Chevrolet Drops Towing Details On The 2024 Silverado EV Electric Pickup
While the narrative around electric vehicles may focus on flashy luxury Teslas and wild all-electric racers, the push for American adoption of EVs may be decided by pickup trucks. As of 2020, pickups held the top three places on the list of America's most popular passenger vehicles (via CNBC). Per Engaging Data, pickups represent more than 5% of the domestic vehicle market in every U.S. state, from 7% in space-conscious New Jersey to over 35% in Wyoming, where they actually outperform cars and SUVs.
In short, for a great many Americans, the first consideration when buying a vehicle is whether it can handle hard work and heavy loads. To date, EVs have sometimes proven delicate and chancy — in 2022 alone, over 3 million Teslas have been recalled over safety concerns. With the Cybertruck thus far proving more of a meme than a workhorse, people have serious questions about whether EVs can do the work that millions of Americans expect from their vehicles.
Chevy's looking to answer the skeptics in style. The company just dropped a video and a new announcement about the working potential of the all-electric Silverado pickup.
Hard work and zero emissions
Chevy has plenty riding on the Silverado name. Per CNBC, the Silverado was the country's second-best-selling pickup — and its second-best-selling passenger vehicle, period — as of 2020. Going electric with such an iconic name was a bold move with nonzero failure potential. Based on the latest teaser, no one can accuse the new electric Silverado of slacking. Chevy's most recent video shows the Silverado EV acing a towing test.
That's consistent with the new specs. According to Chevy, the electric Silverado will deliver an absurd 754 horsepower alongside a 400-mile range on a full charge. That's good for 10,000 pounds of trailering with up to 1,300 pounds of load. We quote Nichole Kraatz, the Silverado EV's chief engineer: "It's so important for full-size truck customers to be able to tow, haul, and do everything that they can do in a traditional pickup truck. We've set the bar and are validating an incredible product."
Per the same release, Chevy expects to sell the first Silverado EVs to corporate customers looking for fleet vehicles in the spring of 2023. Fall will see the vehicle's retail debut. Chevy's first run will be a set number of $105,000 First Editions. The company plans to deliver more accessibly priced configurations as production increases, with the Silverado EV base model coming in at approximately $50,000.