After much delay, Chevrolet has finally bookended the pricing spectrum of the electric version of its Silverado pickup truck. The 2024 Chevy Silverado EV RST First Edition tops the lineup with a price of $96,495, including a $1,995 destination fee, Chevy announced Wednesday. Riding on 24-inch wheels, it also has a 440-mile range, which is 40 miles more than when Chevy last detailed the RST First Edition in October 2023.
It’s also priced about $9,000 less than when it was first announced.
Sharing a propulsion system with the GMC Hummer EV, the 200-kwh battery pack and dual-motor system in the Silverado EV RST First Edition generates 754 hp and 785 lb-ft of torque in its maximum-output mode, dubbed Wide Open Watts (WOW). In that configuration, GM estimates a 0-60 mph time of under 4.5 seconds. The RST First Edition has rear-axle steering, an adaptive air suspension, a 6-way power tailgate, as well as a mid-gate that can fold flat the second row of seats and open up the cabin to expand the bed length. It can tow up to 10,000 pounds and has a payload of 1,300 pounds.
Features include a 17.0-inch touchscreen, an 11.0-inch gauge cluster, a 14.0-inch head-up display, Super Cruise hands-free driving system, a fixed glass roof, and all the driver-assist safety features. Patience pays: Bidirectional charging is included for RST First Edition reservation holders who converted the reservation into a sale.
Deliveries are expected “mid-year,” Chevy said in a statement.
The Silverado EV RST follows the fleet-oriented WT base model in arriving to market, albeit later than first anticipated. Chevy had planned the Silverado EV RST First Edition for the last quarter of 2023, but a series of issues caused its delay.
GM in January pumped the brakes on its push to an all-electric future by resurrecting plug-in hybrids (PHEV) as part of the product mix. Yet Silverado EV delays arose from retooling its Factory Zero EV plant formerly known as Detroit-Hamtramck as well as from identifying “engineering improvements that we will implement to increase the profitability of our products,” a GM spokesperson told Green Car Reports last October.
At the time, GM said the Silverado EV delays had nothing to do with the United Auto Workers strike that temporarily halted production for Detroit’s Big Three automakers. There were also software problems and assembly issues with the Ultium battery modules underpinning GM’s current and forthcoming electric vehicles.
Until this point, reservations could be made for a 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV but deliveries of the base WT were mostly limited to fleet orders. Ford had a similar strategy when launched the F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck, but higher end versions were available and the base Lightning in 2022 cost less than $50,000. Much has changed in two years, but the Silverado EV WT still costs about $80,000, with a more affordable model still in the undisclosed or distant future.
Price cuts to the Rivian R1T and the overdue arrival of the Tesla Cybertruck further cloud the delayed timing of the Silverado EV launch. Ram plans to deliver its 2025 Ram 1500 REV battery electric pickup truck this year as well.