The Chevrolet Silverado EV was not the first on the scene by any means, most notably trailing Ford and Tesla’s announcements regarding their own electric trucks. This hasn’t dulled enthusiasm in the slightest, however, with the brand recording over 110,000 reservations for its first all-electric pickup in just a few short weeks, as reported by Autoweek.
The huge influx of orders isn’t just from adoring individual fans either. 240 fleet operators have also placed reservations with the company. Deliveries are expected to begin in the spring of 2023. The Silverado EV will be built on the Ultium platform shared with the GMC Hummer and Cadillac Lyriq. As for expected production numbers for the trio, Chevrolet stated that “We are converting a plant in Orion Township, Michigan, to EV truck production to help provide us with a total of 600,000 units of EV truck capacity in North America by the end of 2025.”
The truck promises to be a strong first offering as far as electric trucks go. The Silverado EV promises a maximum range of 400 miles, with the high-performance RST model delivering a full 664 horsepower and 780 lb-ft of torque in its peak output drive mode. Zero-to-60 should come up in a swift 4.5 seconds in its quickest trim. As for towing and payload, the Silverado EV can handle 10,000 pounds and 1,300 lbs respectively, with Chevy also stating that former number could go as high as 20,000 lbs in a future fleet model.
The lineup will comprise three primary models at launch. The range starts with the all-business Work Truck trim at $39,990 plus destination charges, rising up to $105,000 for the top-spec RST trim. There’s also an off-road focused Trail Boss model in the mix for those looking to spend their time out on the trail.
The order numbers are in the ballpark of those recorded by the Ford F-150 Lightning, which racked up almost 200,000 reservations before orders opened in January. Ford is expected to start deliveries of its first electric pickup in spring this year. Meanwhile, Tesla may have recorded well over 500,000 reservations for the Cybertruck back in 2020, which nonetheless won’t be seen for another year at least.
The high level of interest shown goes a long way to vindicating the product planning of automakers in the electric truck space. With plenty of room for big, long-range batteries on board and the benefit of instant-on torque, electric drive is a perfect fit for pickup truck applications. Now it seems like the major challenge will be building enough to meet demand.
Got a tip? Let the author know: lewin@thedrive.com