If you thought there was an explosion of competitors in segments like the compact luxury crossover game or so-called ‘four-door coupe’ SUVs, it would appear you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. The number of all-electric pickup trucks is piling up like cords of wood, with the latest to show its face being the GMC Sierra Denali.
I mean, you knew GMC would ante into the table with a Denali trim, right? While they’ve already got their foot in the door with the Hummer EV (which is technically a GMC, remember) it will be the Sierra that will democratize EV motoring on the pickup truck side of GMC showrooms. After all, the Hummer will trade as a six-figure toy, one whose Launch Edition will bend the scales north of 9,000 lbs, by the way. The Sierra is going to be several orders of magnitude less expensive overall – even if this Denali variant will probably knock on the door of 80 or 90 grand by the time your friendly finance manager tacks on the p-pack and doc fees. Plus a market adjustment, of course.
GMC isn’t spilling many beans about motor and battery particulars, though it’s known that the truck will use batteries from the Ultium family and not the troublesome units that have been flummoxing owners of the Chevy Bolt. That’s the same architecture on which the Hummer EV and SUV will be based, though it’s safe to say this machine won’t simply drape Sierra clothes over the Hummer skeleton. While there will surely be plenty of shared parts, the days of just slapping a different grille on the nose and calling it a day are long gone, as evidenced by the distinctly GMC face of the rig shown in the teaser video above.
“Sierra Denali holds tremendous equity for GMC and our customers,” said Duncan Aldred, GMC vice president. “We now have an opportunity to evolve Sierra’s capabilities and technologies, as afforded by transitioning to an all-electric propulsion while also elevating the luxurious design and comfort associated with Denali.” That’s an awful lot of marketing speak to explain that Sierra (and Denali) are well-known names with a ton of brand recognition.
As for what was shown in the film, it seems the Sierra EV will have similar trick forward lighting that illuminates sequentially as the truck is being charged, along with other lamps to give the whole thing an otherworldly glow. Whether it’ll all be able to shine while bombing along I-80 in Nebraska is another question.
The truck will be revealed next year – perhaps at CES, maybe at Chicago – and will be assembled in General Motors’ Factory ZERO Assembly Plant in Detroit and Hamtramck, Michigan.
[Image: GMC]
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Have any of these things gone on sale yet (from any mfg)?
Everything is supposedly spring 2022, or later. Except for Rivian which is in production now?
Production now, delivery sometime in the Buttigieg administration.
Well, this is confidence inspiring: “GM Extends Downtime For Bolt Production Through February Amid Massive Recall” Zero Hedge. You see, Green(Red) New Deal – mandate and then halt production.
mebbe they should have done some long term tests on those LG cells before using them?
@Astigmatism Buttigieg administration…hahahahahahaha. That’s the last thing we need. There was a time I would have said the US would never elect such an incompetent President. The fact that so many voted for Biden and how brain dead the American people have become I can see them voting for two incompetent presidents in a row. So who knows, you may be right.
Oh I didn’t know the Rivian was actually available for sale. Yesterday I read something which commented it may take till the end of 2023 for the “chip shortage” to become abated (about what I was told in Phoenix this May).
@28: Rivian has actually delivered some R1T trucks, and allegedly they will deliver a few R1S SUVs by the end of this month.
Scaling up the volume is hard.
If I was in the $80-90k market, I’d probably go for the R1S. But alas, its image will just sit next to my posters of a Lambo Countach and Farrah Fawcett. j/k
The GMC Hummer EV gets in New owners hands this month. The mass GM truck EVs won’t blossom until after GM Ultium battery plant in Lordstown goes online in Q1 2022. The Cadillac Lyric is Q1 2022 also.
Rivian has only produced trucks for the employees so far. The Ford Lighting EV is a modified F-150, where BT1 all new EV platform will be under GM trucks.
I have seen 3 Hummers on the road. One at night, you can read “Hummer” from the other side of the highway. The other 2 were white, so maybe the same. I do live near Ann Arbor so I see a lot of test mules in the wild.
Last I saw Rivian had built something like 300 trucks most delivered to employees, they say they are currently building around 4 per day. I saw a post the other day that the first one was delivered to a non employee this week, but the majority of the orders won’t start to be be delivered until March.
Nah, they’ll just drop a GMC nose and trim on an EV Silverado. And add a couple thousand to the sticker.
Future NYT Headline: “GM to Receive $50B in DOT Funding to Convert all Vehicles Sold in USA to All EV Fleet”. Top Floor Ren. Cen. Exec: “Babe, sign the contract for new pool and book the Tahiti Trip….” This is the plan.
Everybody is sucking that teet!
“.. Elon Musk says the U.S. government should drop all EV subsidies. In fact, he wants Congress to drop President Biden’s infrastructure plan, saying the federal budget deficit is insane. But the LA Times points out that Mr. Musk received nearly $5 billion in government subsidies for Tesla, Space X and Solar City. So, is the attack on subsidies wise words from a business tycoon, or the height of hypocrisy…” Autoline
As long as you continue to CTRL-V that Autoline quote, I’m going to question its legitimacy.
“The Sierra is going to be several orders of magnitude less expensive overall”
Don’t hold your breath.
Especially since every order of magnitude is a factor of 10, and “several” implies at least three. The only battery powered vehicle available for under $100 will be a cheap R/C car.
No comments on – 9000 POUNDS – WTF.
There should be a law dammit.
It weighs roughly 2000 pounds more than my diesel F-250 crew cab with an 8 foot bed. My truck can be “recharged” to over 500 miles of range in under 5 minutes.
The low-volume Hummer is the bait; these trucks are the hook. Can’t wait to see the first comparos between the Sliverado EV and Lightning. With luck, one of them will even get beyond “hurr durr can’t get a competitive Cannonball Run time.”
Not exactly an EV made for the average Joe. If the Government wants us all to replace our ICE vehicles with EVs there needs to be more affordable options. Might take the Chinese manufacturers to enter our market with more affordable EVs. I will pass and get my wife the electric golf cart she wants once we move.