Even though the Chevrolet Silverado EV is late to the electric pickup game, its first venture into the growing segment is a strong one, as our own Executive Editor Mike Austin found out recently. With over 400 miles of range, a respectable if battery-draining towing capacity of 10,000 pounds, as well as a beefy 754 hp and 785 lb-ft of torque, the Chevrolet Silverado EV RST comes off as perhaps a better all-around truck than the gas version next to it on the dealership floor.
But a comparison between decades of gas-powered performance and the initial entrance of an electric truck doesn’t really seem fair. In fact, it’s highly unlikely that buyers will be cross shopping a Silverado EV and a Silverado 1500. Rather, a prospective Silverado EV buyer is certain to be found at a Ford dealership lot or a Rivian pop-up location before succumbing to the dirty ways of gasoline.
So, it’s only right that the Silverado EV gets put against its true competitors: Ford’s F-150 Lightning, the Rivian R1T, and Tesla’s Cybertruck. The inclusion of Tesla’s Cybertruck is not one of generosity, exactly, as it’s currently leading the Rivian in (very provisional) sales numbers. And it does have a bed, technically.
Size
The Silverado EV reigns supreme as the largest of the bunch, with a length of 233.1-inches, a width of 83.8/94.1 inches (with/without mirrors), a height of 78.7 inches, and a 5 foot, 11 inch bed.
Ford’s F-150 Lightning comes in second, with a length of 232.7 inches, a width of 80/96 inches (with/without mirrors), a height of 78.3 inches, and a 5.5-foot bed.
Though it may not look it, the Tesla Cybertruck is actually bigger than the Rivian in some metrics, with a length of 223.7-inches, a width of 86.6/95 inches (folded/unfolded mirrors), a height of 70.5 inches, and a 6-foot bed. Rivian’s R1T also falls short of the two legacy domestic models, with a length of 217.1-inches, a width of 87.1/81.8 inches (with/without mirrors), a height of 72.1/78.3 inches (lowest/highest suspension mode), and a 4.5-foot bed.
Curb weights on all of these trucks are ridiculous, with a low weight of 6843 pounds from the Cybertruck. Ford’s F-150 Lightning is the next lightest, at 6855 pounds, followed by the dual motor Rivian R1T at 6914 pounds. Chevy’s Silverado EV is the chunkiest, at around 8800 pounds.
Battery Capacity and Power
Quantifying the size and power of the legacy trucks from Ford and Chevrolet gets a bit confusing, as both are offered with a variety of battery packs and power figures.
The Silverado EV comes with a minimum of 510 hp and 834 lb-ft of torque (in Wide Open Watts mode) and a maximum of 754 hp and 1064 lb-ft of torque. All that power is delivered by the 24-module Ultium battery cells as the GMC Hummer EV pickup, but with a usable 205 kWh of battery capacity in Silverado form. Similarly, the Silverado EV uses two electric motors instead of the three on its GMC sibling.
Tesla’s Cybertruck is currently available in only two powertrain configuration with a third to follow shortly. For now, only dual- and tri-motor models are available, with 600 hp and 834 hp respectively. Both variants of the Tesla Cybertruck are said to have a 123.0-kWh battery.
Rivian’s R1T is offered in two variants as well, with dual-motor and quad-motor versions available for 2024. As a base model, the dual-motor makes 533 hp and 610 lb-ft of torque while the quad-motor version makes 835 hp and 908 lb-ft of torque. Standard, dual motor Rivian R1T models feature a 106.0-kWh battery pack, though 121.0-kWh and 142.3 kWh battery packs are also available.
Ford’s F-150 Lightning can come with two different battery packs, ranging from 98 kWh of usable energy to 131 kWh of usable energy. Power figures start on the low-end at 452 hp and 775 llb-ft of torque and rise up to 580 hp and 775 lb-ft of torque on the high-end. Both powertrains use two inboard three-phase fixed magnet AC motors.
All-wheel-drive is standard on all four models.
Range
Operated under the EPA test cycle, the Chevrolet Silverado EV boasts an estimated range from 393 miles to 450 miles of range depending on the trim. Note that those are for the two current WT trims. The RST model has a gross vehicle weight above 10,000 pounds, thus making it exempt from light-duty reporting rules, but Chevy’s representatives say the 440-mile range is calculated from the same procedure.
Tesla’s Cybertruck, also excused from official EPA figures, comes with some qualifiers. The shortest range is 250 miles on the single-motor model, an intermediary figure of 301 miles per charge on the quad-motor Cyberbeast, and a maximum of 340 miles on the dual-motor truck. Tesla plans to offer a range-extender battery pack that will stretch the dual- and quad-motor models to 440 and 470 miles, respectively, but it is not available as of this writing.
Rivian’s R1T has as little range as 270 miles on the Standard Pack and as much as 410 miles on the maximum pack, with in-between figures of 315 miles on the Standard+ pack, 328 miles with Quad-Motor and large battery pack, and 352 miles with Dual-Motor equipped with the large pack.
Finally, the smaller standard battery pack of Ford’s F-150 Lightning results in 230 miles of range, with the larger pack providing 320 miles on the high end. Those are official EPA estimates for both the Ford and Rivian
Towing
The Silverado EV has a maximum towing capacity of 10,000 pounds. A big number, but not the class leader. It’s matched by the Ford F-150 Lightning with the extended range battery pack and optional towing package included. That goes down by half to 5000 pounds with the standard battery pack on the Ford.
Both dual-and tri-motor Cybertrucks have a maximum towing capacity of 11,000 pounds, besting Ford and Chevrolet. Only the impending single-motor Cybertruck model does worse. It will be limited at 7500 pounds.
Rivian’s R1T puts up a strong fight against Tesla, also showing off a 11,000 pound towing capacity.
Price
It’s no secret that these electric pickup trucks are, well, very expensive. In other words, they’re not for the common man just yet, but some are cheaper than others.
The Chevrolet Silverado EV starts at $74,800 and goes up to $96,495.
The Ford F-150 Lightning starts at $57,090 and goes up to $95,090, with four trim levels in between these starting and ending price points.
Tesla’s Cybertruck was marketed as a starting closer to $62,985 a rear-wheel-drive variant, but is currently only available in $81,895 dual-motor and $101,985 quad-motor (Beast) variants.
The Rivian R1T is a bit cheaper, starting at $71,700 and going up to $88,800.
In summary, the Silverado EV is the heaviest in its class, with the biggest battery. But those are the only stats where it is a far and away standout. In terms of power, it is not leagues ahead of the beefiest Rivian or Tesla, both of which slightly edge it on max capacity towing, though the Silverado does similar figures with two motors that Tesla and Rivian do with three. The Silverado EV does start off expensive but it only very nearly tops out the highest price, pipped by the Influencer-spec Cyberbeast. Where the Silverado EV may shine is in the real world, and we’re excited to see how they fare as they make their way from dealership lots into driveways.
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Source Agencies
