GM Shows Off Its Electric Van

General Motors' newfound interest in electric vehicles goes beyond mere passenger autos. In August, GM Ventures made a $5 million investment in Bright Automotive, the startup behind the IDEA plug-in hybrid for commercial fleets. Now the automaker also has designs on its own GM-branded electric vans as well.

Opel's Vivaro e-Concept, set to debut at the IAA Commercial Vehicles Fair in Hannover, Germany later this month, is designed to meet the needs of inner-city transport delivery operators. It features a 111 kW electric motor, 370Nm of torque, 62 miles of pure electric driving per charge, and a total driving range of 249 miles (when the range extender is turned on). We're betting that the e-Concept integrates some of Bright Automotive's hybrid technology as well--as part of the GM Ventures investment deal, Bright shared access to its EV secrets.

Unfortunately for U.S. customers, it looks like the Vivero is a Europe-only vehicle. But if it ever goes into commercial production, rest assured that we'll see a similar model hit U.S. streets.

Ariel Schwartz can be reached on Twitter or by email.