Chevy Silverado EV will have to play catch up, roll-out begins in 2023

So far, we’ve only seen the logo for the upcoming Chevrolet Silverado EV. And yet Ford is so far along in its electric-truck launch process that it has already closed its reservation books on the F-150 Lightning in prep for opening up orders in January 2022.

The deliveries of that Ford truck are expected to start in the spring.

Chevy, however, isn’t even revealing its electric truck until January 2022 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Plus, an Automotive News article reported the electric Chevy Silverado wouldn’t go on sale until spring of 2023. A full year behind the Blue Oval.

What this means for Chevy?

This means Chevrolet is going to have to build one hell of a cool electric truck. Sure, you’ll have the brand loyalists who will buy a Chevy no matter what. But if the Silverado EV is going to win over conquest sales, it’s going to have to better than the F-150 Lightning in every way because Ford will have had a full year to corner its share of the emerging electric truck market.

The good news for Chevy? This gives them a year to find that hook or gimmick to best its cross-town rival. We’ve already heard it will have four-wheel steer, like it’s GM sibling the GMC Hummer EV. But will that be enough?

What we know 

Other than the four-wheel steer, the other information we have on the Silverado EV is minimal. We’ll summarize in bullet points:

• There will be available 24-inch wheels.
• It will be built at Factory Zero.
• Range will be around 400 miles.
• There will be a fleet version.

If the electric Silverado is getting four-wheel steer from the Hummer EV, we have to wonder if there are there other features that might carry over. While it’s unlikely we’ll see those 1,000-horsepower numbers transfer over, I think we’ll see variations of the “Extract Mode” air suspension, 800-volt fast charging capability, Super Cruise and the adaptive ride control.

The bottom line on the Silverado EV

There is so much we don’t know about the Chevy Silverado EV – including whether or not it’s actually going to be called the Silverado EV. I postulated in a previous story that it might just be called Silverado E because of the way the logo highlights the “E” and because of the way the photo was labeled by GM on its media site.

But I digress. Kind of.

The point: We don’t have a lot of details, but we do have a lot of speculation.

So, stay tuned for January 5, when we’ll be covering the launch of Chevy’s electric truck in Las Vegas.

Related posts:

• Chevy Silverado EV to debut at CES, GM invests more in battery tech
• Déjà vu: Chevy Silverado EV gets four-wheel steer
• Chevy Silverado EV bests GMC Hummer EV range; 3 other things to know