I hope you want grey.
The 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV Work Truck is, nicely, a piece truck. Moreover the spectacular Ultima EV powertrain, there’s nothing spectacular about this truck. The seats have handbook changes; the LCD management screens are small with enormous bezels. Every thing is grey, from the dashboard to the seats to the wheel fenders. There aren’t any chrome accents or automated driving options. The Silverado EV WT is primary in each approach, however the value and vary: $77,905 and 450 miles on a cost.
In different phrases, it’s good. Chevrolet’s Work Truck package deal is designed for patrons who imagine much less is extra — fewer frills, extra payments.
Chevy has lengthy supplied the work truck package deal as an choice to its pickups. It’s designed for many who wish to get the job executed with out shopping for further options. On this pickup, which means patrons are telling Chevy to simply give them an electrical powertrain, a couple of seats and a 5-foot, 11-inch mattress. I adore it.
Earlier than testing the truck, my principal concern was its towing capabilities (which we’ll get to shortly). Nevertheless, I discovered all the pieces else to be greater than succesful and enough, which was reassuring. The driving expertise was nice, with ample energy and a sturdy experience. The truck’s inside is useful and simple.
The $77,905 beginning value could also be too costly for some on account of its primary inside options. Compared, a Chevy V8 work truck with comparable options begins at $49,000. In the meantime, Ford’s EV work truck begins at $59,000, however affords a shorter truck mattress and fewer electrical vary in comparison with the Chevy.
Nuts and bolts
I just lately spent the morning driving the Silverado EV WT by tree-lined farm roads in decrease Michigan. A couple of issues have been instantly obvious. The truck is heavy. You possibly can really feel it in how the physique sways and rolls round curves. The massive battery pack sits below the passenger compartment. The battery drops the normal middle of gravity decrease than an ICE pickup. This improves the experience and dealing with over standard pickups that usually jerk and skitter when not carrying a load.
I threw it into corners, and the truck remained comparatively flat. The truck stayed planted because it rounded site visitors circles and freeway on-ramps. Even when stomping on the electrical fuel, the Silverado EV remained degree as an alternative of rearing up and squatting on the rear tires. The lengthy and huge battery provides the truck a fair weight distribution and makes it really feel extra sturdy than an ICE pickup.
It’s value noting that the Silverado EV has a coil spring suspension on the again as an alternative of leaf springs. This kind of suspension normally supplies higher dealing with each on and off-road, and it has been carried out fantastically within the Silverado. Whereas coil spring suspensions have been present in Ram vans for a while and extra just lately, in Toyotas, GM and Ford have traditionally used leaf springs. At the very least, of their gas-powered vans.
The Silverado EV truck is fast sufficient, however received’t beat a Lightning or the Cybertruck (which has but to enter manufacturing) in a drag race. Regardless of having 615 pound-feet of torque and 510 hp on faucet, the truck doesn’t launch off the road. The upcoming Silverado EV RST variant ought to be extra spectacular if velocity is your factor. Chevy beforehand claimed the RST model, with 780 lb.-ft. of torque and 665 HP will dash to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds in a so-called WOW mode (Vast Open Watts).
Let’s speak about towing
Towing is the place this automobile stands other than its fuel counterparts. The 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV Work Truck is rated to tow 10,000 kilos, which is on par with different light-duty gas-powered pickups.
After spending a morning pulling a 6,000-pound trailer, I can attest the pickup affords a severe benefit over an inside combustion-powered light-duty truck. At velocity, the pickup simply tows a trailer. However at sluggish speeds — say backing a trailer into a decent spot — the EV work truck effortlessly maneuvers due to the electrical motor’s on the spot torque. I tow a number of trailers, and that is the primary time I’ve had a light-duty pickup really feel this good at low-speed maneuvering (extra on towing later).
There’s a draw back. The electrical vary takes a major hit when towing. Chevy estimates the vary drops 50% when towing 5,000 lbs. If the motive force connects a trailer or engages tow mode, the dashboard battery degree robotically drops by 50% and adjusts on the fly to replicate the real-world situations. Are you pulling lower than 5,000 lbs? The battery degree might drain slower than anticipated, whereas towing extra might lead to a quicker discount.
Throughout my quick towing check, I discovered the vary estimate correct. Chevy supplied me with a two-axle trailer holding a big John Deere tractor. I jumped within the driver’s seat and hit the street. The truck was a lot slower off the road with the burden on the again. Once I put the pedal to the ground, the truck received to hurry promptly with out feeling prefer it was straining. My 2016 Ford F-150 3.5l EcoBoost would have been screaming below the identical check, and it’s rated to tow greater than 12,000 lbs.
The truck simply cruised across the two-lane farm roads with the trailer linked. Towing at velocity was uneventful and virtually the identical as some other light-duty pickup. The additional weight on the hitch induced the truck to bob and sway, however much less so than if I pulled it in my gas-powered truck. Then I pulled right into a car parking zone and was immediately impressed.
Backing up a trailer is a cautious balancing act of throttle management. An excessive amount of energy, and the trailer can shortly get astray. Too little, and the trailer doesn’t transfer in any respect. Fashionable pickups typically depend on turbos to help the engine. With a turbo, many of the energy is barely obtainable at larger engine speeds, which implies it affords little help when maneuvering a trailer at low speeds. However not in an EV. The electrical motors present on the spot entry to a substantial quantity of torque.
I’ve by no means felt a light-duty pickup transfer a trailer just like the Silverado EV WT. Backing up the loaded trailer was easy. The truck moved the heavy trailer as easily at 5 mph because it did at 50 mph, identical to a high-power, heavy-duty pickup.
I whipped the trailer by a brief collection of maneuvers, which might usually lead to a chilly sweat and cussing. Not on this truck. The EV powertrain made backing up the trailer simple and painless. I pulled out of the car parking zone wide-eyed and impressed.
Towing could possibly be the function that convinces some ICE truck house owners to modify to EVs. Some house owners, like these pulling campers to faraway places, would possibly scoff on the EV vary. The efficient vary with a camper drops from 450 miles to round 225 miles. However for these truck house owners who keep native, like landscapers or municipal staff, the 225-mile vary with a trailer could possibly be greater than sufficient.
Within the truck
The inside is boring and drab. The sprint is grey. The seats are grey. The carpet is grey. Every thing is constructed from plasticky materials. Chevy engineers put it this fashion: Designers picked supplies that replicate how the truck can be used. Meaning they used low cost and sturdy materials, and that’s okay. It will get the job executed and appears simple to wash.
The truck has two screens, identical to the costlier Silverado EV fashions. The screens within the work truck trim are smaller, although they nonetheless comprise the identical content material. The driving force’s display screen is customizable and options a number of completely different modes relying on how a lot data the motive force desires. The middle display screen consists of media and navigation controls; local weather controls are fortunately bodily buttons below the display screen.
Prospects who need heated seats, a sunroof, or superior driver help options will wish to skip this work truck trim and as an alternative look forward to the Silverado EV.
With no fuel engine within the entrance, Chevy engineers prolonged the passenger compartment and pushed the sprint and entrance seat ahead. I couldn’t inform as the motive force, however once I tried the backseat, the additional room was evident and appreciated. Crew cab pickups at all times provide ample backseat legroom, however the legroom on the Silverado EV is excessive. I’m 5’10” and will practically stretch my legs out.
The seats on the work truck trim are handbook and have restricted changes. Occupants can solely slide the seat and tilt the again; there’s no strategy to regulate the peak or lumbar help. Even nonetheless, I discovered the motive force’s place to supply a commanding seating place with loads of visibility and headroom.
The truck affords a number of cupboard space. The entrance supplies a lockable, watertight compartment, and the rear seat folds up, increasing the inside cupboard space. The mattress is 5 toes, 11 inches. That’s 11 inches longer than the Ford Lightning and 17 inches longer than the Rivian R1T. On the higher-level Silverado trims, house owners can take away the panel between the mattress and inside cabin for much more room (suppose the outdated Chevy Avalanche truck).
Energy retailers are positioned within the truck mattress: 4 120 V retailers and one 240 V outlet. Chevy has but to announce the dimensions of the battery. Estimates put it round 200 kWh, and Chevy engineers inform me the retailers help excessive amperage necessities typically discovered on massive saws, kettles, and area heaters. They are saying the battery can energy a house for as much as 21 days.
Remaining Ideas
The Silverado EV Work Truck is spectacular. This truck is nearly as good as its fuel counterparts in most respects, however in some methods, it’s considerably higher. When you tow with an EV, a gas-powered truck feels inferior.
The worth is hard. With a $77,950 beginning value, it’s an costly automobile and pushes the definition of the time period “work truck.” To me, a piece truck is an affordable and succesful truck. The 100,000 reservations which might be being transformed into buy orders for the truck means that lots of people are snug with the worth.
After driving the WT variant, I’m excited to strive the remainder of the Silverado choices. Later this 12 months, the $105,000 RST First Version launches. That model sports activities bigger tires, extra energy and quite a few creature comforts. The off-roading Path Boss mannequin will come out in late 2024 and may provide severe off-roading capabilities on the electrical platform.
I’m a truck man and might’t see myself driving something however a pickup. The Rivian R1T is a incredible truck however too small for my wants. The Ford Lightning carefully matches my pickup, but it surely wants extra electrical vary and an extended truck mattress.
This truck has considerably extra vary and utility than its opponents, although it’s possible priced larger than many shoppers can afford, even within the Work Truck trim. The one factor giving me pause is the worth. The Silverado EV is the one pickup I’d commerce for my gas-powered truck.