The electric pickup truck wars are heating up.
Chevrolet has confirmed it’ll battle the upcoming electric Ford F-150 head-on with an electric Silverado.
It’s not yet on the radar for Australia. “We are glad there is so much excitement around EVs,” a GM Specialty Vehicles spokesperson said, “but we don’t have any comment to make with regards to future product and won’t be drawn on possible speculation relating to the local market.”
The Silverado will use the GM Ultium platform, designed from the ground up for all-electric vehicles, rather than use an electrified version of the current Silverado’s T1 platform.
The Silverado EV will be assembled at the company’s Factory ZERO plant in Hamtramck, Michigan.
Chevrolet claims it’ll have a range of more than 400 miles (643km).
The company hasn’t confirmed when it’ll be introduced, though it’ll likely follow its GMC Hummer EV platform-mate that enters production later this year.
The more leisure-focused GMC Hummer EV will have up to 563km of range and up to 745kW of power and 15,591Nm of torque, though that’s almost certainly a wheel torque figure and not engine torque.
General Motors announced in 2020 that it planned to sell one million electric vehicles in China and the USA by the end of 2025.
The company also plans to launch 30 new electric vehicles globally over the next five years.
GM has recently upped its EV spending, dedicating US$27 billion (A$37.1 billion) for the next five years.
Many of the EVs produced by the company will be based off Ultium, GM’s new electric vehicle architecture.
This Ultium platform will be used extensively throughout the range, with the ability to support front, rear or all-wheel-drive vehicles. Range is estimated to be up to 724km.
The Silverado will come up against some pretty serious competitors when it launches in a market that’ll soon be saturated with EV trucks.
Models such as the Tesla Cybertruck, Rivian R1T, Ford F-150 Electric and even offerings from start-ups such as Canoo will undoubtedly give the Silverado a run for its money.
