GM announced today that they would reveal the full “Silverado E” at CES 2022 on January 5 in Las Vegas where CEO Mary Barra will deliver the keynote. But they did give us some tidbits in a live Q&A earlier today…
Barra and President Mark Reuss talked at length this morning about the upcoming electric pickup trucks. With plenty of swagger, they announced that GM plans to be a leader in the EV space.
Reuss touted the 24-inch tires and wheels on the Silverado that include the same 4-wheel steering and theoretically crab walk capability as the Hummer.
GM also took a lot of time to tout the glass roof of the Silverado. Glass roofs have proven to be popular in Rivian R1T and Tesla Cybertruck reveals.
The brand also confirmed the Silverado electric pickup will feature an available
segment-leading fixed-glass roof for retail models, offering expansive visibility,
increased headroom, and an enhanced experience of spaciousness for both front and
rear passengers. This is the first application of an available fixed-glass roof on a GM
pickup in the full-size truck segment.
Here’s a look at the press image with light adjusted to see more of the truck:
What grabbed my attention is vehicle’s short hood compared to the current Silverado. Perhaps that’s just the art department and not a new design.
Designed as an EV from the ground up, the Silverado EV harnesses the best of the
Ultium Platform and Silverado’s proven capability. The fleet and retail versions of the
electric Silverado will offer customers a variety of options and are expected to be in high
demand. In addition to the fixed-glass roof, Chevrolet has confirmed the availability of
Four-Wheel Steer a chassis feature that enables the vehicle to steer all four wheels.
The electric Silverado will offer customers a GM-estimated range of more than 400
miles on a full charge.
Reuss said that the Silverado E and Sierra E customer base is a very different profile from current Silverado and Sierra owners, and there will be a lot more opportunity to sell products and services to these owners.
Reuss and Barra went down the list of opportunities for GM:
- Ultracruise (coming in 2023): UltraCruise will cover 95% of driving situations
- Insurance: GM plans to disrupt the insurance business (if Tesla and Rivian haven’t already done so)
- BrightDrop fleet division, which theoretically could also use some of these Silverados
- GM Defense: sell electric pickups to the military?
- Software platform: assuming fleet management will be important here and will cross over with Bright Drop
- GM is getting into locomotives (yes, trains!) and electric and fuel cell options
- Fuel cell drivetrains for in-house and external applications – Nikola lol
- Their Ultium deal with Honda: could theoretically also turn into a truck partnership (Honda Ridgeline E?)
In a vacuum, this seems like a solid lineup of product plans and services based around the Ultium and electric pickup platform.
Electrek’s Take
Sometimes it’s difficult to imagine the world that GM is living in. Its big EV plans are always in the distant future, yet the EV transition is happening now, and it’s already late to the party. GM says that it plans to be the leader in the EV space while currently buying back more EVs than they are selling (negative market share!?). Meanwhile, Tesla is somehow almost doubling year over year, and competitors like Rivian are actually making products now, not to mention Ford’s F-150 Lightning rollout and Blue Oval City plans.
It’s almost 2022, and if you go to any GM dealership today, there are exactly zero EVs for sale.
That said, I’ve been super impressed with my limited opportunities to use SuperCruise, and besides the battery thing, I absolutely looooooved my Chevy Bolt EV more than it feels like anyone in Detroit does. I’m disappointed Electrek hasn’t been given the opportunity to drive the HummerEV or Cadillac Lyriq since GM’s pre-pandemic EV Day prototype preview.
I know GM’s engineers can make great EVs and self-driving vehicle software. GM has the scale to make a lot of them. If it can get its relationship with LG out of the dumpster fire, it theoretically can pull it all together.
But GM is literally starting from zero right now, and with the mishandling of Lordstown, the due diligence of the Nikola partnership, and the Bolt battery fiasco, I’m not sure I’d put my money on GM.
Customers can receive the latest updates on the electric Silverado at: https://www.chevrolet.com/electric/upcoming-all-electric-silverado and https://www.gmfleet.com/trucks/all-electric-chevrolet-silverado
Subscribe to Electrek on YouTube for exclusive videos and subscribe to the podcast.