When it comes to the popular pickup truck segment, Ford may have been the first mainstream brand into the electric space with its, but the Chevrolet Silverado EV has some cards to play. When comparing the two, the Silverado has more horsepower, more towing capacity and about 200 kilometres more range. It also has SuperCruise hands-free driving aid technology and a bed that can transform to haul long items.
“If you look at some of the competitors in the arena, we have an advantage over them in terms of features and capabilities,” said Rory Harvey, president of global markets at General Motors. “It’s first and foremost a truck. There’s no other standard truck out there that has 450 miles of range.” But all those features and range in this full-size pickup truck come at a cost - the first-edition RST starts at $117,499 . The Silverado Work Truck, released in September 2023, has a base price of $74,699. For comparison, the F-150 Lightning ranges from $59,000 to $115,000 and the Rivian R1T ranges from $105,000 to $142,000.
Built from the ground up as an electric truck, the Silverado EV RST rides on GM’s electric Ultium platform – the same platform found in the GMC Hummer EV truck. While the Hummer has three electric motors, the Silverado EV RST has dual electric motors, all-wheel drive and a 205-kilowatt-hour, 24-module Ultium battery pack. That large battery pack provides up to 708 kilometres of range, 754 horsepower and 785 lb-ft of torque when using the Wide Open Watts, or WOW, launch mode function.
The Silverado EV RST also has innovative features – the standard 5-foot-11 bed can transform to haul long and awkward items. With a bit of elbow grease and some patience, you can open the multi-flex midgate with a pass-through section behind the rear seats and the multi-flex tailgate at the back to expand the bed’s load floor into the cab so you can carry extra-long items up to 10-ft-10. It also has 300 litres of extra space in the lockable frunk, or front trunk.