General Motors adds Silverado to list of electrified pickups

On Tuesday, General Motors president Mark Reuss announced that an all-electric Chevrolet Silverado will be added to the model lineup. The pickup truck is expected to have a range of more than 400 miles on a full charge and could be the first entrant into the EV pickup segment at an enticing price for mainstream buyers. 

The announcement comes sparce on details for the Silverado EV, but it is confirmed that the truck will be built on the Ultium battery system. It will not be an electrified powertrain fitted into a chassis intended for a gas-fueled or diesel-powered model and will be engineered as a standalone model. 

The Silverado EV joins carmakers Tesla, Rivian, and Ford in the race for an all-electric version of a pickup – a segment that’s incredibly popular among light vehicle purchasers. Currently, Rivian leads the charge with their R1T pickup scheduled for initial release in June 2021. Tesla’s Cybertruck appears to be the model promising to hit the market next, in late 2021. 

No production date has been announced for the Silverado EV yet. 

Silverado EV to be built at Factory ZERO 

General Motors’ Factory ZERO in Hamtramck, Michigan will be the hub for the electric Silverado’s assembly. It’s the same factory that will build the Hummer EV recently announced, as well as the Cadillac LYRIQ SUV. 

In a statement, Reuss said, “The vehicles coming from Factory ZERO will change the world, and how the world views electric vehicles. The GMC Hummer EV SUV joins its stablemate in the realm of true supertrucks, and Chevrolet will take everything Chevy’s loyal truck buyers love about Silverado — and more — and put it into an electric pickup that will delight retail and commercial customers alike.”

Much of GM’s future production hinges on Factory ZERO as its electrified hub. General Motors is spending $7 billion at the factory this year as part of their total commitment of $27 billion into EV development through 2025.  

Ultium battery tech featured 

The carmaker’s unique Ultium battery technology will be used in the EVs they’ve promised in the coming years. Development of cells is dissimilar to the style used in Tesla’s battery packs – cylindrical cells that resemble run-of-the-mill AA batteries – and will instead use pouch- and prismatic-style cells that are packaged like small rectangular boxes. This style of battery allows for tighter packaging in either vertical or horizontal configurations for greater flexibility, and translating into double the battery capacity of Tesla’s 100kWh pack to 200kWh. 

Ultium battery technology is how the electric Silverado is expected to achieve more than 400 miles of range per charge and 0-to-60 mph acceleration in the vicinity of three seconds. 

The all-new Silverado EV is expected to be in high demand, according to the news release from GM, across both the retail and the fleet vehicle markets. 

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