GMC Sierra EV pickup gets range spike & price cut ahead of launch

Good news for anyone looking to become one of the first to park an all-new GMC Sierra EV in their driveways. General Motors announced today that the Sierra EV Denali Edition 1 will push well past the previously announced 400-mile range, putting it in position to battle its brother, the Chevy Silverado EV, for all-out electric pickup range supremacy. Despite that, it will actually cost thousands less than originally estimated.

While $99,495 is still stupid money to pay for a pickup truck, if you ask us, but in the case of the soon-to-arrive Denali Edition 1, it represents a price cut of more than $7K from the even $107,000 GMC estimate from the truck’s initial October 2022 reveal. And if you’re a GM loyalist unfazed by a $100K vehicle price tag, who isn’t the least bit interested in the e-pickup wares Ford, Tesla and Rivian would love to see you drive off with, that price may be well worth it.

Besides, you’ll get a bit more time on the road than originally estimated. The biggest news out of today’s announcement is that the Denali Edition 1 will come ready to roam up to 440 miles (708 km) per charge, 10 percent above and beyond the original 400-mile (644-km) range and just a few estimated miles shy of the 450-mile (724-km) Chevy Silverado EV 4WT.

General Motors

The Sierra EV still awaits its official EPA-tested range estimate, but numbers are trending in the right direction at the moment. GM says those extra 40 miles come as a result of Ultium platform optimization, but would anybody be surprised if GM, the Kilowatt-hour King, simply shoehorned more cells into its battery pack?

GM never revealed the Sierra EV’s battery capacity at the 2022 debut and has yet to do so, so no one would be the wiser … though a pack any larger than the Hummer EV’s bulging 205-kWh range-topper would certainly set off alarm bells. That pack is already substantially larger than any other electric pickup battery on the market, with the next in line being Rivian’s 149-kWh Max pack. The Silverado is expected to have a similarly huge battery in the 200+ kWh vicinity.

General Motors

Whatever the final capacity of its battery, the Denali Edition 1 will be ready for 800-V fast-charging at up to 350 kW. That’s a bit shy of some of the latest ultra-fast charging speeds showing up around the world, but it’s plenty fast enough to add 100 miles (160 km) of range in about 10 minutes.

GMC has also upped a couple of the Sierra EV Denali Edition 1 key ratings, raising listed towing capacity by 500 lb (227 kg) to 10,000 lb (4,535 kg) and payload by 150 lb (68 kg) to 1,450 lb (657 kg). That ties the Sierra EV up with the Ford Lightning in max towing but still comes up well short of the Lightning’s 2,235-lb (1,013-kg) max payload. The Tesla Cybertruck boasts 11K-lb (4,989-kg) towing and 2,500 lb (1,134 kg) of payload, while the Rivian R1T has 11K towing and 1,764 lb (800 kg) of payload.

So GM’s battery-stuffing strategy isn’t really adding much to those bottom-line specs beyond range. The Silverado EV offers the same 10K towing and slightly higher 1,500-lb (680-kg) payload.

General Motors

The rest of the Sierra EV Denali Edition 1 specs carry over as previously announced, including its 754-hp/785 lb-ft electric powertrain, adaptive air ride suspension, four-wheel steering with CrabWalk capability, and available SuperCruise advanced driver assistance. Its MultiPro Midgate offers serious cargo bed versatility, growing from a basic 6-foot (1.8-m) box when closed, to 9 feet (2.7 m) with the mid-gate open and rear seats folded, to 10.8 feet (3.3 m) when dropping the tailgate on the open-mid-gate layout.

The Denali Edition 1’s $99,495 MSRP includes a $1,995 destination charge. The truck is priced above the US federal government’s $80,000 ceiling for tax credit eligibility, but lower-priced Sierra EV trims will follow. GMC did not announce finalized pricing for those trims in today’s media alert but previously estimated a $50,000 base price for the family.

Dealers are currently working with Denali 1 Edition reservation holders on orders, and deliveries will start this summer.

Source: General Motors