Chevy Silverado EV debuts with monster battery, 450+ mile range for better (or worse?)
There’s a lot to go over with Chevy’s Silverado EV, but what makes it really unique is the huge 200+kWh battery and the 450+ mile range that it provides. But that monster battery also has a few well disguised drawbacks, including putting the truck at a whopping 8500 lbs. Let’s dive in…
Chevy flew us out to Ann Arbor to learn about the Silverado EV work truck and then off to a local farm to see the Silverado in its native habitat, complete with country music and BBQ. There we got to tow a 10,000 lb. John Deere tractor, head out on some dirt roads, and drive the Silverado through some small towns with even smaller parking spots.
Then we got to speak to some of the experts on Chevy’s team about the nuances of this vehicle. There is a ton going on here, but by far the biggest differentiator between this vehicle and the competition is the huge battery and the subsequent 450+ miles of range. I use the ‘+’ because throughout most of the testing, I was seeing greater than 450 miles of range sometimes close to 500 miles in very normal around town usage, similar to what a fleet work truck would do in a typical day; obviously when towing, that range gets cut as much as in half. But when starting out so high, all of a sudden towing long distances becomes way less stressful.
The downside of that huge battery is the weight and size. The driving dynamics were super impressive however, even on dirt roads. Chevy recommends a surprisingly high 61 PSI on the wheels and ours were showing 63 PSIs, yet the ride was incredibly smooth. Still, however, you are schlepping around a 200kWh battery everywhere which consumes a lot of extra energy and the inertia of a 8500 lb. vehicle becomes all that much more dangerous in an accident.
Silverado EV has 50% more battery than F-150 Lightning or Rivian R1T
There’s no denying the standout feature of the Silverado Work Truck is its huge, honking 200+kWh battery. To put it into perspective, it is 50% bigger than Ford’s F-150 Lightning long range battery at 131kWh and double the under 100kWh standard range battery. That’s an extra vehicle battery on top of an F-150 Lightning battery (Chevy’s Bolt is 65kWh for instance). Rivian clocks in slightly higher at 135kWh but that’s a rounding error, and its upcoming Max battery pack still falls significantly short at 180kWh.
That incredible Silverado 450 mile range isn’t just from battery alone however. It has the same size battery as the GMC Hummer EV which has a 329 mile range.
Curiously, Chevy was super-coy about the battery size and kept saying it was different than the Hummer EVs though they did concede it as the same module and kWh spec.
How did Chevy eek out a whopping 121 miles from the same size battery?
Well first of all, the Hummer EV isn’t an exercise in efficiency. Its huge tires, gaping drag coefficient, removable roof and absurd 10,000 lb. weight make a lot of low hanging fruit when optimizing.
But Silverado also has smaller, more efficient (and one fewer) motors. So this isn’t a speed burner with a mid-5 second 0-60 but will be fine for just about anyone. When towing 10,000 lbs., however, I had an 11+ second 0-60 time which might be troublesome for getting on highways, especially uphill.
The aerodynamics aren’t just good but they made “one of the most efficient trucks ever” with a .331 drag coefficient. Rivian claims a lower flat, .3, but both are great aero trucks.
Silverado EV Work Truck also drops almost a literal ton of weight from the Hummer EV with some simplicity which also helps with cost savings. Also we saw up to 180kW of regeneration power when using the 1 pedal driving mode and even higher with a trailer attached. That adds up.
Chevy Pro Power on Board Offboard power
The power system for these EV trucks still fascinates me even if we’ve mostly “seen this before.”
Chevy basically replicated Ford’s extremely popular power station on board. It is a similar amount of power 10kW in similar places – Rear bed, Interior, charging port and Frunk (Chevy calls it the E-Trunk but even the experts, see above, were calling it a “frunk”).
Overall you get 10.2kW of power including a 30A, 7.2kW generator plug output that can manually backup your home at launch. Chevy is working on something similar to Ford’s automatic home backup through the charging port and expects to have something that will coincide with the launch of the RST at the end of this year.
For the moment, however, Chevy does have some cool charge port accessories like the 6kW charger cable that will charge another vehicle (one would assume you could also charge a vehicle using the 7.2kW generator port with an adapter). It also has some neat add-ons like charging port powerstrips with different charging options including the RV favorite NEMA TT-30 30A 110V plug.
To show its prowess, Chevy ran the two food trucks from its off board power, without breaking a sweat and barely registering on battery usage. This truck has enough power to run multiple food trucks for days while subtracting the traditional loud running, petroleum spewing power generation which isn’t a great pairing with food preparation and consumption.
Silverado EV pricing
Let’s start with the bad news: To everyone’s shock and surprise (/s), Chevy will not be selling a Silverado EV starting under $40,000 like they originally planned. I’m not sure how many of the 185,000 reservation holders were banking on that but with a few years of inflation, parts shortages, delays, etc, here we are. I do think that they will get into the $50+K range starting next year when they offer a significantly lower range model Work Truck. After incentives that will get close to $40K. Chevy says range and price will be competitive with Ford’s standard offerings which currently start at 230 miles/100kWh and $55K.
The 450-mile work truck we drove will start at $77,905 and be available to fleets in the coming weeks. That’s notably a few weeks later than Chevy’s planned “spring rollout,” but compared to the years of delays Tesla has shown on its models like Cybertruck, it is just a blip. Meanwhile the slightly smaller battery 350+ mile Work Truck will debut at the end of the year with a $72,905 price tag.
Chevy Silverado RST First Edition
Also at the end of the year, Chevy will unleash the RST First Edition for a whopping $105K which is getting pretty close to a Hummer EV lite. Here’s a quick look at the RST which features the mid-gate for increased storage and a whole lot of other options. I imagine a large percentage of our audience is here for this:
E-Trunk is a Frunk
Just like the F-150, Chevy’s Silverado has a large frunk, but again, they are giving it a name which won’t stick called the “E-trunk” (Being a first mover has its advantages). While notably smaller than the F-150 – 14 cubic feet vs. 10 – it also offers a plug in front for charging tools even while driving or idle via the app. Chevy said those wider sidebars were to house a better front suspension than Ford’s. I think for most work uses, 10 cubic feet will be enough, but for a few this might be a dealbreaker.
Silverado DC Fast charging at 350kW
On every EV drive, one of the first places I go is the DC fast charging station, even if it isn’t on the itinerary (it never is).
We were only given vehicles with over 50% charge, but I still wanted to see what kind of speed I could get out of an EA station and maybe piece together a charging curve. From 61-63% charge, it charged steady at about 208kW, which is an impressive speed until you realize it would take an hour to fill a full battery at that speed. Of course the charging will be much faster at the beginning and much slower at the end of the charge. Chevy put together this small clip on the matter:
And that’s the thing about having a huge battery like this: you can charge it at really high power, but it still takes a long time to really fill up. Chevy says at its fastest pace, you can add 100 miles in 10 minutes. Condolences if there’s only a 50kW fast charger around – that’s a 4+ hour “fast” charge to go from empty to full.
Home and work level 2 AC charging goes up to 80A here which will take over 10 hours to go from empty to full. On a more typical 40A charger, it will take 20 hours, but again that’s adding over 450 miles of range. Most fleet truck scenarios draw way less power in a day so 40A is probably sufficient to add ~300 miles in a 12 hour night.
Silverado EV Drive dynamics
Maybe the biggest surprise of the Silverado EV, besides its range, is its ability to drive like a commuter car (not that it should be used for commuting!) I was shocked at how easy it is to drive and how quick my stress levels went down to a typical car levels. The car drives smooth and is very responsive for an 8500-lb beast with 61+ PSI tires. The suspension folks at GM should be commended. It should not be this easy to drive an 8500-lb vehicle!
Turning is satisfactory, but I can’t help but think 4-wheel turning should be an option in the Work Truck like the Hummer EV. Parking was tough and it took me an extra pass or 2 to slip into the EA station and parallel parking in town wasn’t fun. However, 4 wheel steering will be offered in higher end consumer versions of this truck.
Silverado EV interior
The Work Truck interior is what you’d expect from a work vehicle. Something you could hose down after a day in the mud. Dark plastic and vinyl as far as the eye can see, but in a good way.
That doesn’t mean you can’t drive in comfort, and I found all four seats to be comfortable. Not once during the hours of driving did the driver’s seat feel uncomfortable. The sound system and front screen were fine, though nowhere as good as the RST version coming at the end of the year. Though it won’t come with a mid-gate option, the Silverado Work Truck does have ample storage under the rear seats and still sports the biggest-in-its-EV-class 5’11” long bed.
Carplay/Android Auto
One of Chevy’s most controversial recent moves was to announce the removal of the phone projection in its EVs. However the Silverado EV Work Truck, which still uses Google’s Android Car system, will allow projection of CarPlay and Android Auto, this year anyway. Interestingly its consumer facing Silverados starting next year won’t allow projection. I think this an easily correctable mistake by GM and you can tell that most at Chevy are taking a wait and see approach with the reception this decision gets.
Note: in the video above I was initially told CarPlay would be removed in a software update but it would only be “removed” in a model year update.
Electrek’s Take
For some workers who drive really long distances and have towing, cold weather, etc. requirements, this is the only electric pickup that will meet their needs. Not only did we hit 450 miles, but we often succeeded it with up to 485 miles shown in Chevy’s estimator, in my experience. Nothing else like it even comes close.
But that capability of range isn’t free. Not only does the extra weight make for a more expensive truck that also costs a bit more on $/kWh. That 8500 lbs of weight also affects the handling though I will concede that Chevy suspension engineers worked miracles here.
So I wonder how many fleets actually need 450+ miles of range or even 350+miles. Sure it is nice to have for that rare instance, but it also means you are carting around and paying for a big, unused battery around town most of the time.
Then there’s the whole, why are people driving around 8500-lb. trucks when something like a Ford Maverick size vehicle will do. And we all know that there are a ton of these that are going to be used for commuting when a third of the sized vehicle with a third of the battery will do just fine. But that argument is for another day, and this Silverado EV will take a ton of ICE pickups off the road. And we’re here for that.
The Silverado EV is a super-compelling, no compromise work truck that will meet the needs of fleets that no other EV pickup can.
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Hyundai has unveiled the design refresh of its Ioniq 6 sedan, and announced that it will become a family of cars rather than a single model, with an N Line trim and upcoming N performance model, much like its sister car the Ioniq 5.
Hyundai has been doing great with its EVs lately, hitting sales records and getting great reviews.
Much of that focus has been on the Ioniq 5, an attractive crossover SUV with lots of capability at a good price – and a bonkers N performance version which has been breaking different kinds of records.
The Ioniq 6, conversely, hasn’t attracted quite as much attention, even though it has some records of its own (it’s the most efficient vehicle in the US… for under $70k).
Between its admittedly odd looks – much more aerodynamic and rounded than the comparatively blocky 5 – and it fitting into the less-popular (but better) sedan form factor, it just hasn’t captured as much imagination as the 5.
It has also fallen somewhat behind. The Ioniq 5 got a big update this year, including a native NACS port, the first non-Tesla mass market vehicle to hit the road with one of these included (and it even charges faster than a Tesla does on home turf). The 6, however, is still sitting on its original design from when it first started production/shipping in 2022/23.
But that’s about to change, as Hyundai is giving the model some love with a design update and some hints at new things to come.
We’ve seen spy shots of these design updates before, but now Hyundai is showing them to everyone at the Seoul Mobility Show.
Hyundai showed two models today, the standard Ioniq 6 and the “N Line,” an upgraded trim level with some interior and exterior changes to look a little more sporty. Hyundai has used similar nomenclature for its other models, and that carries over here.
Both have a redesigned front end, making it look more aggressive than the prior bulbous and aerodynamic shape, and narrower headlights.
The N Line looks even more aggressive than the standard model, though, with an even more aggressive front and rear end.
Hyundai says that the redesign will also include interior enhancements for “a more comfortable, intuitive experience,” with a redesigned steering wheel, larger climate control display, upgraded materials and redesigned center console with more physical controls.
Beyond this, the refresh was light on details – intentionally, with a full unveil of specs and changes coming later. We can imagine a lot of the improvements on the 2025 Ioniq 5 will be carried over, such as a native NACS port for example, and potentially a slightly larger or faster-charging battery.
We had also previously heard hints that an N version (yes, “N” and “N Line” are different, no, we don’t know why they used these confusing names) of the Ioniq 6 is coming, and Hyundai reiterated those hints today – even giving us a glimpse of the car in the background of one of its shots.
Now THIS one looks quite aggressive, with a bigger double wing and potentially some changes to the diffuser (it’s hard to tell from the shot, as the N Line also has a modified diffuser).
The ioniq 5N has earned rave reviews from enthusiasts for its bonkers driving dynamics and comparatively reasonable price for a true performance vehicle. But it’s still an SUV format, and frankly, an SUV will never be a sportscar no matter how many horsepower you put into it (I will die on this hill).
The 6, however, with its sedan shape and footprint, could make for a much more compelling sports package once it’s all put together. So we’re very excited to see what Hyundai can do if they apply the same magic they put into the 5 into a new 6N. Looking forward to July.
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Over the next two years, homebuilder Lennar is outfitting more than 1,500 new Colorado homes with Dandelion Energy’s geothermal systems in one of the largest residential geothermal rollouts in the US.
The big draw for homeowners is lower energy bills and cleaner heating and cooling. Dandelion claims Lennar homeowners with geothermal systems will collectively save around $30 million over the next 20 years compared to using air-source heat pumps. Geothermal heat pumps don’t need outdoor AC units or conventional heating systems, either.
Geothermal systems use the sustained temperature of the ground to heat or cool a home. A ground loop system absorbs heat energy (BTUs) from the earth so that it can be transferred to a heat pump and efficiently converted into warmth for a home. Dandelion says its ground loop systems are built to last for over 50 years and should require no maintenance.
Dandelion’s geothermal system uses a vertical ground closed-loop system that is installed using well-boring equipment and trenched back into the house to connect to a heat pump. The pipes circulate a mixture of water and propylene glycol, a food-grade antifreeze, that absorbs the ground’s temperature. A ground source heat pump circulates the liquid through the ground loops and it exchanges its heat energy in the heat pump with liquid refrigerant. The refrigerant is converted to vapor, compressed to increase its temperature, then passed through a heat exchanger to transfer heat to the air, which is circulated through a home’s HVAC ductwork.
Daniel Yates, Dandelion Energy’s CEO, called the partnership with Lennar a “new benchmark for affordable, energy-efficient, and high-quality home heating and cooling.” By streamlining its installation process, Dandelion is making geothermal systems simpler and cheaper for homebuilders and homeowners to adopt.
This collaboration is happening at a time when Colorado is pushing hard to meet its clean energy targets. Governor Jared Polis is excited about the move, calling it a win for Coloradans’ wallets, air quality, and the state’s leadership on geothermal energy. Will Toor, executive director of the Colorado Energy Office, said that “ensuring affordable access to geothermal heating and cooling is essential to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, and we’re excited to be part of such a huge effort to bring this technology to so many new Colorado homes.”
And it’s not just about cutting emissions – geothermal heat pumps help reduce peak electric demand. Analysis from the Department of Energy found that widespread adoption of these systems could save the US from needing 24,500 miles of new transmission lines. That’s like crossing the continental US eight times.
Colorado is making this transition a lot more attractive through state tax credits and Xcel Energy’s rebate programs. These incentives slash upfront costs for builders like Lennar, making geothermal installations more financially viable. The utility’s Clean Heat Plan and electrification strategy are working to keep energy bills low while meeting climate goals.
Read more: This will be the first geothermal energy storage system on the Texas grid
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Polestar has removed the Polestar 2 from its US website header in an early sign of how new tariffs will restrict choice and competition for American consumers, thus increasing prices.
The Polestar 2 is Polestar’s first full EV – the original Polestar 1 was a limited-edition plug-in hybrid.
It started production in 2020 in Luqiao, Zhejiang, China, where Polestar and Volvo’s parent corporation, Geely, was founded.
And there’s the rub: while Polestar’s newer EV, the 3 (which we just drove the new single motor version of last week), is built in South Carolina, the 2 is not.
Unfortunately, that interacts with some news that has been getting a lot of play lately: tariffs.
The US has been gradually getting stupider and stupider on the issue of tariffs, apparently determined to increase prices for Americans and decrease the competitiveness of American manufacturing in a time of change for the auto industry.
It is widely acknowledged (by anyone who has given it a few seconds of thought) that tariffs increase prices and that trade barriers tend to reduce competition, leading to less innovation.
It started with 25% tariffs on various products from China, implemented in the 2018-2020 timeframe. Then, in 2024, President Biden implemented a 100% tariff on Chinese EVs, effectively stopping their sale in the US. These tariffs included some exceptions and credits based on Volvo’s other US manufacturing, which Polestar had used to keep the most expensive versions of the 2 on sale in the US, while restricting the lower-priced versions from sale. Nevertheless, they were a bad idea.
Now, in yet another step to make America less competitive and inflate the prices of goods more for Americans, we got more tariff announcements today from a senile ex-reality TV host who wandered into the White House rose garden (which he does not belong in). These tariffs do not include the same exceptions as the previously-announced Biden tariffs.
Apparently this has all been enough for Polestar, as even in advance of today’s tariff announcements, the company suddenly removed its Polestar 2 from its website header today.
The change can be seen at polestar.com/us, where only the Polestar 3 and 4 are listed in the header area. On other sites, like the company’s Norwegian website or British website, the car is still there. The Polestar 2 page is still up on the US website, but it isn’t linked to elsewhere on the site (we’ll see how long it stays up).
We reached out to Polestar for comment, but didn’t hear anything back before publication. We’ll update if we do.
It makes sense that the Polestar 2 would still be for sale elsewhere, as it only started production in 2020. Most car models are available for at least 7 years, so this is an earlier exit than expected.
So it’s likely that all of the tariff news is what had an effect in killing the Polestar 2.
Then again, this is also just the second day of a new fiscal quarter. Perhaps the timing offers Polestar an opportunity to make a clean break – especially now that the lower-priced version of its Polestar 3 is available.
Despite the lower $67.5k base price of the new Polestar 3 variant, that represents a big increase in price for the brand, which had sold the base model Polestar 2 for around $50k originally, before all of these tariffs.
Update: Polestar got back to us with comment, but understandably, it doesn’t say much:
Polestar is a three-car company and Polestar 2 is available for customers now. There are a select number of Polestar 2s in stock at retailers that can be found on Polestar.com, but Polestar 3 and Polestar 4 will be the priority in the North American market.
Electrek’s Take
This isn’t the first car that America has been deprived of due to tariffs. The Volvo EX30, one of our most anticipated vehicles, and Electrek’s Vehicle of the Year for 2024, had its American availability pushed back due to tariffs.
Volvo decided to build the car in Belgium and export it to the US, but now that new tariffs apply to the EU as well, maybe that low-priced, awesome, fast, small EV will instead stay in Europe instead of being shipped overseas.
This shows how mercurial tariff fiats from an ignoramus are bad for manufacturing, as they mean that companies can’t make plans – and if they can’t make plans, eventually, they’ll probably just write the country making the random decisions out of their plans so they don’t have to deal with the nonsense.
And we’ve heard this from every businessperson or manufacturer representative we’ve talked to at any level of the automotive industry. Nobody thinks any of this is a good idea, because it objectively is not. All it does is make business harder, make the US less trustworthy, make things more expensive, and overall just harm America.
Yet another way that Americans are getting screwed by this stupid nonsense. 49% of you voted for inflation, and 100% of Americans are now getting it. Happy Inflation Day, everyone.
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