GMC Sierra Denali EV Stakes Out Market Between Electric Silverado, Hummer
GMC launches its Sierra Denali EV in late 2023 as a 2024 model to fill the price gap between Silverado and Hummer EVs.
For battery-electric-vehicle buyers, range is top of mind. But the BEV pickup truck market is heating up despite the range drain that occurs when towing or carrying heavy loads.
General Motors in 2023 is adding an up-market offering on the heels, or should that be mudflaps, of its Chevrolet Silverado EV and GMC Hummer EV trucks.
The ’ 24 GMC Sierra Denali First Edition BEV not surprisingly shares much of its architecture and battery tech with its GM stablemates. That means the pickup will:
Get about 400 miles (644 km) on a full charge with an empty bed and no trailer.
Will charge up to 350 kWh, enabling 100 miles (161 km) of charge in 10 minutes.
Produce 754 hp and 785 lb.-ft. (1,064 Nm) of torque.
Achieve 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 4.5 seconds with Max Power mode.
Trailer up to 9,500 lbs. (4,309 kg).
Standard box length of 71 ins. (1,803 mm).
Come with a mid-gate pass-through into the backseat that makes for a possible 109-in. (2,769 mm) stow length for lumber, a kayak, etc. That extends to 130 ins. (3,302 mm) with the Multi-Pro Tailgate load-stop.
Offer 10 electrical outlets with accessory bar option.
Allow bi-directional charging.
Offer Super Cruise hands-free driving on highways approved and capable of supporting the feature.
Multiple drive modes: Standard; Tow/Haul; Off-Road; My Mode (customizable by driver); Max Power (extra torque and 0-60 mph acceleration in under 4.5 seconds); 4-Wheel Steer; CrabWalk (at low speeds, turns rear wheels in unison and at the same angle as the front wheels, allowing diagonal movement of the vehicle).
Underpinning GMC’s three EV trucks is GM’s Ultium Platform. The Sierra Denali EV will face some cross-shopping with its GM siblings. But the real competition is with the Ford F-150 Lightning and BEV truck offerings from upstart companies Rivian and Tesla, as well as a Ram BEV said to have 500 miles (805 km) of range when Stellantis brings it to market in 2024.
The F-150 Lightning is already on sale. But with driving range between 230-300 miles (370-483 km), Chevy and GMC will beat its crosstown rival on the all-important range comparison unless Ford comes up with an extension before the GM BEVs go on sale.
Not surprisingly, trailering can seriously degrade electric range of a pickup. During a test of the Lightning, when a 6,000-lb. (2,722-kg) trailer was factored in, range dropped from 282 miles (454 km) to 160 miles (258 km). GM officials say the range degradation for the GMC Sierra Denali EV will be similar by proportion to how fuel economy degrades with a GMC internal-combustion powertrain when pulling a trailer.
Work + Play Infotainment
The Sierra Denali EV comes with an impressive 16.8-in. (43-cm) infotainment screen, with a 14-in. (36-cm) standard head-up display and an 11in. (28-cm) driver information center. The screen is the nerve center of the truck, controlling everything from entertainment content to allowing the driver to figure out how far they can go on the remaining charge in the battery with the weight of the load in the bed or trailer.
The price range for the Sierra Denali EV will start around $50,000 when it goes on sale in October 2023.
“This truck is everything customers know about the Sierra, but is so much more,” said Nichole Kraatz, chief engineer, GM Battery Electric Trucks. “Leveraging GM’s dedicated Ultium pickup platform, it takes the Sierra franchise to new benchmarks of capability, versatility and luxury —all in a zero-tailpipe-emissions package.”
Owners also have access to Ultium Charge 360, GM’s approach to EV charging, designed to help simplify the overall charging experience, including access to more than 110,000 publicly available charging points in the U.S. and Canada.
Demand for BEV pickups might be defined by pre-order interest. The F-150 Lightning, for example, logged 200,000 pre-orders, giving it a three-year backlog. Tesla has taken in more than 650,000 pre-orders for its Cybertruck. The GMC Hummer EV logged 80,000 pre-orders when the order bank opened.
The developing market for BEV pickups looks like this:
Wealthy early BEV adopters who have multiple vehicles.
Non-working lifestyle/vanity pickup buyers who aren’t worried about the degraded range with big payloads and trailering.
Commercial pickup fleet buyers who will integrate BEV pickups into a fleet of combined ICE and BEV trucks and optimize their use for lowest operating costs.
Commercial fleet buyers whose trucks typically travel fewer than 200 miles (322 km) per day and have recharging hubs near defined daily routes and worksites.
Pickup buyers attracted to the dual-use factor that allows them to power tools at a worksite without needing gasoline-powered generators, and power a home, or at least essential appliances, during blackouts. This feature polls high with rural truck owners where home charging is simple and handy, and where blackouts from hurricanes and twisters are not uncommon.
One Million Sales Per Year by 2030
LMC Automotive projects the U.S. electric pickup market to increase to about 1 million by 2030. That is based on the projection that there will 21 BEV pickups offered by the end of the decade in the light-duty fullsize and midsize categories.
Truck leadership between GM and Ford has always been in dispute. Sure, F-150 regularly outsells Chevrolet Silverado. But if you combine Silverado and GMC, it is a different story.
Given the hyper-customization that pickup truck owners crave, going with three brand offerings in the BEV pickup category, spanning a price ladder from $41,000 for the Silverado EV to $110,000 for the Hummer EV with different personalities may prove to be a good idea. Depending on how long would-be Tesla pickup buyers want to wait for their order to be filled, some of them might drift GM’s way, as well as Ford’s, Ram’s and to a lesser extent Rivian’s.
The Sierra Denali EV has a somewhat more grown-up, less flashy silhouette than either the Silverado EV or Hummer EV. That is a good differentiator for the brand that advertises itself as “Like A Pro,” a follow-up to the long-running “We are Professional Grade” tagline that long defined GMC as the truck fitted out and designed for professional builders, ranchers, farmers, etc.
Those truck buyers are conservative. And many reject BEVs out of hand. But they are practical, too. And when they see the range and handiness of a BEV truck on a job site and when the power goes out on the grid near them, interest may climb.
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