Chevrolet Silverado EV to break cover within months with tech focus
Chevrolet has confirmed the electric version of the Silverado ute will be revealed early in 2022 – and technology is shaping to be a big part of the focus for the EV pickup truck.
It comes as General Motors chair and CEO Mary Barra says “GM has changed the world before and we’re doing it again”.
The American car maker says the Silverado EV will be shown at the Consumer Electronics Show on January 5, 2022.
The Silverado looks set to share the General Motors Ultium architecture and batteries with the GMC Hummer EV that has already been revealed but is yet to go into production.
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GM says the Silverado EV will be built from the ground up as an EV, rather than adapting the electrical components to the existing Silverado platform.
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And it will be manufactured in “fleet and retail versions”, the latter presumably getting more equipment and a more premium focus.
Even before it has built a single car, GM says the Silverado EV is “expected to be in high demand”, mimicking that from arch rival Ford with its F-150 Lightning. Ford recently announced a doubling of production capacity for the F-150 Lightning.
A single teaser image released by GM in confirming the Silverado EV reveal date shows a fixed glass roof and gives a glimpse of an enormous touchscreen inside.
Like the Hummer, the Silverado EV appears set to focus on technology.
And that tech will flow through to the driving experience, with four-wheel steering part of its armoury.
And GM has previously said the Silverado EV will have a range of about 650km.
The news comes as General Motors increasingly turns to EVs to boost its balance sheet.
With a sharemarket capitalisation about one-tenth that of Tesla – which produces far fewer cars than GM – GM is clearly trying to ramp up the appeal to investors.
The company reaffirmed it is planning to spend US$35 billion ($48 billion) before 2025 on all-electric and autonomous vehicles.
And it is forecasting a doubling of revenue by 2030 “while also expanding our margins”. Part of that will come from “software and services” – including subscription services – that the company believes could net it US$20-25 billion annually.
The US automotive giant is planning to “reach leadership in EV market share in the US while growing its profits from internal combustion engine vehicles”.
Key to that will be high-volume EVs such as the Silverado EV and a promised “Chevrolet crossover priced around US$30,000 ($41,000).
At the other end of the spectrum are EV luxury offerings such as the Cadillac Lyriq and Celestiq.
“GM’s vision of a world with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion has placed us ahead of much of the competition in electrification, software-enabled services and autonomy,” said GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra.
“Our early investments in these growth trends have transformed GM from automaker to platform innovator, with customers at the centre. GM will use its hardware and software platforms to innovate and improve their daily experience, leading everybody on the journey to an all-electric future.”
GM also plans to have more than half of its American and Chinese factories capable of manufacturing electric vehicles by 2030.
No word on what it means for Australia, with GM recently shelving its Holden brand locally to focus on America and China.
However, GM maintains a small presence locally in selling versions of the Chevrolet Silverado as well as the upcoming Chevrolet Corvette.
The Corvette is expected to eventually be an EV as GM pushes towards an all-electric future.
