2024
Chevrolet Silverado EV

Exterior

Unlike a conventional pickup truck—which has separate body and bed pieces that sit atop a ladder frame—the Silverado EVs chassis is built around the structure of its battery pack, and its bed and body form a seamless structure. The sail panel between the back of the passenger cabin and the top of the bed rail looks a lot like the one on the pickup truck version of the Hummer EV, although it hearkens back to the plastic-clad triangular sail panels, extending from the back of the cab to the top of the bed, that differentiated Avalanche pickups from regular Silverados years ago.

The front end is short, both to maximize the driver’s forward visibility and to increase legroom for the rear seat passenger, according to GM. The Silverado EV will come in only a crew cab configuration.

The bed measures 5-feet, 11-inches in length, but with the midgate open, and the optional configurable tailgate extended, that length increases to 10-feet, 10-inches—a notable competitive advantage.

Interior

The interior of the RST features a 17-inch LCD infotainment screen surrounded by trapezoidal styling flourishes and cladding consistent with Chevrolet’s other products, EV or not. The driver gets a configurable 11-inch instrument display and a full-color head-up display on the windshield. WT models get a smaller version of the infotainment screen.

Along with cargo-hauling capacity in the pickup bed, the Silverado EV will feature a front-mounted “frunk” for extra closed storage, although GM has not yet specified its volume. The midgate will fold into the cab, but will not impinge on back-row seating capacity when it’s not in use. No word on interior storage options such as the center console or underseat storage in the back row.

What Drives It

GM says there will be two electric motors—one for each axle—on the top-end RST trim. At launch, the two-wheel-drive WT will have a 450-mile range on a full charge. There will be a four-wheel-drive WT with a 393-mile range. The RST First Edition has an EPA-estimated 450-mile range.

The RST will have a drive setting called Wide Open Watts (aka WOW) mode that GM says will facilitate a 0-to-60-mph launch in less than 4.5 seconds. It was also designed with towing in mind, and will be able to haul large trailers up to 10,000 pounds, such as a dual-axle camper, or carry up to 1,300 pounds in its bed. (The Ford Lightning boasts up to a 2,000-pound payload capacity and 10,000-pound tow capacity.) Like the GMC Hummer EV, the Silverado EV RST will come with four-wheel steering to improve maneuverability, as well as an adaptive air suspension system.

The truck was also designed with towing in mind, and will be able to haul large trailers up to 10,000 pounds, such as a dual-axle camper, or carry up to 1,300 pounds in the RST bed and 1,400 pounds in the 4WT. (The Ford Lightning boasts up to a 2,000-pound payload capacity and 10,000-pound tow capacity.)

Like the GMC Hummer EV, the Silverado EV RST will come with four-wheel steering to improve maneuverability, as well as an adaptive air suspension system.

Initially, Chevrolet will offer the WT trim with an 8,000-pound towing capacity and 1,200-pound payload capacity, but GM says a later version of the fleet model can be equipped with a tow package that will bump the towing capacity to 20,000 pounds.

GM says that the RST and WT feature a maximum acceptance rate of up to 350-kW at public DC fast-charging locations, enabling approximately 100 miles of driving range to be added in 10 minutes. 

Active Safety and Driver Assistance Systems

GM says the Silverado EV will include “a comprehensive suite of standard and available safety technologies,” and that the more expensive RST trim will come with a towing-compatible version of Super Cruise hands-free driver assistance technology.