You’re outta here! Chevrolet Silverado EV won’t be coming to Australia
The battery electric Chevrolet Silverado EV full-size pick-up is not under consideration for Australia sale.
The shock news was confirmed to EV Central at this month’s 2024 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD launch by Jess Bala, Managing Director of Chevrolet’s local outpost GM Australia and New Zealand.
“Right now we don’t have a plan to bring that here,” she said, “and that’s solely hinged on the fact that we know our customers really want those types of trucks from a capability standpoint.”
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Full-size US pick-ups are very popular in Australia, but with V8 and V6 petrol and diesel engines and immense braked towing capacities.
The transition to electric pick-ups has barely got underway in Australia, with only LDV currently offering a BEV load-hauler in the form of the unimpressive T60. But the Silverado EV did look like a potential future local candidate as EV utes start rolling into production.
Just-released in the US, the Silverado EV does read like it has decent stats. There’s up to 500kW of power, up to 725km range, 0-100km/h in under five seconds, towing up to 4500kg and payload of 650kg. Ample, surely, for lots of Aussie needs.
But many buyers of these giant American trucks do so to tow very heavy things. And tow them very long distances, where diesel fuel pumps are far more ubiquitous (and quicker filling) than electric charge points.
“It’s about being able to the four-and-a-half tonnes, and the efficiency and capability [of EV pick-ups] just isn’t there yet that meets the customer needs that we have,” explained Ms Bala.
Price is also a factor. The American Silverado EV has a start price of US$74,800 ($113,000), making it far pricier than a Rivian R1T or Ford F-150 Lightning. Then there’s the cost of converting it to right-hand-drive for our market.
That said, an EV RHD conversion is a much simpler job than one on a combustion vehicle. Instead of the costly, laborious process of re-engineering LHD cars here in Australia (as GM Specialty Vehicles contracts Walkinshaw Automotive Group to do in Victoria for the Silverado 1500, 2500 and 3500), convincing GM to make these RHD from the factory is an easier proposition.
“We will constantly keep assessing – whether it’s in the truck space, large SUV space or small car space – what GM has in the pipeline,” said Ms Bala.
“We’ll centre that around what the customer needs, the price points we need to hit… to make the right assessment for our future products.”
Globally, General Motors has said everything it produces will be electric by 2035. Its Cadillac brand will be all-electric by 2030.
Cadillac returns to Australia this year as an electric-only brand, kicking off with the Lyriq mid-size SUV. Ms Bala said it’s set to arrive in the fourth quarter of 2024, with pricing and specification expected by mid-year.
But Aussies will have to wait a while longer for an electric ute or pickup from the giant GM stable. It’s a case of hoping capabilities (especially EV range when towing) improve, along with Australian charging infrastructure.
The recently proposed National Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) – imposing tough CO2 emissions limit on passenger vehicles, SUVs, utes and vans – will likely expedite the arrival of all manner of new EVs. Trucks included.
Until then, your 3762kg Chevy Silverado 2500 HD comes with a 350kW/1322Nm 6.6-litre turbo-diesel V8, fuel economy in the teens per 100km and lots of CO2 emissions.
