Folks Say EV Trucks Don’t Work. The Chief Engineer of The New Silverado EV Shows Why They Are Wrong!

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[mininut]

GM priced this truck for low volume sales. The average pickup truck buyer can’t swing the monthly payments on a $80k + pickup. ICE pickups will continue to sell very well until price parity comes into play. Once that happens buyers will pivot towards BEV pickups.

[alangc]

All you really need to know is that it costs 80k for this work truck.

[foellerd]

I hate expensive “entry level” vehicles with a passion 🙃

[ribbit]

All I really thought was that GM has a different market in mind at $80k. Obviously not a small business truck and very much a niche truck.

[SasukeUchiha-zudw]

people shouldn't have to pay that much for that kind of range. We get that range easy in gas engines for a much lower cost. They really need to figure out the technology to give us that same range as gas at the same price.

[tubesforu]

This is not a work truck, its a look what i've got truck!

[daves]

Gee, what I heard is that GM wasn;t going to make the WT1 at all and is considering starting with WT3 trim as lowest to offer to non-fleet customers. WT3 starts at ~$73K??
So forget affordable by anyone’s imagination ….

[wilmarbarrick]

42:55 A CRANK. Good Lord, how can an automotive engineer and journalist not know this term?!

[tedadamgreen]

Great video on a very expensive truck … she did a great job talking about the truck and she has a lot to be proud of!
hopefully as time passes less expensive model become available either due to technological advancements or smaller versions (mid size or compact)
But for a first out of the gate product, this is very impressive as it will only get better over time

[tomcook]

The power output should be fine for those with gas appliances. I spent a week running my whole house off a 7kW generator fed into my panel last February. I have a gas oven, furnace, and hot water heater and no issues running everything.

[MrJffranco]

What is G.M. doing building unwanted vehicles like this?!? They have definitely forgotten thier ways. Kind of the reason my last two vehicles have been a Honda CRV and a Toyota Rav4.

[JoeyBlogs]

EVs are still rapidly evolving. The high price tag is no surprise. What people need to understand is in part because of this, it makes no sense for an auto manufacturer to make an "entry level" untested unproven product in high volumes. If they screw up, they would have massive recall costs and the probability of screwing up an EV product is high, compared to a run of the mill ICE product that they're more familiar with. It's an exercise in risk management, whilst dipping the toes into the EV markets. New products are rarely ever priced for the mass market. They are priced for high end low volume markets.

[daves]

Andre and Roman - Great interview. One thing to say - To Nicole (and EVERY GM exec): their Silverado EV WT4 ‘showpiece’ has decent capability as an EV truck goes, but I will NEVER pay >$70K for a vehicle. It’s not a house, it doesn’t have infinite range, it doesn’t come with a chauffeur (person, not electronic). Not buying stupid expensive vehicles any more. Period. GM and the other manufacturers are lost.

[VetBodGaming]

I was really impressed with the chief engineer, it made a lot more sense why she seemed to have the same priorities as I did since she is a truck owner. The Silverado EV has been insanely impressive even with the price hike.

[johnsodx]

I’ve heard it said on TFL that we are in the Model T stage of EVs. I’d say we’re actually in the period before the Model T, when automobiles were pretty much limited to the well off. What we really need is the Model T of EVs, which would be a practical but not fancy EV that just about everyone can afford. Of course, we also need the infrastructure for EVs, but that was a problem with early automobiles, too. It’s not like there were gas stations on every street corner in 1910.

[Hengsha]

Thank you for asking the hard questions Roman especially about the cost; I totally agree the midgate seems like a no brainer for a work truck.

[atmartens]

I’d really like to know, and not in a smart ass way, what companies would order a 80K work truck ev? I know people can get energy rebates and other tax write offs but surely it’s not enough to make up over an ICE truck.

[anotherrandomtexan]

Can you please tell her they're making these things way too gigantic? I'm 6'2" n feel like a child next to these things now man it's gone way too far!

[MrSovrin]

The reason these trucks will eventually fail is the battery... As you said yourself the battery in the F150 Lightning is "not big enough" and it is an obscenely large battery for any vehicle. The battery in the Hummer and Silverado are a Big Fat Joke they are so big. The amount of resources just to make one of those things is nuts. Hydrogen Fuel Cell makes far more sense in these big vehicles instead of a gargantuan battery.

What would make even more sense (which is why GM never did it) is a Volt style architecture with a battery big enough for 100 miles EV range to cover 90% of anyone's daily driving and a gas engine when the battery runs out for towing across country and not worry about range or charging on the road.

[JoeyBlogs]

Give it a few more years when battery storage density doubles and super charging networks are ubiquitous. Then prices will fall significantly as you wont require a range of more than 300 miles, as the new EVs will charge in about 10 minutes to 80% at a 400 kW charging rate.