Chevy has created an American EV truck. Why isn’t anyone buying it?

I grew up rolling around in the passenger seat of my dad’s Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck, but I’m not exactly Chevrolet’s target market. I prefer hatchbacks to cargo bays. But after exploring Detroit for a day in the Silverado EV, I realized that the Chevy might just make me a truck guy.

The Silverado EV drives almost like a car. But the bed is huge, shabby, and cave-like. The back seat has enough space to cross your damn long legs, and the interior is quiet. It can power your home during a hurricane, and haul, tow, and navigate the highways without ever putting a finger on the steering wheel. Plus, it can travel more than 400 miles on a single charge. This would be a dream combination for American pickup enthusiasts.

But it hasn’t completely left the showrooms yet. GM sold about 14,000 vehicles in the U.S. and Canada last year. Fossil fuel Silverado sells 10 times as much per quarter. I feel a bit embarrassed after driving. GM has created the perfect American EV, but no one is buying it.

Maybe it’s because of the looks? At first glance, the Silverado EV resembles the old Chevrolet Avalanche, but whether that’s a good thing depends on how you feel about the original. Like the Avalanche, the Silverado EV has stylish trim, including four doors, a short bed that extends into the cabin, and a “sail” between the cabin and bed to help minimize drag. I thought the EV looked good, but come to think of it, I’m not much of a truck guy.

You need a tall staircase to get inside, but once inside it’s spacious and comfortable. When you hit the brakes, the Silverado EV comes to life, with a sharp screen taking up the bottom third of your field of view. The seats are great and, like many EVs, they spring forward when you prod them with your right foot. At nearly 20 feet long, no one would call the Silverado EV small. But rear-wheel steering allows it to maneuver through parking lots like a neat hatchback. That is until you try to wedge it into a tight parking space.

The Google-powered infotainment system is crisp, clear, and responsive. It’s not as fast as the iPhone, but it’s very close, and voice commands work well. Below the vents are volume and temperature knobs and some HVAC buttons, which can also be adjusted manually. Thankfully, Chevy still remembers how to use the physical controls.

The navigation works well because it is a Google service. Just say your destination and Google Maps will give you a variety of routes, just like they do on your phone, but with a few twists. Below the general time to destination information, you’ll see the times when Super Cruise, GM’s hands-free driving option, is available. Don’t really feel like driving? Choose a route that maximizes your time on Supercruise. Over the years, GM has given many reasons for dropping CarPlay from its EVs, and this may be one of the better arguments. That doesn’t mean I completely agree with the decision.

Speaking of Super Cruise, the hands-free level 2 advanced driver assistance system is as great as it sounds. Last March, I drove the Bolt with Super Cruise and, although it was only a short time, I was impressed. We drove the Silverado EV across the Detroit metro area during peak rush hour. Super cruise is almost mandatory for a truck this size, making driving relatively stress-free.

But there were also downsides. Staying in your lane can be a bit of a task. Just like when I was in the Bolt, Super Cruise can be caught off guard by cars speeding and cutting in from the right.

There was one particular Super Cruise moment when the Silverado EV almost hit a dirty paint mixer trailer. Perhaps a paint-splattered taillight ruined the system? But in reality, the radar should have picked it up.

Overall, Super Cruise did a good job of keeping the ride smooth, but much credit must be given to the 205 kWh battery pack amidships. It’s literally ballast. But kudos also to the ride and handling engineers who clearly had their work cut out for them. This is smooth when the truck goes.

Perhaps more impressive was its efficiency. I logged about 2.1 miles per kilowatt-hour, which is about 10 to 20 percent less than I averaged in the Audi e-tron, a smaller vehicle with much less frontal area against the wind.

So why are sales sluggish?

Some observers have criticized the Silverado EV’s high price, but I doubt it. Full-size pickup buyers pay an average of $66,000. That’s $5,000 less than the list price of the Silverado EV LT Extended Range, which has a range of 410 miles on a full charge. (The LT Max Range I tested can go 68 miles longer, but costs $20,000 more.)

People also criticize the EV’s mediocre towing range of 60% shorter. Again, that shouldn’t be a deal breaker. According to Strategic Vision, the majority of heavy-duty truck owners (about 75%) tow at most once a year. There must be 400,000 fossil fuel-powered Silverado buyers ready to make the switch. Still, those sales figures!

Automakers such as GM appear to have misjudged the truck market, which is prone to inertia and not the type that drives a 4.5-ton vehicle. Potential buyers are worried about range, charging, and probably a few other things I don’t know about. This has suppressed EVs in general and EV pickups in particular.

It’s really unfortunate. These concerns mostly melt away after you’ve owned an EV for a while, and the Silverado EV is a solid draft of an electric pickup truck. How much more engineering could automakers save on that weight? This increases payload and towing capacity while reducing costs by reducing batteries.

GM may soon address its cost issues. The automaker has strongly hinted that the Silverado EV will receive an entirely new battery chemistry – Lithium-Manganese Rich (LMR) batteries. LMR will save about $6,000 in costs while maintaining range later this decade. If these savings were passed on to consumers, the price of EVs would be on par with fossil fuel versions.

If this revised version comes out and the price goes down a little, you might consider the Silverado EV. Unfortunately, it’s too big for a two-car garage from the 1950s. I need a bigger house to accommodate my truck. And what could be more American than that?