what does Piszar have to offer (that he can reveal now, pending any future product plans best kept secret until further developed)? “[The G-Series Van] is white-hot, it is in massive demand, we can’t build enough, and in fact for this current-gen, we’ve sold over 3 million Chevy Express and GMC Savannah vans. It’s a phenomenal product, and it’s a known, proven, reliable commodity that customers love.”
That’s the gas side likely locked down for the foreseeable future, but what about electrified solutions? “We also introduced our BrightDrop Zevo 600 and 400 vans for those who have a bigger last-mile commercial delivery need, and they get all of the enhanced performance and technologies of an EV from GM, so we really offer a broad range of solutions. There’s always going to be a need for vans in the fleet and commercial space. GM has committed that we’re going to be there to provide both ICE and EV solutions for customers.”
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