By: Jag Dhatt
Range Anxiety? What’s That?
For anyone thinking of buying an EV, one of the biggest fears is range anxiety. This fear is exaggerated when talking about trucks because as we know, these vehicles are used for work and play. They need to be able to do a full day’s work and then some, after work. If this is your daily routine, then the Chevrolet Silverado EV will make you forget about range anxiety.
If being honest, the only other real EV work truck is the Ford Lightning; sure, there’s the Rivian R1T and the Telsa Cybertruck, but I bet less than 5% (that’s being generous) of these owners will be using it as a work truck. From what I’ve seen, the Lightning is regularly used as a work truck, albeit not exclusively for that purpose.
I had the chance to drive the new Silverado EV RST trim a couple of months ago and let me tell you, I was pretty impressed with the truck. Granted the RST is an upscale version of the Silverado EV Work Truck, which has a lot less bells and whistles; but hey, as they say, go big or go home.
Big is an understatement of the Silverado EV RST. Everything is big, even gigantic. Just by pure looks, the RST trim makes the Ford Lightning look small. Design wise, the Silverado EV RST shares a resemblance to the Chevy Avalanche Z71 and even the side profile of the older generation Honda Ridgeline. While those two looked “good” the 2024 Silverado EV RST looks incredible. In fact, a teenager even said it looked “dope”. I share his enthusiasm and assessment. Not only is the body gigantic, Chevy decided to go all the way and include 24” wheels and to me, they look sweet. Do you need 24” wheels? Of course not, but they do look better than the ones on the WT and LT.
Well, why stop there. This truck includes a gigantic 204 kWh battery, which sends power to two electric motors. Total horsepower is 754 and there’s 785 lb-ft of torque. How fast is this electric RST? Well, in WOW (Wide Open Watts) mode, the truck lurches from stop to 100 km/h in just 4.6 seconds. Pretty impressive considering this beast weighs almost 9, 120 pounds.
Unlike the Ford Lightning, which built upon the existing F150 chassis, the Silverado EV is built from the ground up. Chevy calls it the Ultium chassis, which in essence, is simply a big battery pack with subframes mounted to it. With this type of engineering, the Silverado EV rides like a truck but feels tighter and more defined in its ride.
I had the chance to take this EV Silverado to Parksville on Vancouver Island for my daughter’s ice hockey tournament. To be safe, I made sure the battery was fully charged, because it was winter, and I didn’t know how much range would be affected by the cold. On full charge, the range indicator showed just over 700 km, more than adequate for the four-day trip.
Getting back to the gigantic theme, the Silverado EV’s cabin is huge. From the large wide seats and large centre console to the massive 17” infotainment screen that is joined to the 11” digital gauge cluster, it’s big in every aspect. Some may complain that the cabin looks a little bland for the price tag on the RST; I would disagree as the Silverado EV still has to function as a work truck. There is a definite upgrade from the LT version. Now, don’t think that the cabin is disappointing; it’s not. I actually liked it a lot. It’s not as elegant as the top trim Lightning, but for me, it was a perfect blend of utilitarian and elegance for my needs. One thing I did miss was that massage seats were not included, even in the RST trim.
My family was impressed with the space in the Silverado. They stretched out and relaxed, as if sitting on loungers and sofas at home. As you’d expect in a full-size truck, there is an abundance of legroom and headroom. I found the front seats, heated and cooled, to be quite comfortable and they provided enough support for normal daily driving. My youngest daughter, who’s almost 10 and usually critical of many vehicles, happily climbed from front to back and back and forth many times (when parked of course), saying it’s like a little fort. She didn’t like that there was only a fixed panoramic roof, but oh well; can’t make kids happy all the time.
Chevy decided to go with a Google based entertainment system and this thing is fast. There is absolutely no lag whatsoever when going through menus or when zooming in and out on the navigational maps. By logging in to your Google account, a lot more apps can be downloaded and used, which I found useful. However, there is no option for Apple CarPlay or Android Auto; these are only available on the basic 8” system available in the base model. This is really a shame as more and more people, including myself, are moving towards using Apple CarPlay or Android Auto in their vehicles. The sound system is great and playing any music sounds pretty impressive; and yes, it’s loud and there’s an abundance of base.
Before moving on to driving, I was frustrated with one aspect of the interior. Many of the basic features are still controlled through the infotainment screen. Let’s say you want to control the headlights or the dome lights…you have to go through the main infotainment screen to use them! Just put in buttons for heaven’s sake. It may not be a big deal for most; however, when you have kids and have to find something in the dark, unnecessary steps have to be taken to do simple tasks.
Driving the Silverado EV RST trim does take some getting used to, as you’d expect in any big truck. The size definitely impacts driving in parking lots and on windy roads. With practice, these become quite easy as well. The RST trim has four-wheel steering and man, this feature is a god send. With a truck this size, the fear when parking or maneuvering in tight spaces is always there; well, with four-wheel steering, you can ease into any tight space with confidence. I absolutely love four-wheel steering.
The Silverado EV RST is a mixed bag. It does take more effort to drive the RST on curvy roads as compared to the Lightning. But the learning curve is not steep, and you get used to it pretty fast. The ride is a little on the rigid and bumpy side, which is totally understandable given the 24” wheels and tires. Speaking of which, replacing 24” tires isn’t going to be cheap either. However, all this being said, I found the ride to be quite good for my needs. It handles like a truck.
GMC’s Super Cruise is something else. This hands-free highway driving assist works much better than one would expect. In addition to adaptive cruise, Super Cruise will automatically change lanes if the vehicle in front is going slow AND there is room in the other lane. You can also change lanes on demand by activating the turn signal. Each time I used Super Cruise, it worked flawlessly.
Before summing up this review, we need to mention an engineering marvel in the Silverado EV, and that is the Multi-Flex Midgate. Simply put, if you need to expand the bed of the truck, the back seats fold and this opens up almost 9’ feet of usable length. What’s more, this new Multi-Flex Midgate is much much easier to use than the one that was offered in the Avalanche.
The new Chevy Silverado EV RST is one heck of a truck. Yes, its price tag is on the higher side, but if put into perspective and take into account all of its features, it’s justifiable. The 3WT starts at $74,699 while the RST tops out at just over $117,000. If compared to the Tesla Cybertruck ($115K), Ford Lightning Platinum ($110K) or the Rivian R1T ($109K), it’s in the same ballpark.
If I had to choose an electric truck from the above 4 choices, the Silverado EV RST would be the one in my garage.
