GM, Ford, Stellantis prepare EV entries for new pickup battle

The Detroit Three delivered one electric pickup last year.

Consider that single GMC Hummer the opening shot of a new electrified front in the automakers' long-running truck war.

General Motors made the first move, but Ford Motor Co. is preparing to open the floodgates on the electric pickup segment with the F-150 Lightning this spring. GM last week revealed its next salvo, a Chevrolet Silverado EV that will surpass the Lightning with 640 kilometres of range in 2023. And Stellantis said it's constantly adjusting the specs of the Ram EV due out in 2024 as it learns what the competition is promising.

The stakes are rising quickly as reservations and deposits pour in, in some cases years before the start of production. Ford said it now plans to build almost four times as many Lightnings as it originally intended and last week began inviting some of the nearly 200,000 people with reservations to place orders. It cautioned that those low on the list probably will have to wait until the truck's second model year.

The electric pickup segment marks uncharted territory for the Detroit Three, whose gasoline-powered full-size pickups are their top-selling nameplates — and responsible for a huge chunk of their profits. Battery technology, range and charging speed will add new wrinkles to the never-ending battles over tow ratings and payload capacity.

The 2024 Silverado EV, unveiled during CES last week, will be available in two versions at launch: a work truck designed for fleet buyers and a fully loaded RST trim costing almost as much as the Hummer that GMC began shipping to dealerships in mid-December. GM said one Hummer buyer took delivery before the new year.

The Silverado work truck, which starts at $52,448, will go on sale in spring 2023, followed by the $119,948 RST that fall, GM said. Neither price includes shipping. Less expensive retail-oriented trims will roll out over time.

The RST is equipped with at least 640 kilometres of range on a full charge, the ability to charge 160 kilometres of range in 10 minutes on a DC fast charger, Super Cruise hands-free technology and a 10,000-pound towing capacity.

"The Silverado EV maintains the prowess that Silverado is known for but takes it even further," GM CEO Mary Barra said. "It can tow, haul, carry and do it all with incredible performance and dependability, both on and off roads with no tailpipe emissions."

By the time the Silverado EV arrives, the Lightning and Rivian R1T are among those that will have gotten a sizable head start.

But as battery costs decline and the market for EVs develops further, later arrivals can potentially offer customers more capability or a better value.

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares last week said the Ram EV's planned 2024 launch gives Stellantis an opportunity to size up the competition and modify its plans.

"We are preparing the EV pickup trucks for 2024, and we are doing it by adjusting the specs and adjusting the performance in function of what we see coming up from our competitors," Tavares said during a fireside chat with Morgan Stanley. "We have the opportunity to adjust the competitiveness and the appeal of our own trucks to what they are doing, which is a competitive game, which is a fantastic situation for the consumer because the real winner of this competition is the consumer."

The top-line Silverado costs about $52,000 more than the highest trim of the Lightning currently offered in Canada and will offer 190 kilometres more driving range.

After production begins next year, Chevy plans to reveal a full portfolio with trims at lower pricing.

By launching the Silverado EV with the fully loaded trim, GM aims to lower the barrier to adoption of electric pickups from the get-go, Steve Carlisle, president of GM North America, told Automotive News.

EV skeptics may doubt they can find a pickup that does everything they need it to do, Carlisle said, but the Silverado RST shows "you're not giving up anything when you get into an electric pickup. You're gaining so much more. That was the idea."

Chevy also doesn't plan to drop the gasoline version of the Silverado anytime soon.

"We have a carefully put-together strategy here where we're going to keep a foot in both camps," Carlisle said. "The endgame is clear: It's electric. But we don't want to give up anything in either case in the meantime."

GM plans to launch freshened versions of the gasoline-powered Silverado and GMC Sierra this year. Carlisle says to expect another significant upgrade for the full-size pickups before the end of the decade.

"We will need to be constantly reevaluating because what we know about this whole [EV] adoption process is that it's only going one way. It's accelerating," he said. "We'll have to watch that and determine what the right time is. But we don't want to lose market position as we go through that."

Carlisle did not disclose production or sales targets for the electric Silverado, but he said GM aims to grow its full-size pickup share, which has hovered around 30 percent for the Silverado and Sierra combined.

"We have aspirations that are beyond that for the electric truck," he said. "Our objective is, 'Everybody in.' That includes pickups."

GM last week confirmed two more EVs coming to Chevrolet in 2023: an electric version of the Equinox and a Blazer EV. Those will help GM in its goal to offer a spectrum of EVs covering all price points and segments, said Steve Majoros, vice president of Chevrolet marketing.

"We know that EV adoption is partially driven by the economics, so having products across the full range helps," Majoros said.

Majoros said he's confident the electric pickup will attract newcomers to Chevy as well as customers who have bought Silverados for decades.

"That's a very powerful brand," he said. "Silverado people, we know, are going to come along with us."

Vince Bond Jr. contributed to this report.