Driven: 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV Impresses And Frustrates

For reasons we will explain in this review, the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV might be the most frustrating vehicle DrivingOnRoad has reviewed this year. Don’t hear what we aren’t saying – the Silverado EV is not a bad truck, nor is it anywhere close to the worst vehicle of the year. Our frustration stems from the decisions made by General Motors when designing this truck, which perfectly encapsulate the company’s engineering history. You need to read on.

Few automakers have higher highs and lower lows than GM, and this one truck demonstrates both at the same time. A 440-mile driving range bests every other electric truck on the market (besides the mechanically identical GMC Sierra EV), and the class-exclusive Multi-Flex Midgate gives it a longer storage area than even the biggest gas-powered pickups.

On paper, the Silverado EV is a brilliant demonstration of GM’s engineering excellence. But sadly, this truck also exhibits the one trait that has ruined many GM vehicles in the past: cost-cutting. The Silverado EV’s impressive specs and practicality are tainted by poor build quality, cheap materials, and a clear focus on the powertrain that has left other areas feeling unbaked. We said it in our First Drive Review, and after spending a week in the Silverado EV, we’ve confirmed a few key things.

Exterior: More Options Coming

Despite using the Silverado name, the EV is an entirely different truck than its gas-powered contemporary, built from the ground up on GM’s Ultium platform. It’s absolutely enormous, stretching 233.1 inches from bumper-to-bumper, with a 145.7-inch wheelbase. For comparison, the Tesla Cybertruck is only 223.7 inches long, the Ford F-150 Lightning is 232.7 inches, and the GMC Hummer EV Pickup is only 216.8 inches. It’s worth noting that the gas-powered Silverado 1500 can be longer, depending on the configuration.

For 2024, retail customers only have a choice of one trim: the RST First Edition. This model rides on gigantic 24-inch wheels and only comes in Black or Summit White, though more colors will be added next year. You can easily tell the Silverado EV apart from a gas-powered Silverado based on its unique body shape, which includes a smooth front end with a connected light bar, sail panels on the bed that resemble the old Avalanche, and subtle EV-related badging. We prefer the styling of the 2024 GMC Sierra EV, which looks a bit more like a conventional truck than its Chevy sibling.

Interior: Post CarPlay World

The GM frustrations arise in the interior, where all attention went to the big screens, leaving nothing for the rest of the cabin. In Chevy’s defense, the standard 17.7-inch touchscreen is easy to use and there are some physical buttons and knobs for volume and climate. However, GM’s decision to eliminate Apple CarPlay and Android Auto wasn’t fully thought through.

The built-in Google interface adequately handles many tasks, including controlling in-car functions like the climate and radio. It can also answer any question you would ask of a Google Home device, which is convenient while driving. But there are still a few instances where CarPlay is superior. These include responding to texts (CarPlay is quicker, more intuitive, and doesn’t chime every time you get a new message) or listening to podcasts (there is no 30-second fast-forward or rewind function).

Things are a lot better if you use Spotify, or other apps that are downloadable, but the default system isn’t perfect for music or podcast listening. If you use Apple Music, prepare to either sift through an undecipherable hodgepodge of folders to find the right song or playlist, or be a distracted driver and use your phone. We should also mention that the initial setup for the whole Google interface is fairly complicated, involving a call to an OnStar representative, but this is only a one-time annoyance.

We focused a lot on technology because it’s a key selling point of the Silverado EV, but we don’t want to ignore the rest of the cabin the way Chevy clearly has. The RST is the supposed top trim level of the Silverado EV, but it could almost pass for a base model. You get a few nice features, such as heated and ventilated seats, but no massage seats like you get in other trucks at this price point.

There is only one interior color scheme for 2024: black with blue and red stitching. The stitching looks OK in most places, but it is crooked on the dashboard right in front of the passenger. Speaking of the dash, it’s covered in a textured material that’s similar to what’s found in the Hummer EV, and simply feels cheap. The center console at least has a nice design with a sliding cupholder tray that moves to reveal a huge storage area.

Practicality: Undisputed King

Every Silverado EV gets a 5’11” bed, which is shorter than even the Short Bed on the Silverado 1500. The EV makes up for its small-ish storage area by bringing back the most popular feature from the discontinued Avalanche: the Multi-Flex Midgate. The Midgate allows owners to drop the wall that divides the cabin from the bed, opening the total storage area to 10’10” of load space, including the Multi-Flex Tailgate with its build-in bed stop. This unique feature makes the Silverado EV not only more practical than other electric trucks, but no pickup truck on sale can match it on load floor space. If you want to keep your cargo dry and secure, there’s also an “eTrunk” under the hood, which adds 10.7 cubic feet to the equation.

Passenger space is equally generous, with 43.9 inches of headroom and 44.8 inches of legroom up front. The back seat is spacious too, boasting 38.7 inches of headroom and 44.3 inches of legroom. There are heated seats, air vents, and USB ports in the rear, but no ventilated seats are available back there.

Performance: Wow, Wow, Wow

There is only one powertrain offered for the consumer-grade Silverado EV, since the WT trim is only for fleet customers. A twin-motor setup delivers 510 horsepower and 615 lb-ft during normal driving, though a Wide Open Watts (WOW) mode can push those figures up to 754 horsepower and 785 lb-ft.

Chevy claims WOW mode will deliver a 4.5-second 0-60 mph time, but we actually bested that estimate with a 4.3-second run. The Silverado EV races off the line, spinning all four wheels in the process to fight for grip. It’s a scary but exhilarating process. Sure, a Cybertruck or a Hummer would beat it in a drag race, but this is still quicker than any pickup truck has any right to be.

GM is cagey with releasing exact specifications for its Ultium batteries, but the Silverado EV’s pack measures 213.7 kWh with about 204 kWh usable capacity, which is slightly larger than the one in the Hummer EV Pickup. The EPA rates the Silverado EV at 440 miles in RST guise (450 miles for the WT), besting all other electric trucks and falling behind only the Lucid Air among all EVs. For 2025, efficiency improvements will bump the RST up to 460 miles of range, while a new LT trim will go up to 408 miles with a smaller battery. As for the WT, it boasts up to 492 miles for 2025. The Cybertruck can only come close with the Range Extender added (a $16,000 extra).

To charge such an enormous battery, Chevy gave the Silverado EV an 800-volt architecture that accepts up to 350 kW, adding up to 100 miles in just 10 minutes. This makes it among the quickest-charging EVs on sale today. At home, the truck can accept up to 19.2 kW using a PowerShift ($1,699) or Powerup+ ($1,299) charger, which is more expensive to set up than a traditional Level 2 unit. Even at these speeds, which can add up to 34 miles per hour, the Silverado EV’s massive battery requires more than an overnight charge.

Driving Impressions: A Loud EV?

EVs are supposed to be pretty silent, right? Well, no one told Chevy. Put the Silverado EV into gear, and you will immediately hear a low, throbbing hum that can not be deactivated. Chevy says it’s there for pedestrian safety, but no other Ultium vehicle we’ve driven exhibits such a prominent and annoying noise. Road and wind noise quickly drown out the hum, unless you activate WOW mode, which dials the sound up even more. We hope Chevy decides to add an option to silence or at least lower the humming.

Though the Silverado EV rides on air suspension, it can’t compensate for the ridiculous 24-inch wheels, which always cause the truck to feel unsettled even over fairly smooth pavement. Smaller wheels will be available for 2025, which will be a welcome addition. This truck still feels enormous despite having rear-wheel steering, which is less advanced than the system used in the Hummer. The massive size combined with massive power results in some interesting handling characteristics. You can quickly zoom past traffic without effort, though quick maneuvers still feel unsettling due to the nearly 9,000-pound curb weight.

Long trips are made easier with Super Cruise, GM’s hands-free driving software. The system can even change lanes automatically to pass slower vehicles or manually using the turn signals. We had a chance to use the system over a weekend trip to South Florida, where it operated nearly flawlessly aside from a few phantom braking events.

Pricing & Verdict: Quality Concerns

Journalists tend to be tough on press cars, so we will typically ignore small quality issues that arise during our week-long reviews for the sake of fairness to the automaker. We were about to take this stance with the Silverado EV after noticing the driver’s side air vent was broken (unable to adjust left or right), until our passenger noticed theirs was the same. That’s more than just a user error. Later in the week, the illuminated Chevy Bowtie appeared to have water in it, partially changing its color and making it look like an aging strip mall with a broken sign. These are unacceptable issues for a “new” vehicle with just over 4,000 miles on the odometer – especially one at this price.

Speaking of the price, the 2024 Silverado EV starts at $94,500 before destination for the single trim RST First Edition. That’s hugely expensive, even compared to a full-loaded F-150 Lightning Platinum, though it’s less expensive than the Cybertruck Cyberbeast. Chevy will offer a cheaper LT trim for 2025, which should help the Silverado EV appeal to a broader audience.

Though we haven’t driven it yet, the GMC Sierra EV seems like the superior electric truck from GM. It only costs $3,500 more than the Silverado EV, but gets a more premium interior and handsome exterior styling – however, at present only the $97,500 Denali Edition 1 is currently on sale. We’d be interested to review a lower-tier 2025 Silverado EV with a more attractive starting price, but it’s more crucial that Chevy fixes some of this truck’s quality concerns in its second model year, because it has the potential to be a genuine contender in the segment.