Road Test: 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV RST

The tit-for-tat antics that go on in the world of cars and light trucks are so often a joy to behold. That’s especially the case among the Detroit “Big Three” manufacturers; I mean, when your entire industry is based in a single city and the whole thing is like one big derby game, that’s bound to happen. Mustang v Camaro, Corvette v Viper, Pinto v Vega, Jeep CJ v Bronco – we could go on, but we won’t.

Which brings us to the modern day and the world not of the electric car, but of the electric pickup truck.

When Ford came with the F-150 Lightning in 2022, you just knew that General Motors wouldn’t be far behind with their take on an electric pickup. So, 2024 saw the arrival of the Silverado EV, and it marked an interesting departure from the F-150. The Lightning gave off much more of a “work truck” vibe thanks in part to its styling, sure, but more the fact that they offered tonnes of incentives to fleet operators.

Enter the Silverado EV, a more stylish and upmarket entry into the burgeoning world of EV pickups.

Powertrain

The Silverado EV is available only as dual-motor AWD EV, but how much power you get from your dual motors depends on trim. The base WT trim, for example (stands for “Work Truck”, in case you’re asking) makes 510 horsepower and 615 pounds-feet of torque. Those numbers aren’t too shabby when seen in isolation – drop an “RST” moniker as you see here, though, and that jumps to 754 horsepowers and 785 – seven-hundred -eighty-five! – torques. Those are some proper stump-pulling numbers, those are, but they do come with a massive 205 kWh battery and help contribute to an also-colossal curb weight of nigh on 10,000 pounds, or about 4,500 kilos. That’s no joke and it means that since tow ratings and haul ratings are limited by a vehicle’s overall weight, the RST can only tow about 2.5 lbs. and haul about a pound.

OK, that’s a stretch but the 10K pounds it can tow are paltry when you consider that you’ll get waaaayyyy more than that with a similarly-equipped diesel Chevy HD pickup for about the same money, if not a little less.

Of course any form of towing will affect range but luckily, there’s plenty of room for error here since the Silverado EV makes a claimed 708 km of range in RST spec. That should be far more than enough for most drivers and you can return almost 200 km per 15 minutes when hooked up to a DC fast charger. It’s not technically an 800V set-up, but it does run to 400V modules in parallel so you kind of get there. And, we imagine, there will be adapters for even faster NACS chargers later on this year.

Exterior

Of course, then you take a look at this think and any thoughts of towing, hauling (or even getting just a little bit dirty) fly out the window quicker than you can say this truck’s name. It’s not often I’ll say this about a pickup truck, but this particular pickup is gorgeous. The ultra-narrow LED daytime running lights and all-black-everything front end is tuxedo sinister, while the 24-inch wheels are just the right size (but look a little odd shod in skinny low rolling resistance tires). The way the rearmost pillar is angled is a unique take on what’s typically seen on pickups. It recalls the old Chevrolet Avalanche pickup but it looks classier and less tacked-on here, more like the Avalanche’s upmarket Cadillac Escalade EXT cousin – but still better, even, than that. The Silverado EV RST looks especially menacing – even somewhat chopped — when you have the self-levelling air suspension set to access height. Things get a little gawkier as you raise that up, but overall, the styling is right on.

Since the Silverado EV – any EV pickup, really – is such a “new” thing, unlike most pickups and their 1.2 billion possible bed/cab combinations, with the Silverado EV (and the Lightning, it should be said) you get one: Crew Cab, six-foot bed. That’s it.

Interior

While the interior environs echo the exterior in terms of heavy doses of black leather and plastic, it’s broken up by RST-specific red contrast-colour stitching on the seats, steering wheel and dash as well as some red inserts around the vent openings. Add a sprinkle of chrome here and there and it delivers an impression that’s more Darth Maul than Darth Vader and that works.

Space-wise, well, there’s plenty of it. Headroom is ample both front and back even though the floor is high in order to accommodate that huge Ultium battery pack. Unfortunately, even without a transmission tunnel the rear load floor isn’t completely flat.

That becomes less of an issue when you consider two things with the Silverado EV: the fact that it has a frunk that measures 303 litres, but also another lift from that old Avalanche/Escalade EXT: the “Midgate”. Essentially, what that means is you can completely open the wall between the cab and bed by flipping down its lower portion and removing the glass. That expands the bed length to 11 feet – or, more than what’s offered by any commercial pickup, anywhere – and has the bonus of providing an old-school Ford Bronco or K5 Blazer-esque open cabin. The frunk, meanwhile, not only allows you to haul more stuff (it’s great for wet, dirty stuff or tools), but has a 120-volt outlet therein so you can charge your tools while you’re hauling them.

Speaking of hauling: my tester came equipped with Chevrolet’s Multi-flex tailgate. What that means is that more than just being a simple door that opens, the tailgate can be set to extend the bed or provide an additional step-up if the patented Cornerstep bumper cutouts aren’t enough to do the trick. Nice touch, but could be a bit of a challenge to deal with when it comes to towing.

Infotainment and tech

Otherwise, the cabin is dominated by a bright digital gauge display measuring 11 inches, plus a massive 17” central display and large 15” head-up display. If that’s not enough digitization for you, then the digital rear-view mirror should take you over the top. It’s a unit shared with smaller GM products so it does look slightly small in these environs, but it does nevertheless provide a nice, wide view rearwards unaffected by rear seat occupants.

There’s also a wireless charger, which is nice but odd since GM has committed to Google for much of its on-board tech (the native navigation system, for example, is Google Maps). There’s no support for Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, wireless or otherwise.

What I do appreciate, however, is that you don’t have to use the display for your climate controls if you don’t want to; there’s a nice set of hard buttons and knobs sat right below it that are much easier to operate, say, with work gloves on.

It is through the central display, however, that you adjust how readily and strongly brake regen steps in when you release the throttle. Luckily, one of the three available modes is “off”, so if the jerkiness of one-pedal driving isn’t your thing, you can go without. Me? Normal seemed to suit me just fine in pretty much any situation, only switching to high during the slowest gridlock.

Drive

Pre Weight Watchers-spec 10K pounds or not, the Silverado EV is more than happy to step forth from the line with gumption. The instant response upon throttle tip-in is impressive in no small part because you know how much this thing weighs. It almost defies physics how easily it hides its weight, but such is life when you have transmission-free instant power delivery. They say it has over 780 pounds of torque, and I tend to believe them.

Of course, the “almost” part of the defies physics thing comes in as you start to move through turns because even with a well-tuned chassis and trick suspension, you can only defy physics so far and you will feel the body roll as you move through faster corners.

One thing I didn’t feel as much during my time with the Silverado EV that I always do in trucks is dive under braking. Here, with the batteries mounted nice and low in the chassis, the centre of gravity is brought down low enough to neutralize just enough that I felt a real difference.

Fast as it is, the RST actually shines best when cruising over the cracks and heaving concrete served up during any given urban excursion. The EV RST was more than up to the task of swallowing most of that up whole, even when on heavy 24” rolling stock. Also helping in tight city environs is the RST’s rear-wheel-steer, which sees the rear wheels swivel in the opposite direction from the fronts when at low speed to reduce the turning radius.

Speaking of well-engineered: Chevrolet’s Super Cruise brand of autonomous driving – which I had – really has to be experienced to be believed. Essentially, when on any of the roads encompassing the million-plus North American km mapped by GM for the system, you can proceed with no hands on the wheel and no feet on the pedals until the cows come home. Or, until you get home – whichever comes first. I was able to drive for about 80 km in this state, a task made even easier by how the truck will automatically change lanes when it senses the traffic ahead is going too slow, or will even leave the left lane if it senses another vehicle coming up to quickly from behind. It comes standard on the RST and it’s some neat-o tech that makes the most boring drives that much more palatable.

Conclusion

At over $117K before taxes, the Silverado RST’s price reflects its weight – that is to say, “heavy”. Of course you still have to pay a premium for EVs these days, so the pricing is understandable and you can get into a base model for just over 85 grand, which is more palatable.

Either way, though, what you’re getting is a supremely well-engineered, capable and cool-looking machine and I have a feeling those that opt for one of these will not be disappointed.

The big question with the Silverado EV, though, as it is with any EV pickup is whether or not the tech works for the applications required. The fact that it can charge a jobsite is a huge plus, and the range it does provide should be enough to suit anybody. That really is the biggest question and if you can charge at home or at work and have a good grasp on your town’s charging infrastructure, then I see no reason why this can’t cut the mustard as a reliable everyday worker and performer.

2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV RST
Price as tested: $117,599
Freight: $2,500
Configuration: Dual EV motors, all-wheel-drive
Power/torque: 754 horsepower/785 lb-ft of torque
Battery (capacity): 205 kWh
Combined fuel ratings (L/100 km): 3.7 L_e/100 km
Observed fuel economy (L/100 km): 4.2 L_e/100 km
Warranties: 3 years/60,000 km (basic)
Competitors: Ford F-150 Lightning, GMC Hummer EV, GMC Sierra EV, Rivian R1T, Tesla Cybertruck

Website: Chevrolet Silverado EV