Electrics: Have the Detroit Three Agreed to Divide the Market Fairly Between Them?

Last week was crazy, frankly. Everyone around the world – at least the automotive one – paged in to get in tune with the 2022 SEMA Show frequency. And, after a couple of years devoid of cool automotive events, this was the show of redemption, sort of. Some automakers that were officially a no-show still had a bunch of custom prototypes by way of third-party help.

The aftermarket realm showed it can easily thrive even under the biggest duress and most unfavorable conditions. And individual projects represented the cream of the crop, the cherry on top of an incredible Las Vegas, Nevada-style show. Hey, believe it or not, we even had EV muscle cars from OEMs. Well, sort of, since the Dodge Charger Daytona SRT Concept arrived in crimson attire to flaunt Stellantis’ intentions to rule the newfound segment with nine power-level minions.

And while we relish the fact that in 2023 there is going to be an entire SEMA Week to include the traditional SEMA Show and the new SEMA Fest, among others, let us also think a little about how the Big Detroit Three are preparing to get the biggest slices of the EV pie – and they are fraternally sharing the cookie cutter knife to make sure they have equal bits. At least that is my impression. So, bear with me.

So, let us start from the top, with trucks. Remember how GM was first on the market with the GMC Hummer EV but no one really seemed to care too much, and it flunked the important first months of deliveries? Well, no worries, the Rivian R1T outsider was also coming fast to the market to make way for the real star attraction – Ford’s F-150 Lightning. Now, seriously, which one do you think people were going to buy most – the $40k 2022 Lightning (though its 2023MY now starts at $52k), the $67k (now $73k) R1T, or the $100k+ Hummer EV?

Yeah, I think the reinvented Ford Lightning will prevail, too. By the way, the 2024 Chevy Silverado is still not on the market, and Ram’s newly teased and named 1500 electric truck (dubbed 1500 Revolution BEV) will not arrive in concept form this month. Instead, it was postponed to CES 2023. After all, Stellantis has already announced its intentions to become a big player in the field of EV muscle cars. And they would not want to hurt the Lightning sales all too soon, right?

Anyway, that leaves us with just one Big Detroit Three item to cover. The eternally rigid General Motors, of course. Well, the company is not going to go out of its comfort zone after it just held its breath and allowed Team Corvette to play with the C8 Chevy Corvette and make it a mid-engine hoot. So, they are playing it safe, boring, and potentially fire-threatening (if the Bolt and Bolt EUVs are any indication) with the battery-powered 2024 Chevy Equinox and Blazer EVs.

The former is going to be an allegedly affordable all-electric crossover with a starting price of around $30k (we will see if they can keep the promise) and a GM-estimated range of some 300 miles (483 km). The latter is not what K5 Blazer fans were expecting, though it can also be said that it is also a Chevy SS aficionado surprise at the same time. Still, up to 320 miles (515) or up to 557 horsepower may not be too shabby for a big CUV, right?

Anyway, there is also one potential disruptor, though. That 2024 GMC Sierra EV Denali full-size truck might just represent a cool, posh alternative to every other EV pickup truck on the market – now and in the near Cybertruck future!