Silverado EV Beats Lucid Air In Long-Range Electric Title Fight

Chevrolet’s Silverado EV Work Truck base model delivers more miles of electric range than any other EV on the market today, but it needs a truly massive battery to do so. In a recent range test, Edmunds was able to extract a full 539 miles of driving from the electric pickup. General Motors has a tendency to under-rate the range of its electric pickups, and this one managed to drive 47 miles beyond its EPA-rated 492 mile range. 

Beating the EPA rating is one thing, but besting it by almost 10% is incredible. Even better, the Silverado EV WT delivers more miles of range than anything else Edmunds has run on that same testing loop, with the next closest being Lucid Air Dream Range Edition at 505 miles. 

The Silverado EV is far from the most efficient vehicle available, however, as it took a whopping 205 kWh battery pack to achieve that long range. The Silverado EV WT uses the same large pack as the Silverado EV RST and Sierra EV Denali, but delivers way more range than either of them. For one thing the WT is much lighter than its luxury siblings, doing without options like the folding mid-gate. For another, it makes do with 18-inch wheels instead of the 24″ stockers on the RST. The Edmunds test of the truck saw it consume electricity at a rate of 45.3 kWh for every 100 miles driven. 

The Silverado EV WT is more efficient than a Rivian R1T or Ford F-150 Lightning, but with a battery pack more than twice the size of a base Lightning, it still consumes a whole lot of energy to get anywhere. To put it in some perspective, it takes almost 40 hours to charge the Silverado EV WT on a standard level two home charger. This truck would get trounced in a competition of efficiency by maybe every non-pickup electric vehicle, due to its massive 8,466 pound weight and gargantuan size, but the truck is clearly aerodynamic and just efficient enough to deliver some impressive range numbers. 

Given the truck’s giant wheel openings, not very aerodynamic wheels, and open bed, I can’t help but wonder if this truck could add quite a bit more range with just a few standard hypermiling aero tricks, like a tonneau cover. Hell, 600 miles might be within reach.