The 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV is late to the electric truck party, but that's not to say that it doesn't have any merits. Sometimes, being late can be a good thing. For General Motors, that means being able to determine any potential weaknesses of whichever vehicle was first to the party; in this case the Ford F-150 Lightning, and thus churn out a competing vehicle that manages to one-up the vehicle that went into the market first. Sometimes, it's not about being the first. It's about which is better, and with the new Silverado EV, it seems that General Motors and the future customers of the Silverado EV are currently happy, while Ford F-150 Lightning owners are crying in their crew cabs.
Sometimes, Being Late Isn't A Bad Thing
But how come being late has turned out to be a good thing for Chevrolet? Well, the EPA just released its range ratings for the Silverado EV, and, well, we have plenty of good news if you're waiting for this truck, but if you're an F-150 Lightning fan or already own one, then prepare to cry in range anxiety. Did you say that the F-150 Lightning has an EPA-rated range of 320 miles? That's cute. The Chevrolet Silverado? Well, General Motors promised 400 miles of zero emissions range, which is already better than the Ford, but the EPA says otherwise--and for the better in fact.
Just how good? 130 miles better, in fact. Yes, if you're doing the math, the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV has an EPA-rated range of 450 miles - 50 more than what General Motors had promised and a huge step-up over what the longest-range version of the F-150 Lightning can muster. Reservations for the Silverado EV were already insane back then, so we can only imagine how much more interested potential customers will be in the electric truck. With this achievement, GM President of North America Rory Harvey said, "When you look at that range, particularly in respect to the work truck which is predominantly a fleet vehicle, we believe that gives us a competitive advantage in terms of those fleet customers."
The Best Range Is Offered On The Work Truck Trim
The astonishing range of Chevrolet's new Silverado EV is even more astonishing because of two things. Firstly, it even has a better range than the Rivian R1T, which is made by a company that already specializes in EVs when it was founded. Secondly, this EPA-rated range isn't even for the most expensive RST First Edition variant. Nope, this is for the fleet-oriented WT (Work Truck).
The WT is also the most affordable version of the Silverado EV you can buy. As the variant name suggests, the WT model is catered to fleet buyers. Its interior won't be luxurious, but it's still loaded with a lot of tech features that one would expect in an electric pickup. Oh, and as for the price? The WT variants, which consist of the 3WT and 4WT, will start at just $39,900 before destination fees. These two might be exclusive for fleet customers, but they sure do pack a punch with their dual-motor four-wheel drive (4WD) setup that produces a combined 510 horsepower and 615 pound-feet of twist.
How Was General Motors Able To Achieve This?
With the Silverado EV's significant range advantage over its chief rival, the F-150 Lightning, how was General Motors able to achieve such an engineering feat? There's a reason why the Silverado EV came a little late, and that's because the Silverado EV is a clean-sheet design as opposed to the Ford simply using the existing platform of the current F-150 which has been designed around the internal combustion engine (ICE) in the first place. On the other hand, General Motors has been developing the BT1 platform with its proprietary Ultium battery and EV architecture that's shared with the GMC Hummer EV. Since the platform has been designed from the ground up to already be an EV, it doesn't suffer from the packaging and technological constraints of adopting an electric drivetrain into a platform that was designed around the ICE. This is very much reflected in the battery size. The F-150 Lightning's battery size tops out at 131 kWh while the Silverado EV has a 200 kWh battery across the range even in the base WT trim.
Thanks to the BT1 platform and Ultium EV architecture, the Silverado will theoretically have better drivetrain efficiency. This is also complemented by better aerodynamics thanks to its unique sheet metal over the standard Silverado. This pickup's EV architecture also gives it a bit of a packaging advantage over the F-150 Lightning as it contains a nearly six-foot bed over the Ford's five-and-a-half feet.
Wait Till You See The RST
All the stuff we've been talking about are for the WT, but what about the RST? The RST is the range-topping model, and if you're not a fleet buyer, this is the only variant you can buy for now. More variants will fill the gap between the base WT and the range-topping RST, which tops out at $107,000. This will come with every single bell and whistle that the Silverado EV can get and more, such as a 754-horsepower dual-motor four-wheel-drive drivetrain and a very sleek exterior design. Of course, the interior will definitely be luxurious to match its six-figure price tag, though because of the added power and presumably heavier weight due to having every single available feature fitted to this truck, it might not meet the WT's 450-mile EPA-rated range. Still, even if it meets the claimed 400-mile range of General Motors, that still puts the RST variant of the Silverado EV well ahead of the F-150 Lightning by 80 miles.
Silverado EV WT Sales Begin This Spring
If you're looking to upgrade your fleet to become fully electric, then you'd be happy to know that the $39,900 Silverado EV WT will already go on sale this spring, hence the EPA certification for its range. We won't even bother asking whether you want the F-150 Lightning with its mediocre range or the Silverado EV anymore--the answer here is pretty obvious. The burning question now is, would you still wait for the Ram 1500 REV and its nearly 500-mile claimed range?