Chevrolet unveiled its first electric pickup less than a month ago, and already, at least 110,000 people have signed up to buy one.
Big News, But Not That Big
The numbers show healthy demand for the truck, but they’re a long way from displacing America’s love for gas-powered trucks. Last year, Chevrolet sold about 520,000 gas-powered Silverados, taking bronze in the big truck race behind the Ford F-150 and Ram 1500.
Another important caveat: Not every reservation becomes a truck in a driveway. It costs just $100 to reserve the right to buy the truck, and the reservation is refundable. Many details about the truck remain a mystery. So, inevitably, some who reserve one won’t follow through to buying.
About the Silverado EV
The truck arrives in the spring of 2023 (as a 2024 model). When it does get here, Chevy says, it will appear first in two trim levels.
A basic WT work truck model will cost $39,900. It offers 510 horsepower and 615 pound-feet of torque. Chevy estimates a range of about 400 miles between charges, though no one outside Chevrolet has driven the truck yet, so there’s no way to verify that. Towing capacity is 8,000 pounds, though payload is fairly low at 1,200 pounds.
The only other option at purchase will be a fully loaded luxury truck, the RST. It will carry a sticker price of $105,000 and include just about every amenity the auto industry has to offer. It boasts 664 horsepower and 780 pound-feet of torque and can tow up to 10,000 pounds. Payload is only slightly better, at 1,300.
Chevrolet says more trim levels will be announced before the truck’s arrival, including an off-road-ready Trail Boss version. We don’t know the price of that one.
Lots of Electric Pickups Coming
The Silverado EV doesn’t sit on the same platform as the gas-powered truck it takes its name from. It uses GM’s new Ultium electric vehicle architecture. A skateboard-like flat unit containing all of the running gear and batteries beneath the floor, Ultium can be scaled up or down to build vehicles of many sizes. It’s already in a handful of Americans’ garages, in the form of the GMC Hummer EV pickup.
The Hummer isn’t even the first electric truck to market. It followed the R1T from startup Rivian. When the Silverado gets here, those two will have been joined by Ford’s F-150 Lightning EV. Ford sold more than 200,000 Lightning reservations before closing the reservation line and opening the order books.
Tesla has also taken reservations for its radical rethink of the electric pickup, the Cybertruck. But that vehicle has been delayed several times and currently has no scheduled production date.
