The GMC Sierra EV

Four hundred and twenty-two. That's not how far General Motors says the GMC Sierra EV will go on a single charge, it's how far the luxe electric pickup actually went in the MotorTrend Road-Trip Range Test, driving a steady (and juice-sucking) 70 mph while using 95 percent of a full charge. (GMC's range claim is 440 miles, which should be obtainable, but we stop at 5 percent to allow for the drive to a charger. And while we're on the subject, GMC has already announced a 20-mile range boost for 2025. ) The 422-mile figure makes the Sierra the longest-legged electric vehicle we've tested, beating its sibling, the Chevrolet Silverado EV RST, by 21 miles, the dual-motor Rivian R1T by 82 miles, and the dual-motor Tesla Cybertruck by 127 miles. To drive home the point, you'd need a fully-charged Fiat 500e to span the distance between the GMC and the Tesla (and even then, you might have to walk the last couple of miles). Towing remains the electric truck's Achilles' heel, as a trailer cuts range by roughly half, but even so, the Sierra EV should be able to top 200 miles while towing. That ain't great, but given the state of the EV art, it ain't bad either. By the way, the Sierra EV's range doesn't just top other trucks. It bested our top-performing SUV (Mercedes EQS450+) by 60 miles and best-tested car (Mercedes EQS580) by 68 miles, and as we piled on the miles, the Benzes weren't far from our minds. If you're going to spend six hours at the wheel of an EV, the Sierra's cabin isn't a bad place to be. In the past, we've complained about GMCs being glorified Chevrolets, with interior “upgrades” that weren't so many improvements as changes for change's sake. The Sierra EV is notably nicer than the Chevrolet Silverado EV, with a uniquely styled cabin and tangibly higher-grade trim. This is one GMC that justifies its price premium over the corresponding Chevrolet. Good thing, too, since the extra range gave us 18 more minutes to admire the cabin while charging. Does it justify the $99,495 price tag of this top-of-the-line Denali Edition 1 model? That's for you and your financial advisor to decide.

Powering Down, Juicing Up We know how the GMC Sierra EV achieves such a long range: with a huge honkin' battery. It holds 205 kWh, to be specific, the most of any electric vehicle save the Silverado EV. To illuminate weight's effect on efficiency, though, the lighter Lucid Air Pure sedan delivers 330 miles of road trip range out of a battery with less than half the Sierra EV's capacity. As you can imagine, such a big battery takes time to charge, although the Sierra does its best to speed this up with its 800-volt charging system. Starting at 5 percent of charge, a 350-kW charger added 129 miles of range in 15 minutes and 218 miles in half an hour. It took 49 minutes to charge the Sierra EV to 80 percent with an average charging rate of 224 kW. Thirty-seven minutes later (86 minutes total), the battery was at 100 percent. (For those unfamiliar, EV charging slows as the battery fills. It's also generally recommended that if you're not going on a long trip, you stop at 80 percent to preserve both battery life and your time.) All in all, it was a decent performance considering the size of the battery pack, keeping in mind that on a long journey, that 15-minute charge would get us a couple hours farther down the road. The Penalty of Leadership: Performance You're probably thinking a battery that big has got to be heavy, and how right you are. The Sierra EV tipped our scales at 8,802 pounds, and if you'll forgive us the cheap literary trick of considering a point using simple math you've probably already done in your head, that's nearly four and a half tons. You could put a Chevrolet Trax in the bed of a gas-fired GMC Sierra 1500 Denali Ultimate, and the resulting combo would still weigh less than the Sierra EV. That weight takes its toll on performance. The Sierra EV's two motors produce healthy totals of 754 hp and 785 lb-ft of torque, and yet, even with Max Power mode (and its accompanying annoying soundtrack) enabled, those motors took 4.2 seconds to drive their host truck to 60 mph. The quarter-mile comes up in 12.7 seconds at 110.7 mph.

Let's put those numbers in perspective. Yes, 4.2 seconds is quick enough to embarrass nearly any gasoline-powered pickup that isn't a Ford Raptor R or Ram 1500 TRX, both of which make 60 in 3.9 seconds. The Sierra EV will leave many classic-era big-block muscle cars in the dust. Among EVs, though, it makes the Sierra EV a slowpoke, typing the 452-hp Ford F-150 Lightning Pro for the longest 60-mph run we've seen from an electric truck. The least-quick Cybertruck we've tested got to 60 in 3.8, while the pokiest Rivian did it in 3.4. Even the Sierra's near-twin, the Silverado EV RST, ran to 60 in four seconds flat. (We tested the Sierra and Silverado at the same location on the same day.) “All that weight is like throwing an anchor out behind you,” noted testing director Eric Tingwall, who drove for the timed acceleration run. Incidentally, while we noticed quite a bit of torque steer in the Chevy and the closely related GMC Hummer EV, the Sierra was slightly better behaved, though it still moved some starting around 60 mph.

Jane, Stop This Crazy Thing The Sierra EV does have the brakes to cope with that weight, drawing down from 60 in 132 feet—longer than most other electric trucks (as well as the last gas-powered Sierra 1500, which stopped in 118 feet) but still an acceptable performance . The stops were straight and drama-free, although they grew longer as the brakes and tires got hotter. After circling the skidpad at 0.74 g, we ran the Sierra EV through our figure-eight course, which evaluates a vehicle's ability to combine braking, handling, and acceleration in one test. It managed to achieve a best lap of 27.7 seconds at 0.65 g of average grip. That's a decent showing by pickup truck standards, although the various models of Ford F-150 Lightning we've tested were a little quicker and the latest Rivian R1Ts (with street tires) were a lot faster—although, to be fair to the Sierra EVs, the Rivians have as much in common with performance cars as they do with other trucks. Without question, the Silverado's range is its best feature, but that big battery takes its toll on performance. Nevertheless, we applaud GMC for building an electric Sierra that will travel as far as many gasoline pickup trucks (at least without a trailer) and outperform them on the dragstrip to boot. Sure, other electric pickups will show the Sierra their tailgates at the stoplight rally, but while they stop to recharge, the Sierra EV will just keep on running.

2024 GMC Sierra EV Denali Edition 1 Specifications PRICE BASE $99,495 PRICE AS TESTED $99,495 VEHICLE LAYOUT Front- and rear-motor, AWD, 5-pass, 4-door truck MOTOR TYPE Permanent-magnet electric POWER (SAE NET) N/A (fr), N/A (rr), 754 hp (comb) TORQUE (SAE NET) N/A (fr), N/A (rr), 785 lb-ft (comb) TRANSMISSIONS 1-speed automatic CURB WEIGHT (F/R DIST) 8,802 lb (51/49%) WHEELBASE 145.7 in LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT 233.2 x 83.8 x 78.7 in 0-60 MPH 4.2 sec QUARTER MILE 12.7 sec @ 110.7 mph BRAKING, 60-0 MPH 132 ft LATERAL ACCELERATION 0.74 g (avg) MT FIGURE EIGHT 27.7 sec @ 0.67 g (avg) EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON Not tested RANGE, EPA COMB/MT ROAD-TRIP 440 (mfr est)/422 miles ON SALE Now

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