First Look Drive: 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV 4WT goes all-electric
There’s an argument to be made that the hearts and minds of pickup truck buyers, when it comes to electrification, will be won not in consumer driveways, but in the fleet business, where battery power truly makes sense.
Consumer truck buyers are showing some resistance to giving up their gas and diesel pickups, but for fleet administrators all that matters is the bottom line, and being able to plug in your pickups instead of filling up the fuel tanks may be too good of an opportunity to pass up.
Ford has done well with its Lightning fleet pickup, and General Motors is hoping to prove the electric Silverado four-wheel-drive work truck, or 4WT, will follow suit.
Specs: 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV Work Truck
- Price: $77,905/$80,345 Base/as tested
- Powertrain: Dual motors, one front, one rear
- Output: 510 hp and 615 lb-ft of torque
- Layout: Four-wheel-drive, four-door, five-passenger full-size pickup truck
- 0-60 mph: Six seconds (estimate)
- EPA Fuel Economy equivalent: 67 MPGe city, 59 highway, 63 combined
- Competition: Ford F-150 Lightning, Rivian R1T, Ram 1500 REV
We got a drive in a Silverado EV 4WT, and we see no reason why it won’t be a success, so long as the initial price ($77,905 base, $80,345 as tested) doesn’t get in the way. That said, this truck was reasonably well-equipped, more of a supervisor’s pickup than a daily workhorse, as your crew doesn’t really need adaptive cruise control or Sirius/XM radio. The only option was a $545 spray-in bedliner. Still, it’s a lot of money for a manual driver’s seat and rubber floor mats.
If you want truly deluxe, you can opt for the RST model, which will top $105,000 and serve up a whopping 754 horsepower and 785 lb-ft of torque.
This 4WT has 510 horsepower and 615 lb-ft of torque, with a 10,000-pound towing capacity. Range on a full charge, we were told, is a startling 450 miles.
On the road, the 4WT rides very smoothly, a testament to a well-thought-out four-wheel independent suspension and the fact that it isn’t a conventional body-on-frame design. It’s quiet, too. Acceleration from a standing start is a bit leisurely, due more to the truck’s weight—about 8500 pounds—than a lack of muscle. Handling is good, but you can’t disguise that much weight when cornering. The turning circle is very tight.
The 24-module Ultium battery pack features public DC fast charging capabilities of up to 350kW, enabling approximately 100 miles of range to be added in 10 minutes based on GM estimates. The EPA listing says that a full charge can be had in 12.7 hours with a 240-volt system.
No engine means there’s a large frunk, almost 11 cubic feet, up front and a nearly six-foot bed at the rear that can haul 1440 pounds of cargo. Flip-up rear seat bottoms also reveal a big hidden cargo container.
Our truck was Summit White with a Jet Black interior. It was a handsome vehicle, with a Chevy Avalanche-like profile and gloss black-painted 18-inch aluminum wheels with all-season tires.
When combined with the available accessory power bar, the Silverado EV’s PowerBase charging system offers up to 10 outlets, to provide a total of 10.2 kW of power for worksite or recreational needs, including powering a home or office with 120- and 240-volt power.
Chevrolet says that after the initial launch, they will offer customers “the ability to content the truck across various price ranges, with MSRPs starting from $50,000, $60,000, $70,000, $80,000 and more, allowing them to choose the truck that meets their capability and pricing needs.”
Sounds good. But if you want to be the first supervisor on the job site with a 4WT, expect to pay a premium price.
2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV 4WT
Highs: Impressive range, plenty of usable space and features that should make work easier. Target market feels right for the moment.
Lows: Not cheap—at least to begin with. Predictable EV heft is hard to hide.
Takeaway: A respectable first salvo in what’s going to become a hotly contested—and vital—segment.
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I would like one with a V8 please.
This flex cab was on the Avalanche and here. I always wished it were used on the mid size trucks as they have smaller beds and would benefit more.
Just saw three of these in camo testing in PA on our way back from DC. Ford can’t give away Lightnings and that abomination they identify with my pony car. What makes you think this will go over? Ramming EV’s down our throat won’t work. I saw a Tesla go into shutdown mode right outside an Indiana Toll booth out of juice. It was good humor!!!! All empty Tesla Superchargers in PA rest areas too…maybe they can’t make it to there
This is not a truck in any sense of the word. Ford has ceased production of it’s EV truck due to lack of interest and bad bad reviews. You would think that GM would have been paying attention but apparently they haven’t. If you really need a truck then buy a truck that will do what trucks were designed to do. If you are one that thinks that EV’s are the future then you need to re-think things a little because it is becoming more and more evident every day that they are not the future of transportation after all.
That is a pricey truck. Only rich fleets need to apply here I guess.
Ehm… What percentage of vehicles on the road are towing? And how frequent towing operation are there in life of ordinary people? I tow maybe few times a year. I can tow with uhaul truck if I’d not have what to tow with.
EVs will not serve everyone and won’t fill all the niches. But they will fit use cases of majority people. That’s good enough for the market.
GM appears to continue to employ the designers of the Aztec. This “truck” is unattractive at best. There is nothing aspirational about it. The design is lost in the woods. Which the same could be said about GMs entire design language this past decade. The design team needs a revamp and new leadership. GM continues to design unremarkable and undesirable vehicles. Get it fixed. This could be a great platform, but it is lost.
Seems that many here haven’t driven an EV yet. Once they do, they will likely realize how crude even the best of ICE vehicles are. There’s just no comparison or turning back. Tesla is whipping every brand but, the Cybertruck is not for everyone, so the Chevy will fill the void. Midsize EV trucks with the Tesla NACS plug is what I want to see.
@Dave – have you ever towed with an EV? The range is cut dramatically. 50% or more is common. 225 miles of range followed by 12 hours of charging or a battery damaging fast charge is advanced and refueling in 15 minutes is crude? Clearly we have different expectations.
I have a serious question… Where did you get the idea it would take anywhere close to 12 hours to charge it? You can go from 20% charge to 80% charge in less than 1/2 hour. Yes, that takes longer, but you’re not standing by the charger the whole time either. It might not work for you, but a 12 hour charge cycle is more for home use, which you can’t compare to a gasser since you can’t gas up at home.
No, electric cars aren’t going to save the world, they shouldn’t be forced on us (which they’re trying to do and I hate it too), and they aren’t a panacea for all that’s wrong with the transportation infrastructure, but they do a lot of things *better* than gassers. This is including charging at home/office and a truck like this could easily drive 50 miles to a job site, power a lot of things at that site, then drive 50 miles home with plenty in reserve. Running lots of power tools and/or a laptop is cake for an EV like this.
I agree, if you tow a lot of weight over long distances I don’t see electric vehicles working in the short or even medium terms, so that will almost certainly be the last type of vehicle electrified. On the other hand in 100 years there won’t be any liquid-fueled vehicles available for the populous. I seriously doubt there will be in 50 years. The only question is about how long will it take.
I tow with my EV all the time. Range is cut in half, same as an ICE vehicle. Range doesn’t matter much anymore, at least not in my area. Chargers are everywhere. It’s not the problem it once was.
I routinely tow from Phoenix to the N. AZ mountains, 8,000 (ish) lbs.
The trip up and back is 300-400 miles, depending on if I go out to the ranch or just the house.
My crew cab diesel 4×4 3/4 ton has a 450 mile range when towing, not just empty. My towing fuel economy is 60% of my empty fuel economy and I can refill the tank of diesel in less than 15 minutes – restoring full range.
These trucks aren’t a step forward in utility, they are a step backward.
Way back when I had a fleet of trucks, we used 1/2 ton V6 or 3/4 ton gas silverados. The price point of these EVs is absurd, as are the costs to install charging for each truck. Take-home vehicles is another hurdle as it becomes a burden, not a benefit for the employee.
This entire EV process demonstrates a disconnect between the consumer, the regulators, and the manufacturers.
EVs should be renamed: “Stupid Vehicles”. Do vintage Car people REALLY have this much interest in EVs? I must be running the wrong circles (for these past 18 years)! People constantly are messaging me and talking to me about the evils of EVs!
That’s called an “echo chamber”. Yes, lots of people love EVs and some of those people are serious car people. I would be better served by an EV for how I use my daily driver (not everyone is, of course) but I think I’m getting one more manual transmission vehicle before they’re all gone.
I will think of you often, Kelly, since all TaxPayers are subdizing an EV for you! LOL
Do you not understand they’re subsidizing the oil industry and car manufacturers, too? If we could pull taxpayer money from all of it (and I mean all of it) so the tables were level I’d be all for it. We won’t, though.
Does anyone think a fleet manager would jump at the chance to get one for $80,000? Realistically, these will be driven by well-heeled individuals who think they will signal their virtue by claiming to save the planet by driving a vehicle that weighs 8500 lb. I got a good laugh out of this.
Given the current pitiful rate of production for Ultium Hummers, GM should be able to build and sell at least a couple hundred of these in 2024!
Steven, that is a nice looking Avalanche especially in summit white, could you get the General to drop a 6.2lt big block in an LTZ model with saddle leather interior with an MSRP less than $50,000. We could sell thousands. This $80,000 white work golf cart not do much.
Steven you need to ask your handlers in the GM PR Department how many they expect to sell to Hispanic grounds crews that need a basic work truck with vinyl seats and role up windows. Oh and quit copying Johnny Lieberman he is compensated to reprint PR handouts. We expect more from you.