Chevy’s flagship truck is going electric: See the $39,900 Silverado EV

Chevrolet’s answer to Ford’s F-150 Lightning is here. Meet the 2024 Chevy Silverado EV.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra unveiled the battery-powered pickup truck during a presentation at CES 2022 on Wednesday. Months after the truck was first announced, we finally know a bit about the historic Silverado EV.

GM is spending tens of billions to become an all-electric automaker by 2035. And a zero-emission variant of its best-selling model is key to that push.

The Silverado EV will come in two versions to start: the Work Truck and the RST First Edition.

The Work Truck is exactly what it sounds like — a relatively basic pickup intended for construction and other commercial use.

The RST First Edition comes with all sorts of snazzy extras and a fancier interior. It’ll cost you $105,000.

Chevrolet hasn’t said how much first Work Trucks will cost, but it’ll eventually release a base version for $39,900. That undercuts the base F-150 Lightning by $74.

Read more: I got an early ride in the electric Ford F-150 Lightning. No truck has any business being this quick.

Chevy is also planning cheaper consumer versions of the truck. Once production ramps up, you’ll be able to spec a Silverado EV to cost $50,000, $60,000, $70,000, and $80,000.

Both inaugural Silverado EV models will be able to drive an impressive 400 miles on a full battery, according to Chevrolet.

That would put it near the top of the electric-vehicle pack and roughly 100 miles ahead of Ford’s estimates for the F-150 Lightning. But then again, the Silverado EV RST costs six figures. The 400-mile Work Truck won’t come cheap either.

Read more: Ford’s head of EVs explains how the new F-150 Lightning conquers range anxiety

Both Silverado EV models will be able to accept 350-kilowatt charging, the fastest rate currently available at public plugs. Chevy says the Work Truck and RST will be able to add 100 miles of range in 10 minutes of charging.

Both are powered by two motors and have four-wheel drive.

In the RST, those motors deliver 664 horsepower and 780 pound-feet of torque, making for a speedy zero-to-60-mph time of 4.5 seconds, Chevy claims.

The RST can tow up to 10,000 pounds and carry up to 1,300 pounds in its bed.

The Work Truck is a bit less powerful. It can tow up to 8,000 pounds and has a payload capacity of 1,200 pounds.

Both have a front trunk — just like the F-150 Lightning — and a 5-foot-11-inch bed.

Read more: The Ford F-150 Lightning’s massive frunk is packed with useful features — take a closer look

Both models can provide up to 10.2 kilowatts of electricity for powering tools, appliances, or another EV. (The F-150 Lightning offers up to 9.6 kilowatts.)

Chevy packed the RST First Edition with features you don’t get in the Work Truck.

That includes four-wheel steering, a 17-inch touchscreen, a glass roof, and Super Cruise, GM’s hands-free driving system.

The RST also gets an incredibly cool feature you can’t get in any other pickup today: the Multi-Flex Midgate.

It’s a pass-through to the Silverado’s cab that allows owners to haul long items without having them stick out the back.

You can fling open the entire thing for especially bulky items like sheets of plywood.

Or you can open just a section to squeeze in something smaller, like a kayak.

With the tailgate closed and the Multi-Flex Midgate open, the Silverado EV can fit things that are nine feet long. With the optional Multi-Flex Tailgate, that load floor extends to nearly 11 feet.

Orders for the Silverado EV open on Wednesday. The Work Truck is set to arrive in spring 2023, followed by the RST First Edition in the fall. GM recently started delivering its other electric pickup, the GMC Hummer EV.