An electric Hummer supertruck and SUV are good fun, but the masses aren't going to be flocking to their local GMC dealership to drive away in them. If General Motors really wants to start getting glutes on seats in electric vehicles, it needs something more mainstream. There's nothing more mainstream in its lineup than the Chevy Silverado, the second-best-selling vehicle in the US, and today the company has confirmed that an electric Silverado is in the works.
Hot on the heels of yesterday's GMC Hummer debut, GM president Mark Reuss confirmed that the e-Silverado is on the way. The new truck will be built on the same Ultium platform underpinning the new Hummer family, developed from the ground up as an electric vehicle. It's too early to pin down an actual real-world range, but GM estimates that it will come in around 400 miles (644 km).
The Silverado news comes as GM works hard to rapidly expand its EV portfolio with plans of becoming a US EV leader. It intends to deliver one million electric vehicles by 2025 and certainly won't want to ignore the critical full-size pickup segment, especially as competitors like Ford, Tesla and Rivian launch electric trucks of their own.
"Chevrolet will take everything Chevy’s loyal truck buyers love about Silverado – and more – and put it into an electric pickup that will delight retail and commercial customers alike," Reuss promised in today's announcement.
The electric Silverado will join the new GMC Hummer lineup in production at GM's Factory Zero plant in Detroit and Hamtramck. GM doesn't indicate a launch timeframe, but we'll look for the Silverado to follow the Hummer SUV, which is scheduled to enter production in 2023 as a 2024 model. The modular Ultium platform and other new tools and technologies have allowed vehicle development times to be cut down to as little as 26 months, the company says.
GM has committed US$27 billion toward the development of electrics and autonomous vehicles. It plans to launch 30 electric vehicles across its brand portfolio by the end of 2025, with more than two-thirds available in North America.
Source: General Motors
