Up Close and Personal With the 2024 Silverado EV, The Next Evolution Step for Chevy Trucks

As it happens, the biggest hurdle between getting hard-working American contractors and small business owners is not the raw towing capacity, qualms about interior quality, or even the level of features. It's the fact that automakers have seemed to be allergic to affordable electric vehicles since at least the early 2010s.

EVs have traditionally been luxury vehicles up until the present day. Now, it's time for electric cars to slap on some work  gloves, roll up their sleeves and get to work. But with an advertised base price hovering around $40,000 before options, a good first impression would only be gravy on top for GM's new EV pickup.

Speaking of first impressions, the 2024 Silverado EV looks like you took a sci-fi writer's idea of a pickup truck and slapped the iconic bow-tie on the front grill. The basic silhouette we've all come to associate with the Silverado moniker is alive and well in the brand's first-ever electric drivetrain.

Granted, it's certainly altered somewhat. Where there were once prominent vents and plastic mesh incorporated into the front fascia of ICE-powered Silverados, smooth and sculpted curves of metal bodywork immediately let you know there's no pollution factory hiding under the hood of this truck.

Not that there's much of anything hiding under the hood of this electric Silverado. Just a bunch of air in the "frunk" stationed where traditionally, the engine was supposed to sit. With a battery-powered electric motor generating upwards of 660 horsepower (669 PS) with the top-of-the-line variant and a potential range of 400 miles (643 km) in the range-topping RST, even on 26-inch wheels, suddenly, the Silverado doesn't seem like such an old man's truck anymore.

510 horsepower (517 PS) and 615 pound-feet (883 Nm) of torque for lesser WT models aren't bad either. Couple that with a similar size overall to a standard short bed crew cab Silverado, and it's clear that design ques of old still very much affect the present.

General Motors claims the Silverado EV will jet from zero to 60 miles per hour (0-97 kph) in under four and a half seconds. If true, that would make it faster than even the best-equipped Ford F-150 Lightning. Believe us when we tell you, the low-end grunt of the Lightning was enough to twist your face. Anything faster than that is nothing short of mind-boggling.

Towing capacity numbers in the 10,000 pounds (4,536 kg) for the top-of-the-line RST Edition. That figure drops to 8000 pounds (3.629 kg) with the WT are also sure to satisfy all but the most heavy-duty construction loads. A pitty, but understandable no less.

All in all, a car with so many features and technologies shared with the GMC Hummer EV makes for an electric pickup with just as much if not more appeal than its gas and diesel options. That's without getting up close to it yet.

Once you're only standing a few feet to a few inches away from the Silverado EV, you begin to appreciate the little details that make it look and feel more refined than Chevy trucks of old. It was a top-of-the-line $107,000 RST Silverado EV on display at New York's Auto Show this year. A far cry from the purported $39,000 and change for the WT fleet edition slated for release soon after.

But let's be real, if that basic fleet car has even half of the features as this high-end example, it will be the bargain EV truck of the century. The warm glow of the truck's 17.0-inch center screen and 11.0-inch digital gauge cluster may not be quite so bright lower down the totem pole, but we don't think any small business owner will complain when they get to cut gasoline costs out of the equation for good.

The fact GM thought to sell an electric truck with performance, and feature buffs in such consistent increments, with these two occupying both ends of the spectrum, tells us they're prepared to sell these trucks no matter what the budget might be. If you can sign on the dotted line for a $40,000 car loan, you'll have your hands on a pollution-free vehicle that's as capable as it is nice to look at. Not something we're used to saying with Chevy trucks, frankly.

Check back for more from our coverage of the 2022 New York International Auto Show here on autoevolution.