GM confirms EV pick-up

General Motors has confirmed it will produce a full-size electric pick-up truck, less than two weeks after it broke off alliance talks with Rivian and Ford instead invested $700 million with the EV start-up.

The announcement, made by CEO Mary Barra in a media conference call to announce the company’s first-quarter financial results earlier this week, means GM – via either its Chevrolet or GMC brands – will offer a battery-powered rival for the electric F-150 promised by Ford as well as battery-powered pick-ups from US EV-makers Rivian and Tesla.

Tesla boss Elon Musk has promised to reveal its first ute this year, while Rivian has told carsales.com.au it could sell its R1T pick-up in Australia as soon as 2021.

“GM has an industry-leading truck franchise and industry-leading electrification capabilities,” said Barra.

“I assure you we will not cede our leadership on either front. We intend to create an all-electric future that includes a complete range of EVs, including full-size pick-ups.”

GM has the Chevrolet Bolt and Volt electric cars, neither of which will be sold in Australia, and in March announced plans to produce a new Chevy EV based on a version of the Bolt architecture and likely to be an SUV. Cadillac will be GM’s lead brand for EVs, starting with an electric SUV in 2022.

However, GM is yet to release any electric crossovers, SUVs or trucks, and Barra would not put a timeline on the company’s first electric pick-up, saying GM would share more “when competitively appropriate”.

To be competitive with Rivian’s upcoming four-motor R1T, GM’s EV pick-up would need to hit 100km/h in a little over three seconds and offer a driving range of about 600km.

It’s unclear whether GM’s full-size electric hay-hauler will be a clean-sheet design or based on the Chevrolet Silverado, the all-new MY19 1500 version of which was revealed in December 2017 and went on sale in the US in late 2018.

GM this week said its “solid” Q1 2019 financial result was in large part due to the success of its all-new full-size crew-cab pick-up truck range, the average transaction price of which was up $US5800 over the outgoing models.

Chevrolet recently revealed its latest heavy-duty Silverado pick-up range led by the all-new 2500 HD (pictured), which in the US will soon replace the MY18 Silverado 2500 and 3500 HD models currently converted to right-hand drive and sold in Australia by Holden Special Vehicles.

Asked for a local ETA for any of Chevrolet’s latest Silverado models, HSV spokesman Damon Paull told carsales.com.au: “[HSV is] Thoroughly engrossed in promoting and selling our MY18 range”.

While Ford and Nissan have previously expressed interest in turning the top-selling F Series and Titan into global models, GM has said the chances of a factory-RHD Silverado are “very slim” and the same is likely for RAM trucks and the Toyota Tundra.

As with American Special Vehicles and its RAM pick-ups, which are also converted to RHD by HSV in Melbourne, HSV is currently selling every Silverado it can ‘remanufacture’.

So while preliminary work on RHD conversion of the MY19 Silverado is known to have been done it’s unlikely we’ll see Chevrolet’s latest pick-up – let alone an all-electric ute from GM in any form – any time soon in Australia.