Secrets of the Chevrolet Silverado EV pickup
Chevrolet Silverado EV chief engineer Nichole Kraatz enters The Fox Garage to talk about the cutting-edge electric pickup.
General Motors plans to be selling hundreds of thousands of electric vehicles annually in the U.S. by 2025, and they won't all be pricey rides like the $112,495 GMC Hummer EV that's in showrooms now.
There will be a $39,900 Chevrolet Silverado EV pickup and a $30,000 Chevrolet Equinox compact SUV on sale next year, and something even cheaper than those is in the pipeline. But what is it?
The Chevrolet Equinox EV will go on sale in late 2023. (Chevrolet)
GM CEO Barra said during the company's recent earnings call that "affordable EVs aren't part of the market that start-ups aren't targeting, but they are key to driving mass adoption of EVs, which is a national and a global priority. That's why we plan to follow the Equinox with an even more affordable EV."
She added that the vehicle "gets into another very important part of the market" but didn't offer further detail about which one.
Chevrolet offers the Bolt EUV, which plays in the heart of the hot subcompact SUV segment but lists at $34,495 and is built on an older electric vehicle platform that is being replaced by the Ultium system that will underpin the Equinox EV and all of GM's future battery-powered models.
GM has released an animation showing outlines of the various vehicle types that Ultium can accommodate, including one that looks a lot like the Bolt EUV.
The Ultium platform can accommodate a variety of vehicle types. (GM)
However, it also depicts a profile of a coupe very similar to the Chevrolet Camaro, which has a starting price of $26,195 and is due to be replaced in a couple of years.
GM has teased an electric sports car similar to the Chevrolet Camaro. (GM)
While two-door sports cars aren't exactly the sort of big sellers one thinks of when they hear "important part of the market," they have been the beating heart of the "Big Three" American automakers for over a half-century and were originally introduced as affordable models with a bit of flair, along with their high-performance variants.
Of course, pickups can also be built on the Ultium platform, and the popularity of the new $21,490 Ford Maverick Hybrid has show that a small electrified pickup can be a big success.
So what do you think GM has cooking? And what kind of cheap electric car would you like to see? Let us know in the comments below.