The Chevy Silverado EV is one of the best electric trucks ever built, so why is nobody buying it

General Motors sold roughly 14,000 Chevrolet Silverado EVs in the United States and Canada last year, according to GM Authority sales data. The petrol-powered Silverado moves more than ten times that volume in a single quarter. That gap, between what reviewers call one of the best electric trucks on the market and what buyers are actually willing to purchase, captures the central problem facing the American EV truck segment.

The numbers have only gotten worse. Silverado EV sales fell 41 percent year over year in the first quarter of 2026, and GM’s broader EV demand continued to decline into the second quarter. The automaker indefinitely suspended development of its next-generation full-size electric truck and SUV programme earlier this year, and took roughly eight billion dollars in EV-related charges during 2025, including writedowns tied to scrapped production plans and cancelled battery contracts.

On paper, the Silverado EV should be a compelling product. The LT Extended Range trim delivers an estimated 410 miles on a full charge from a 205 kilowatt-hour battery pack, the largest in any production pickup. It comes with GM’s Super Cruise hands-free driving system, a Google-powered infotainment setup, and a list price of roughly $71,000, only about $5,000 above the average transaction price for a full-size pickup, according to CEIC data cited by TechCrunch.

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The problem is what happens when the truck works like a truck. Towing cuts range by roughly 60 percent, which means a fully loaded Silverado EV might manage around 160 miles before needing a charger. According to Strategic Vision survey data, 75 percent of truck owners tow at most once a year, so for most buyers the penalty is tolerable, but for those who haul regularly it remains a dealbreaker.

Price is the other barrier. The $71,000 LT Extended Range is close to the petrol average, but GM also offers an LT Max Range that costs roughly $20,000 more and adds just 68 miles. At that level, the Silverado EV competes with luxury SUVs rather than work trucks, and the federal tax credit that once softened the blow has expired.

GM is betting that its new lithium-manganese-rich battery chemistry will cut at least $6,000 from battery costs while preserving most of the range, but LMR cells are not expected in trucks until 2028. The Ford F-150 Lightning faces the same cost and range dynamic, and Ram’s electric truck has been delayed repeatedly. The American pickup market generates hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue, but the electric versions remain a rounding error in the sales column, waiting for the cost curve to catch up with the engineering.