EV pickups were once this crazy, far-off idea, but now they’re a routine sight on our roads. Ford, Rivian, and Tesla all got a headstart relative to GM, but the big house in Detroit is finally ready to play. The 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV RST is here, and it’s got a spec sheet that should be the envy of its rivals.
Right out of the gate, Chevy estimates the EV RST will achieve 440 miles of range on the EPA test cycle. That’s a nice amount more than the Tesla Cybertruck (340 miles), F-150 Lightning (320 miles) and Rivian R1T (410 miles). With range a prime concern for many EV buyers, this is a big win for the electric Silverado. It’s all down to the massive 215 kWh battery, far larger than any rival truck is packing.
It’s also bonkers fast for a truck, delivering a zero to 60 mph sprint in just 4.5 seconds. It’s not the fastest EV truck out there, but this is a ridiculous figure that was once the preserve of outright supercars. It’s all thanks to 754 horsepower and 785 pound-feet of torque on tap in the ridiculously named WOW (Wide Open Watts) mode.
Where towing is concerned, the EV RST is rated for 10,000 pounds. With such a large battery, you can actually haul those loads useful distances; early testing has shown the Silverado pulling big trailers over 200 miles without issue. The truck will also feature Super Cruise with trailering functionality.
The payload rating is a little weaker at just 1,300 pounds. Both the F-150 Lightning and Cybertruck boast figures well in excess of 2,000 pounds. It’s perhaps a tradeoff that GM chose to make, putting more weight into the battery instead.
Outside of the numbers, though, GM has put in the work to make the Silverado EV a star for doing real work. It rocks both the Multi-Flex midgate and the Multi-Flex tailgate which massively increases the bed’s ability to accept long items. If you really want you can haul stuff up to 10 feet and 10 inches long. That’s a huge leap over the basic 5 feet, 11 inches basic capacity of the bed itself. It’s perfect for lumber, pipe, or other big long things. You can probably think of a bunch.
Keeping the Silverado on the road shouldn’t be a hassle, either. It’s capable of DC fast charging at up to 350 kW. Realistically, you’ll be well-advised to stick to fast charging given the immense size of the battery pack. As is becoming common across the truck market, the EV RST will also offer power outlets for plugging in tools or other gear. It’ll deliver up to 7.2 kW from those outlets, or 10.2 kW if you option the accessory power bar. Chevy is throwing in a 19.2 kW home charger for First Edition reservation holders who place an order, too.
The big news, though, is the price. GM has announced the Silverado EV RST will start at $96,495, including destination charges. That’s a competitive price for a truck that was originally expected to land with a six-figure price tag. Cheaper trims will be available down the line, like the work truck WT model, but for now, even the First Edition RST is landing at a compelling price point. Deliveries are expected to start mid-year.
Market Realities
As described, the EV RST is a strong entry to the electric truck market for GM. It has class-leading range, for a start. This came as a surprise, with early reports suggesting something closer to 400 miles of range. 440 miles of range makes this truck a real humdinger.
Its rivals will struggle to match those figures without major redesigns, unless Tesla finally finds a way to deliver its Cybertruck range extender. For a lot of potential buyers, range is the number one concern. Selling them a truck that can drive all day on a single change will go a long way to easing those fears.
Stuffing in a big battery also makes the Silverado much more useful for big towing jobs. Its rivals may have similar tow ratings, but they won’t drag a 10,000-pound trailer nearly as far as the Silverado EV will. For anyone looking to tow with an electric truck, Chevy has the standout performer here.
There’s also something to be said for brand loyalty. Truck buyers can be highly loyal to their chosen badge. Many will have been waiting for Chevy to offer something in this space, and they will be raring to get on board. 754 horsepower will be a nice reward for those buyers. Those wild acceleration figures should do a lot to woo gas and diesel stalwarts over to the EV world.
Chevy will soon have the newest EV truck on the market. It’ll have the longest range, a good name, and proven towing performance. Add GM’s industrial might behind it, and it could win a lot of customers that were otherwise looking at rival trucks.
Ultimately, all Chevy needs to do is build these trucks in real numbers and sell them to customers. As long as the trucks work, and dealers don’t go crazy on markups, it should find plenty of eager customers willing to get on board. You heard it—Chevy’s doing its electric era now, for real.
Image credits: Chevrolet
I’m really trying to stick to “If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all” on this site…but I can’t help but add my normal comments
-Overweight behemoth
-Excess waste of resources
-Gigantic distracting screen
-Weirdo body design
-Too tall, giant grille
-Huge ripoff
I don’t happen to like the looks, but I think the looks work for what the segment is now and I hate myself for typing that.
What I want is a PHEV pickup the size of the Maverick.
Werd.
I think it’s hard for a lot of people to realize the days of a $35k F150 XLT are gone.
I just looked up a F150 Platinum V6 Hybrid with Blue Cruise and the options package (which is usually what a launch or first edition means). $88k range.
Even still I wonder how much GM is losing on this?
49k will buy you a gas F350HD 4wd Crew XL with Cloth seats, AC, Trailer control, a stereo and CarPlay. DO you really need all that other crap that puts the Platinum at nearly 100k or a king ranch at near 120k. And before you call BS on this- Go to cars.com and look at F350’s in Houston, TX. If you’re willing to go to $57,435 you can get the diesel dually that will tow a small country.
Base models are tremendous values. I wouldn’t disagree with that.
The same logic applies to this truck. They won’t all cost $96k.
I don’t care for this truck either way.
Big and ugly or ugly and big?
I can’t decide
Makes the cybertruck look stylish.
Actually a couple of days ago I saw a cybertruck with a wood grain wrap. Looked pretty good, especially since all the unwrapped ones seem to have unmatched body panel colors.
But back to this, why is it so ugly? All those creases make it look like it got hit by a forklift
The designer completely misunderstood that Beatles line in Come Together. “Got to be good-looking ’cause he’s so hard to see” does not mean that if something is big and easy to see it has to be ugly.
And it’s not even ugly in an interesting way. It’s not even ugly in a form follows function way. It actually looks anti functional. Is there a hot tub in the front? A small living space? Chicken coop or rabbit hutch?
Those tail lights and the overfilled diaper tailgate, what’s that tailgate bulge all about anyway?
The Rivan at least looks inoffensive. This just looks like the looser at the bar wanting to pick a fight styling wise.
Well I hope these end up doing well and replacing at least some of the diesel pickup trucks out there.
Does this truck come with the NACS charge port?
I cannot get over the size of that battery. IIRC the max pack on the Rivian is like 145 or 149kWhrs. I assume that’s why the payload sucks…and I’m sorry, 1300lbs does suck because remember, that includes what’s inside the cab, including my not insignificant backside.
But real world range of the Rivian Maxpack is something like 335 miles, so I’m gonna guess that this truck, unless there’s some crazy foo going on, is going to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 380? I mean, not bad really, but still. But it reveals another problem: the diminishing returns of carrying all the battery around.
On one hand, I will say that this bodes well for towing because towing a not so big travel trailer you might just get 200 miles range and honestly, that’s actually acceptable. With that range I could theoretically cover 500 miles in a day and that’s about all I do anyway with a trailer and my kids so I’m fine. On the other, GM and battery fires and 200+kWhr battery I hope no one t-bones me.
Lastly, I don’t care about price for one reason: gas my friends… look up TCO for the equivalent gas pickups especially when gas prices spike. You’re spending the same. And to add to that, I’ve heard all these MAGA naysayers howl about EV trucks and their prices and their ranges and then all of a sudden in my very middle class area where I live in the last two years I see TRX trucks about 3 – 4 times a month… you know: 700hp, 100k+ price tag, and 300 miles range on just about 30 gal gas tank. All I know is, a lot more people than I thought had 100K in their budget for a truck that IMO seems a lot less practical than a Rivian.
“Ultimately, all Chevy needs to do is build these trucks in real numbers and sell them to customers. As long as the trucks work, and dealers don’t go crazy on markups, it should find plenty of eager customers willing to get on board.” – Lewin Day
I’m reading all these impressive stats, 795 hp, 440 miles range, 10K towing, and I keep asking myself, “So what’s it cost?” Then I see it: $96,500. Add $500 for dealer fees and another $6,000 of tax and registration, and you’re looking at a minimum of $103,000 out the door. I make a reasonably good income, but I have to ask, who can afford this? According to the US Census Bureau, median annual household income in the US in 2022 was about $75,000. The price of this truck is 137% of the median annual household income. I can see no way for this to move in large numbers unless that price falls by 40% to 50% to put it in line with comparable (comparably useful) ICE trucks.
Exactly. I look at new car prices and keep wondering if I’m just a lot poorer than I think I am.
I think people who take better care of their money also don’t realize how truly reckless their neighbors are. People don’t save for retirement, they carry credit card debt, they’d be crippled by a surprise $1000 bill.
Those people are waltzing into car dealerships, falling in love with a car, trading in a car they owe more than its worth, and happily walking out with a loan that would make some of us puke after agreeing to a “reasonable” monthly payment presented to them on a four square sheet.
See my other comment… the short answer is, a lot of people in my very middle class neighborhood drive RAM TRXs–meaning I see 3-4 a month. So not the average truck buyer to be sure, but someone’s sure got the money for something that’s decidedly a toy and arguably more expensive on every front.
Now is this truck a toy? No, it’s not. But you’re amortizing your gas with that price tag, especially when it spikes, which it will, as it has been doing with some regularity every few years. So you take someone with a bit of excess income and a practical streak and this might fit the bill. I’m not going to argue it will sell like hotcakes, but it just might touch TRX numbers. It will be interesting to see. I think, btw, that the Hummer EV is a bad comparison because honestly, it’s pretty ugly when all is said and done.
My argument isn’t that there aren’t people who will buy them. I’m sure some will. My argument is with Mr. Day’s statement that GM will be able to sell tons of them if they build them in big numbers. Some people have the money and will find utility in this truck, but, based on income numbers most can’t afford it, so it will be a low volume seller.
Also, if I can get an ICE truck with comparable towing and payload for 50% of the price, I can buy a lot of gas for $50,000, even if the price spikes. While electricity may be cheaper, it isn’t free, and that’s a lot of battery to charge. I’m just looking at it from a strictly financial/utilitarian perspective. I realize that people buy things for a lot of different reasons, and that’s fine.
I think I’m looking at it from the perspective of how many people want a 700-800 hp truck. It’s all in the definition of “plenty of eager customer” I suppose. The TRX found plenty of eager customer despite its price point. That surprised me…seeing it as often as I did where I live.
I really like the styling of the SilvErado RST. As is very obvious, this looks like a modern Chevy Avalanche. I really wish that Chevy would offer a gas powered Avalanche, hell make it a PHEV. But the cost of this thing is waaaay to much. $100K for this. WOW.
Discount it 50% too.
For all intents and purposes, that’s still a six-figure price tag, and is still ridiculous, and I’m really sad that I live in this timeline.
That’s house money in my imagination.
I still can’t look at any modern Chevy truck without seeing a tiny Nissan Pao getting consumed under the front-end, Mortal Engines style, courtesy of Torch’s wonderful bit of photoshop over at the old site.
And, Wide Open Watts is pretty good, but I still prefer Watts To Freedom.
$100k for an EV that isn’t as functional as a gas model. Woo hoo! Bring back the avalanche with this styling/mid gate with a HYBRID and gas power train. That is what we really need!
They missed an opportunity to call this the EValanche.
Honestly – is this just a badge engineered Hummer EV?
Looks like it to me.
It shares the battery pack, motors, electrical architecture, and a fair amount of the body structure, but that’s what GM’s “Ultium” is… Not too mention how common this is for full size trucks already. There’s considerably more differentiation in design, interior and features from the Hummer than is typical btwn the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra for example
I agree with most of the comments here about the silliness of these huge-battery trucks, but I gotta say, I think this thing *looks* great, and the mid-gate super cool. I would never buy one, but IMO this new Avalanche may be the best looking truck on the market now. Way better than the current Silverado. Your opinion may differ.
I’d be all for a new Avalanche that looks like this with a gas or hybrid power train for like half the price.
Me too. I’d prefer mine in a Colorado-sized package though.
I know I’ve said this before, but I have little use for a full EV truck. I do pull a trailer and use my truck for “truck” purposes. I might be OK with an EV if I lived closer to other towns. I live in North Dakota. The space between larger cities is 200 or more miles away. While there are EV chargers along the way, it would extend what would be a little over 4 hour trip closer to a 5 hour trip. That is in the summer. I also pull my camper all over the country during the summer. Some of those stretches of empty highway are even a little nerve racking with a ICE truck. I would truly love an EV truck, but I think Plug In Hybrid is where we still need to be out here.
I’m the same boat in Minnesota for the same reasons. I think the Ram Charger is going to be perfect for me but Stelantis makes me nervous. I really wish Ford or GM would announce their version of a competitor. I need 100 miles battery range with a plug in hybrid system & I’m in
I am glad you have realized it would be a mistake for you to purchase a truck that did not suit your purposes. That would be an expensive mistake! Not to mention your experiences with charging and towing would be rife with disappointment, based on your previous positive experiences with a more appropriate vehicle.
Doug Demuro’s review of the cybertruck hits the nail on the head when it comes to payload capacity/tow rating/tailgate functionality/etc of these luxury trucks. It doesn’t matter (for the most part). It’s already a well worn cliche that most (American) pickup trucks aren’t used for their intended purpose. But when it comes to these luxury pickup trucks that are pushing, or surpassing, six figures… It’s even worse. To use Demuro’s words, it’s all about the “flex” and showing up the Jones. Does this truck win that race? I don’t know, and don’t really care.
He’s wrong. There is no way in hell these people are using the trucks for their rated capacities… but they still have to have them. I’ve talked to guys like that before, they ALL know what the rated tow capacity is, they all now how much torque/hp theirs makes, etc. Its a big part of the flex
With 440miles of range, I’d be far more inclined to take that typical 50% range hit on towing and actually use this for towing a couple ATVs and a travel trailer up to the OHV areas. 200miles is enough range to get me roundtrip.
Do I want to pay $90k for that privilege? No, but this is the first EV truck I could actually see myself doing real towing with.
I’ll still probably get a Rivian, but I really wish Rivian had the 240V power export that the Ford, Chevy, and Tesla all have. I have a standby power transfer switch in my house already with a portable generator for emergencies. All others except the Rivian are literally plug and play for powering my house.