The Silverado EV Gives Us a Glimpse of the Future

With each new vehicle announcement, it becomes increasingly clear that the future of the auto industry will be electric, literally. Electric Vehicle (EV) models are becoming a major part of every manufacturer’s lineup, and it won’t be long before the entire lineups of many brands are exclusively EVs. While most of the vehicles you’ll find right now at Guntersville Chevrolet, your favorite Albertville Chevy dealer, are still going to be internal combustion models, that will change sooner than you might think. The Bolt EV has already proven itself a popular hatchback model, and it’s not only being updated but also joined by a Bolt EUV option with an SUV design.

The EV model that we’re probably most excited about here at Guntersville Chevrolet, however, is the all-new 2023 Chevy Silverado EV, an all-electric pickup built on GM’s innovative Ultium platform. While we don’t yet have a lot of details on what kind of performance it will have or just how powerful it will be, the little that we do know is more than enough to have us thrilled to see what it will offer. Today, we’re going to take a look at what we expect from the Silverado EV based on the information we have from GM, what the all-new GMC Hummer EV pickup has to offer, and what the rest of the EV pickup market looks like.

2023 Silverado EV – What We Know

Although details about the upcoming Silverado EV are still quite scarce – it’s at least a year away, after all – there are a few things we can say with some confidence. For starters, it will be an all-electric model with a full-size design that is meant to compete with other models like the Ford F-150 Lightning and complement the existing gas-engine Silverado lineup. The only specific detail about performance that we have from Chevy is that it’s expected to get more than 400 miles of range on a full charge. Even though this is Chevy’s first all-electric Silverado model, it isn’t their first EV, so they’ve learned a lot while developing other vehicles like the Bolt EUV.

We also know that the Silverado EV is being designed and built using GM’s innovative new Ultium battery and EV platform. This platform is a major part of why Chevy is able to develop the all-new Silverado EV so quickly since it shares a lot of features with other EV models being worked on at GM. In particular, it shares the Ultium platform with the 2022 GMC Hummer EV, which is also a truck. This means that we can look at the Hummer EV and the kind of performance it has to offer to get some hints about what to expect from the Silverado.

Hints from the GMC Hummer EV

Since the Silverado EV is being built using the same platform as the GMC Hummer EV, and we know a lot more about the Hummer’s specs, we can use this to make some predictions about the Silverado model. For starters, the GMC Hummer EV can get an estimated 350 miles of range on a full charge, which is just under what Chevy is predicting for the Silverado, likely due to improvements that will be made over the next year to the Ultium battery architecture. The Hummer EV features all-wheel drive, standard, along with three motors that generate up to 1,000 hp for fantastic overall performance.

Thanks to a new “Watts to Freedom” launch control system, GMC has estimated the Hummer EV can go from 0 to 60 in just 3.0 seconds. Unfortunately, specifics for the payload and towing capacities of the Hummer EV have not yet been released, so we don’t have any useful information there. The interior of the Hummer is a crew cab that is spacious and features gorgeous touches like removable transparent roof panels and incredibly comfortable seating. Finally, a 12-inch digital driver instrument cluster and 13-inch infotainment display showcase the kind of technology packed into the GMC Hummer EV.

The Competition – Ford F-150 Lightning

Now, as a Chevy dealer, it might seem a little strange to discuss our competition, but we think it’s worthwhile. For one thing, we’re confident enough in what the Silverado EV will offer that we’re not afraid to talk about what else is out there. Plus, looking at what other companies are doing can give us some insights into what the Silverado EV will need to do in order to take its place at the head of the pack.

The electric version of the F-150 has two different battery options: a standard-range and an extended-range. With the standard-range battery, the F-150 Lightning has a range of about 230 miles on a full charge and up to 7,700 lbs of towing capacity. The extended-range battery increases that to about 300 miles on a full charge and a more impressive 10,000 lbs of towing. All-wheel drive is standard on the Lightning thanks to two electric motors.

The Competition – Tesla Cybertruck

Now that we’ve seen what Ford’s EV pickup will have to offer, let’s take a look at the other major competitor for the Silverado EV: the Tesla Cybertruck. Once we get past its strange design, the Cybertruck does offer some pretty impressive performance. For one thing, there are multiple motor options for the Cybertruck with one, two, or three motors. The standard one-motor setup comes with rear-wheel drive, while the other two are all-wheel drive options.

Performance depends on which configuration you look at. For example, the single-motor and dual-motor options are pretty comparable to the F-150 Lightning, with up to 7,500 lbs and 10,000 lbs of towing capacity, respectively. The three-motor option boosts that quite a bit to 14,000 lbs and an estimated range of more than 500 miles on a full charge. Though we think it’s worth mentioning that this tri-motor option starts at about $70,000.

The Competition – Rivian R1T

Finally, let’s check out a newcomer to the industry: Rivian and its pickup model, the R1T (the similar R1S is an SUV rather than a truck). Although Rivian has a lot to prove with its pickup, according to their specs, it will have all-wheel drive standard with two motors: one on each axle. According to the information from Rivian, the R1T will be able to tow more than 11,000 lbs and have a range of about 400 miles on a full charge with an available extended battery.

What We Expect From the Silverado EV

Looking at the GMC Hummer EV and the competition, we can see some trends that we expect the Silverado EV to live up to. For starters, we think the Silverado EV will come with all-wheel drive standard thanks to a two-motor system, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see an option for three motors much like the Hummer EV and the Cybertruck. In terms of range, Chevy has already said they estimate more than 400 miles on a full charge, and we wouldn’t be surprised if there are two battery options available like the F-150 Lightning.

We can only guess what towing will look like since we have no information from GMC quite yet. It’s unlikely that Chevy will let the competitors leave them in the dust, however, so 10,000 lbs seems like a reasonable goal. If there is a three-motor option available, then we could see towing capacity that surpasses the F-150 and rivals (or perhaps even outshines) what the Cybertruck has to offer. Only time will tell, but as we know more, you’ll be the first to hear about it.