The 2024 Chevy Silverado EV charges the fastest of all the electric cars we’ve tried. At 198 kW, it charges at an average rate of 10% to 90% of full capacity. Only two other EVs in our test, the Mercedes-Benz EQS450+ and Lucid Air Grand Touring, and the electric Silverado, could travel 400 miles. With the Wide Open Watts (WOW) mode turned off, the Silverado EV RST could reach 60 mph in 5.8 seconds. In WOW mode, it only took 4.1 seconds. GM is thinking about the long run with the Ultium platform. We didn’t think the Cadillac Lyriq and GMC Hummer EV pickup’s new electric architecture was as good as those of many of their rivals. We were left wanting more because the charging results could have been better, and the efficiency could have been higher. Our test of a 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV RST gives us reason to be hopeful about the Ultium platform. This dual-motor, all-wheel-drive pickup came in first place in our charging and range tests. A New Record for Charging Fast As with all of our fast-charging tests, the Silverado’s battery was already set up and had a 10% charge level. Charge rates went over 200 kW in five minutes and peaked at 315 kW, which is the highest we’ve seen in an approved test. This happens a lot with Ultium cars; the GMC Hummer EV started the same way and reached its peak power of 287 kW after 15 minutes. These cars are usually built to work at 400 volts, but they can be charged at 800 volts by switching the connection between the battery pack’s top and bottom layers from parallel to series. It took less than two hours to charge the Hummer to 90%, but there were some highs and lows along the way. In order to reach the 90% goal, the Silverado kept rates above 200 kW for most of the first 38 minutes and a triple-digit rate for all but the last eight minutes of the 58-minute charging run. During the test, the Silverado EV averaged a very excellent 198 kW and produced a little more than 191 kWh. With an average power output of 166 kW, this is a lot more powerful than the Genesis Electrified GV70, which was our previous winner. The prototype was the only Porsche Taycan to hit a higher average rate of 212 kW, but that doesn’t matter because it wasn’t a customer-ready car, and it wasn’t put through a 10-to-90% test. A $100 fee in the Hummer in 2022 was a guess, but the cost of charging has gone up, and we paid $107.18 to add an 80% charge to the Silverado. Four hundred miles is the real distance We were also shocked by how far the electric Silverado could go. We didn’t think it would have a very long range because it had the same 205.0-kWh battery pack as the Hummer, 24′′ wheels with 35′′ tires, and a huge 8800-pound curb weight (it was too heavy for our regular scales, and the weigh-station clerk didn’t believe us that it was empty). Still, the Silverado went 400 miles farther than the Hummer EV in our highway range test at 75 mph, beating it by 110 miles. The Mercedes-Benz EQS450+ and the Lucid Air Grand Touring are the only other cars that have gone 400 miles or more. They went 410 miles and 400 miles, respectively. Speed: “Whoa, or nah?” On the test grounds, the Silverado EV can be used in two different ways. A War of the Worlds-like sound echoes around the house when the WOW (Wide Open Watts) option is turned on, letting all 754 ponies join the stable. In this setup, our test truck reached 60 mph in 4.1 seconds. Compared to other battery-powered trucks, that’s not very fast. The Hummer did the same task in an incredibly fast 3.3 seconds, and the Tesla Cybertruck, which is often called “the science project on wheels,” reached 60 mph in just 2.6 ticks. The Silverado’s lack of direction stability is the biggest surprise. After a hard start, its torque turns a lot, which we don’t think Chevy meant. When we turned off the Silverado’s WOW mode and stepped on the go pedal again, our VBOX recorded a 5.8-second run to 60 mph, which was a little disappointing. However, the torque steer was much better. Even though it’s big and heavy, the machine is surprisingly fast. The 1.7-second delta, on the other hand, says that it is in MEH mode. A Ford F-150 Hybrid will beat the bow-tie-branded pickup at a red light with just one button click, or none at all. Feel pain. It’s clear that the General is still working to improve the Ultium platform, but recent events are looking good. Both the roughly 40% longer range and the faster charge speed are big improvements. We’re only interested in how this affects GM’s smaller, less expensive cars.
