New York (awp / dpa) – The American manufacturer General Motors on Wednesday unveiled the electric version of its best-selling pickup, the Chevrolet Silverado EV, thus boosting the race for electrification a little more in this segment of large vehicles .
Presented at the big tech show in Las Vegas, it 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 with more options dubbed RST First Edition at $ 105,000, in production at the end of 2023.
Both will have a range of around 400 miles (644 km) on a full charge and may, with a fast-charge station, be able to store enough energy in 10 minutes to cover 100 miles (161 km).
The group, which also recently offers an electric Hummer, plans to then launch other versions at intermediate prices.
“It is very encouraging to see that GM is deliberately thinking both about its business and home customers, which will help achieve the high volumes needed both for the company to make money and to drive real change in the business. adoption of electric vehicles, “noted Jessica Caldwell of specialist firm Edmunds, in a note.
The vehicle will hit an already busy market, starting with the electric version of Ford’s popular pickup, the F-150, which is due to debut in the spring at a base price of around $ 40,000.
The start-up Rivian began production last September of its first pick-ups intended for sale, called R1T. Tesla, for its part, presented a “cybertruck” which was initially to be launched at the end of 2021 but has since been postponed, without a specific date.
The Chevrolet Silverado EV is one of the elements of a broad shift towards electric which has been initiated by GM in recent years.
Group boss Mary Barra also announced on Wednesday a partnership with the American supermarket giant Walmart, which has reserved 5,000 electric utility vehicles with its BrightDrop subsidiary in order to develop its delivery service.
The carrier FedEx, which had been the first customer of this new subsidiary when it was launched in January 2021, for its part placed an option on 2,000 delivery vehicles in addition to the 500 already reserved last year.
The first BrightDrop EV600 pickup trucks were delivered to FedEx in December.
afp / rp