GM’s latest electric truck can go up to 400 miles on a charge and do 0-60 in 4.5 seconds.
When General Motors first unveiled the Chevy Silverado EV earlier this year, one thing was certain: the GMC Sierra EV wouldn’t be too far behind. The two trucks have pretty much been twins throughout the years. But now, GMC wants to change that. Friends, I give you the 2024 GMC Sierra EV Denali Edition 1. While it’s a close cousin to the all-electric Silverado, it’s here to change the way you think about GMC.
The first thing you notice about the Sierra EV is the size. GMC isn’t revealing exact exterior dimensions until the vehicle is closer to production, but we can make a few assumptions based on the Silverado EV, which is 233 inches long and 76 inches tall. We don’t have an official width measurement, but since the Chevy and GMC electric pickups don’t have DOT-required marker lights, it’s safe to assume the twins are less than 80 inches wide, though probably not by much.
Unlike GMC’s other electric pickup, the Hummer EV, the Sierra gets a somewhat more useful bed that measures 5’11” with the tailgate closed. As with the Silverado EV, the GMC gets GM’s MultiPro Midgate, which lets you flip down the back seats and open the rear wall of the passenger compartment to create a 9’1” bed. If that’s still not enough, you can configure the MultiPro tailgate to extend the bed floor to 10’10”.
Up front, the Sierra EV has a big faux grille, illuminated around its outer rim. Within it is a very large, illuminated GMC badge. Flanking the grille are some really large LED running lights that greet you when you walk up to the vehicle. You may be fooled into thinking those are the headlights, but they’re not. The actual headlights are housed in small openings right below the DRLs.
We haven’t driven the Sierra EV yet, but according to GM’s estimates, this is going to be one fast truck. With two motors and GM’s Ultium battery platform, the Sierra EV will produce a total of 754 horsepower and 785 lb-ft of torque in “Max Power Mode,” enough to get this massive thing from 0-60 in under 4.5 seconds according to GM.
The Denali rides on adaptive air suspension that can raise or lower the truck by as much as 2 inches, and offers four-wheel steering with “Crab Walk,” which angles all four wheels so the truck can drive diagonally. GMC says the Sierra EV will tow up to 9,500 pounds, and haul a payload of up to 1,300 pounds, besting the electric Ford F-150 Lightning by 1,800 pounds on towing, but falling short of the Ford’s 2,235-pound payload rating.
Despite the fact the Sierra EV is a “fist flying through the air,” it still manages a GM-estimated 400 miles of range on a full charge. That beats the Lightning’s 300-mile EPA-estimated range, though the EPA has not published final figures for the GMC just yet.
The Sierra EV will be equipped for 250-kW DC fast charging, able to add up to 100 miles of range in just 10 minutes. Like the F-150 Lightning and Chevy Silverado EV, you’ll be able to plug electrical equipment into the Sierra EV, or even use it to power your house during a utility outage.
At the start, GMC will only offer fully-loaded Sierra EV Edition 1 models, with an eye-popping starting price of $107,000. That’s mighty steep for a pickup truck, but GMC says lower-tier Sierra EVs, like the AT4 and Elevated trims, will start around $50,000, a bit more in line with the F-150 Lightning.
$107,000?? GM is smoking some serious crack. Who the hell is going to pay that much for a pick-up truck?