After months of hints, what may be Chevy’s most important new model in over a decade has finally been unveiled. The all-new 2024 Chevy Silverado EV just made its first public appearance at the CES tech show, giving us a preview of where the truck market is headed. Chevy is almost a year behind Ford in revealing an electric version of its popular pickup, and the 2024 model year hints that it won’t reach buyers until almost two years after the 2022 F-150 Lightning enters production this year, so if you’re a fan of the bowtie brand you are going to have to be patient and perhaps go check out the recently refreshed 2022 Silverado to tide you over until the EV version arrives. Still, the new truck appears to be a solid option in the growing array of electric pickups.
An EV From the Ground Up
Part of the reason for the long wait for the 2024 Silverado EV is its radical new design. Despite the name, the Silverado EV shares no major parts with the standard Silverado that we are all familiar with. While the Ford F-150 Lightning is simply an electric version of the standard F-150, the Silverado EV shares its platform with the GMC Hummer EV, not the standard Silverado. This means that the new Silverado EV can offer some impressive performance numbers, including a 4.5-second zero to 60 time and an estimated range of 400 miles. Chevy claims that the high-voltage Ultium battery architecture will enable DC fast charging at a rate of up to 100 miles in 10 minutes, which should make the Silverado EV well-suited for long-distance road trips. The other EV trucks that have been announced all have ranges of around 300 miles, giving Chevy something to boast about for its new truck.
However, there are some downsides to the choices Chevy made with its new truck. The secret behind that remarkable range figure is a massive 200 kWh battery pack that is almost 50% larger than the batteries you will find in competing models. Batteries are the single most expensive component of any EV, and having 200 kWh of them is likely a major contributor to the 2024 Silverado EV’s claimed $105,000 price tag when it first launches. That price is for the RST trim, and as production ramps up, Chevy plans to add a range of more affordable trims, including a $39,900 WT. However, it is unknown if those lower trims will have the same 400-mile range.
Every 2024 Silverado EV will come with a pair of electric motors generating up to 660 horsepower and 780 lb-ft of torque, a powertrain based on the middle trims of the GMC Hummer EV. When it comes to the numbers that truckers want to know, however, things are a little less impressive. The RST trim has a claimed 10,000 pounds of towing capacity, putting the Silverado EV in the same territory as the Ford F-150 Lightning and Rivian R1T but well behind the 13,300 pounds of a Silverado powered by a good old gas or diesel engine. Payload is even more disappointing at just 1,300 pounds (likely another side effect of the heavy battery)–such a low number means that even a Chevy Colorado with its base four-cylinder engine can haul more cargo than the Silverado EV.
Chevy’s First Real Luxury Truck
While drivers looking for a serious workhorse might want to turn their gaze elsewhere (although Chevy did tease the prospect of a heavy-duty Silverado EV with a 20,000-pound tow rating), drivers interested in a luxury truck will likely be overjoyed by some of the features available in the 2024 Silverado EV. To begin with, the dedicated EV platform means improved weight distribution with independent front and rear suspension for what is likely to be remarkably good handling. Chevy has even taken things a step further with four-corner adjustable air suspension and rear-wheel steering, providing an incredibly smooth ride and unbeatable agility.
On top of the driving dynamics of this electric truck, Chevy has outfitted the Silverado EV with the full litany of luxury features. Drivers will be able to enjoy a massive panoramic sunroof to let the light in, and the infotainment system offers an unbelievable 17-inch display powered by the all-new Linux-based Ultifi software. The dedicated EV platform also brings smaller benefits, including a seven-gallon center console made possible by the lack of a transmission housing, and a passthrough from the bed to the cabin, enabling the truck to accommodate items up to 9 feet long with the tailgate up.
With the 2024 Silverado EV, Chevy has stepped up its game and announced that it is ready to compete in not one but two new segments: electric trucks and luxury vehicles. While this promising truck will not arrive for well over a year, we expect that it will be greeted by plenty of buyers eager to experience Chevy’s new direction. However, at CarBuyerLabs, we would be hard-pressed to justify waiting for the Silverado EV to hit the market when models like the Rivian R1T and Ford F-150 Lightning are available and offer similar performance and features for a similar price. The shift to EVs is changing the rules, and we would advise you to forget old brand loyalties and carefully consider every electric truck before making a choice.
