The ‘Silverado E’ is about a year away from production, according to GM executive Doug Parks.
During a Deutsche Bank AutoTech conference call Thursday (transcript here via SeekingAlpha), Parks stated that production would begin in early 2023. That’s roughly a year after the Ford F-150 Lightning heads into production, as that’s slated to kick off in the spring. However, it’s still ahead of Ram, which we currently expect to roll out its first electric truck no earlier than 2024.
GM says it can outgun its main rival, despite coming later to the game.
During the conference, Parks generally spoke about range, while not specifically quoting a targeted number for the electric Silverado. At one point, he seemed to take aim at rivals like Ford, addressing the Standard Range battery’s 230 miles of range. “We believe EV life starts at 300 miles of range, not 200 or 250.”
He went on to say that Ultium packs will deliver 300 through 450 miles of range, and possibly more. That platform will underpin the upcoming Chevrolet Silverado E, as it does the GMC Hummer EV. Bear in mind, GMC’s truck has a 200 kWh capacity, making the truck good for around 330 miles on a charge, according to the automaker.
To maintain a reasonable price point, it’s expected that the Chevrolet Silverado E will have a smaller version. Experts and insiders are expecting a Ford Lightning-matching weight of around (or possibly under) 6,500 pounds. Maximum range is expected at about 400 miles.
Here’s more of what Parks said on GM’s broader plan:
“I think it’s natural when we have a terrific new architecture and capability to bring it out in some very exciting models, like a HUMMER EV, Hummer SUV EV, a beautiful Cadillac Lyriq, a Silverado E, a Sierra E, if you will. And in a very short period of time, maybe like a month or so, if you know what I mean, we’re going to start to roll out more of the details of those programs.”
Doug Parks, General Motors executive vice president for global product development.
Both trucks
Production has already begun for the GMC Hummer EV at the new Factory ZERO, formerly GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck plant. In addition to producing a Silverado EV and Sierra EV there, General Motors invested $50 million into its Bedford, Indiana die casting plant. They will build the drive unit casting for the electric pickups.
Side note: We don’t know with certainty whether the Silverado and Sierra will have a simple “E” designation. There is nothing official about the names for either electric truck just yet, but Parks did say it several times.
While we’re waiting for more on the electric Silverado, check out our first experience with the Hummer EV below:
