Chevrolet Silverado EV unveiled | GM is entering the battle for electric pickup trucks

(New York) General Motors on Wednesday unveiled the electric version of its best-selling vehicle, the Chevrolet Silverado EV, like Ford in a bid to protect its positions in the hugely popular and profitable pickup segment against Tesla and other startups. up rising.

Presented at the big tech show in Las Vegas (CES), the Chevrolet Silverado EV will first be available in two configurations: a model for professionals at $ 40,000, which will go into production in spring 2023, and a more luxurious model called RST First Edition at 105,000 dollars, in production at the end of 2023.

The vehicle will enter an already busy market, starting with the electric version of Ford’s pickup truck, the F-150, which is due to debut in the spring also at a base price of around $ 40,000.

The start-up Rivian began production last September of its first vans for sale, called R1T, followed, at the end of 2021, by the electric GMC Hummer, from General Motors.

Another start-up, Bollinger, plans to start production of its van at the end of 2022 while Canoo is due to launch its in early 2023.

The Ram brand of the Stellantis group will offer an electric vehicle in 2024.

Tesla, for its part, presented a “Cybertruck” which was to be initially available at the end of 2021, but has since been postponed, without a specific date.

“Until now, until the launch of Rivian’s R1T, all electric vehicles in the United States were sedans or SUVs,” often popular with wealthy customers, recalls Garrett Nelson, automotive specialist at CRFA. .

However, the three best-selling vehicles in the United States are pickup trucks: the F-150, the Ram 1500 and the Chevrolet Silverado.

Ford and GM, which in recent months have made a real shift towards emission-free cars after having long let Tesla dominate this market in the United States, “are in a hurry to offer an electric version of their most popular models,” says Mr. Nelson.

Wide open game

Traditional Detroit builders have certainly fallen behind, but after making big promises over the past two years, their investments “are just starting to materialize,” notes Jessica Caldwell of Edmunds.

With electric vehicles still only making up about 3% of total vehicle sales in the United States, the game is still wide open and many players are trying their luck.

Stellantis thus announced Wednesday that its subsidiary Chrysler would only launch electric cars from 2028 and unveiled a broad partnership with Amazon, including the order of “thousands” of electric vehicles “per year” from 2023 at Ram.

The Japanese electronics giant Sony also took advantage of the Las Vegas show to present a new prototype of its Vision S electric car on Tuesday and announced the creation of a new subsidiary to explore this rapidly expanding market.

Mercedes had revealed Monday a new concept of particularly aerodynamic electric sedan and offering a range of nearly 1000 kilometers, called EQXX.

Consumer reluctance

The big manufacturers are now focusing mainly on vehicles with a greater range, on SUVs and light trucks, “segments where the volumes, and the margins, are more important”, remarks Jessica Caldwell.

So far, “start-ups have certainly aroused more enthusiasm,” notes the specialist. Upon entering Wall Street in November, Rivian and Lucid were quickly worth more than GM and Ford even as the two young companies had barely started production.

But these small companies do not have the dealer network of established manufacturers, their notoriety or their marketing budget.

Demand for some vehicles seems to follow: Ford said Tuesday that in light of strong demand, it will nearly double the production capacity of the F-150 Lightning, to 150,000 vehicles per year.

But “there is still reluctance on the part of consumers to buy electric vehicles, not just for the purchase price, but also for the installation of a charger in the home,” notes Garrett Nelson.

Joe Biden’s big “Build Back Better” investment plan provides generous financial incentives for the industry. “The fact that its adoption is still pending is clearly a setback,” he adds.