GM shares glimpse of Chevy Silverado electric ute in off-road tests

General Motors CEO Mary Barra has shared a glimpse of the upcoming Silverado electric pickup, or ute, in the works by the US automaker’s Chevrolet division.

In post on her Twitter account on Thursday (US time), Barra shared the action shot of the Silverado “being put through its paces” at a proving ground, and hinted that they would be moving to on-road testing as early as August.

“Looking forward to seeing your photos of these trucks in the wild when they start testing on Detroit streets next month!” Barra wrote.

Chevrolet announced back in April 2021 that it was working on a Silverado electric ute that would be built at the company’s Factory Zero assembly plant in Detroit and Hamtramck, Michigan.

As The Driven has reported, the electric full-size pickup has been designed “from the ground up to be an EV,” making the most of the company’s Ultium Platform, the EV battery joint venture between General Motors and battery maker LG Chem that was announced in late-2019.

Chevrolet has said that the Silverado will have a range of nearly 650km on a full charge, according to General Motors’ own testing, and in August last year said the EV would offer four-wheel steering and optional 24-inch wheels on select models and trims.

As well as the Silverado, GM also has an electric Hummer ute in its line-up, a small first edition production of which was quickly snapped up in the second half of 2021.

For the next batch of all-electric Hummer EVs, GM last month lifted the ticket price by as much as $US6,250 (around $A9,000), citing rising commodity and shipping costs.

The Hummer will come with a “CrabWalk” mode that will allow the vehicle to drive diagonally to navigate difficult off-road sections.