The Silverado EV, Chevrolet’s first electric truck, has been driven by me in both of its current forms: the high-performance RST and the Work Truck. You might need help finding one on a close route, though. I thought the second one, a strange six-figure speed machine, wasn’t paying attention as I drove it. It looked like Chevy was torn between making a regular pickup truck and a new, innovative electric car. That showed me how much better this would have been as a new Avalanche. I will explain. Even though you might think that changing the truck’s name doesn’t make a difference, I’ll claim that it does. This is what all business majors would say. If Chevy had known from the start that its electric car would be an Avalanche, it could have been more specific and made a truck that would appeal to a wider range of people. Because people who bought Avalanche and Silverado had different expectations, Chevy may have kept using the same approach while focusing on certain customers. The last time the Chevrolet Avalanche was for sale was in 2013, which is more than ten years ago. In spite of how small it seemed at the time, it was a precursor to the lifestyle cars we see today. It looked more like the Tahoe than the Silverado inside, which was more useful. It had a higher ride height because it had a ladder frame body. The Avalanche wasn’t the most useful truck because of its unique C-pillar covers and shortish five-foot bed, but with the mid-gate, it became more useful—as long as there weren’t any people in the back. Let’s look at what the Silverado EV has to offer: A mid-gate, C-pillar sails, and a bed that is a little less than six feet long. Do you see where we’re going? Several times during Chevy’s introduction at the RST press event, representatives said that the Silverado EV was meant to be a mediocre electric truck. Instead, their goal was to make a great electric pickup truck. The plan wasn’t to add batteries to a regular Silverado ladder frame like Ford does with the F-150 Lightning. Instead, GM’s Ultium battery platform was used to build a new chassis. But it doesn’t make sense to make a brand-new chassis with a totally different look and then name it after a car that already exists. Customers need help understanding it. Could it be a Silverado? This fits with what Silverado EV’s Chief Engineer Nichole Kraatz told MotorTrend when the truck was first shown in 2022: “Some design cues look like they came from Avalanche.” Avalanche was different from what we had in mind when we made the truck. The building was built from the ground up, which is where the idea for the truck came from. What goal were we trying to reach? We planned for a range of at least 400 miles. We wanted to make the style look more sporty and active. Kraatz kept talking. In that way, we never said, “Let’s do an avalanche again.” I understand why Chevy is doing what he’s doing. For a long time, the Silverado has been a dependable and strong worker. That’s the name the company wants to give its first electric truck. In real life, it can do almost as much as an ICE Silverado, and in some cases, it can do a lot more. Without a doubt, it is faster than the gasoline and diesel versions, and the clever midgate design means it can carry longer items without a trailer. It feels like a regular pickup truck, with a bumpy ride, fuzzy driving, and a simple cabin. But the big wheels and nearly 9,000-pound curb weight make the ride rough and awkward. The cabin is fine for a truck; it’s mostly made of hard plastics and has a simple layout, but it could be nicer. Most people who use trucks are used to these features, but is that really what someone wants to spend $95,000 on? People who spend almost $60,000 on electric pickup trucks are usually wealthy, tech-savvy people who like to look busy. These customers will not want a truck with a standard name or the usual trucking experience. Instead, they will buy a lifestyle car like the Rivian R1T, which looks good on the outside, has great technology inside, and is more comfortable inside. Not only is the Rivian faster, but it also costs about the same when bought with three motors. If Chevy had called its electric pickup the Avalanche, it could have been sold as a competitor to the Rivian or even the Tesla Cybertruck. Instead of making it look like a normal car, Chevy could have saved money by improving the interior and suspension. The Avalanche name, a comfy cabin, a smooth ride, and stylish cabin technologies make the car’s six-figure price more reasonable and appealing to people in that market. Which Chevy brand is more exciting and well-known, “Avalanche” or not? Not at all. After only two generations, the truck has been dead for years. Chevy may have gotten a lot of attention for the model’s return as a new electric truck, but selling memories is easy. That would add the thrill that the complicated reveal of the Silverado EV lacked. The most important thing is that it would help the business sell Bowties a lot more.
