The Chevy Silverado EV Trail Boss Takes The Electric Truck Off-Road, Where The Ford F-150 Lightning Can't Follow

GM says an off-road version is hot on the heels of its first two full-size EV pickups.

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General Motors has debuted its fully-electric truck, the 2024 Chevy Silverado EV. Not to be outdone by its rival, Ford, GM teased a standard model, a fleet model and an off-road model of its EV truck, which Ford has failed to do so far. While GM and Chevy didn’t provide details, they did confirm that the Chevrolet Silverado EV Trail Boss is on the way. And it looks good.

Given the shared platform of the Hummer EV and Silverado EV, I thought Chevy’s truck was going to be a bloated, over-styled mess. But the Silverado EV is a handsome EV truck that’s both distinctive and familiar. If GM CEO, Mary Barra, had announced this is an EV Avalanche, I’d have said, “Yep.”

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I think this especially applies to the Silverado EV Trail Boss. I mean, just look at the heavy cladding and the sail pillars. Obviously, the midgate, too. The whole lineup of trims Chevy plans for its EV truck will have a combination of those, but the EV Trail Boss buckles down on them. It sort of combines the exterior of the other trims GM confirmed, the RST First Edition and the WT.

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The EV Trail Boss looks like a WT, but with beefier tires, blacked-out wheels and a lift kit. It also trades much of the front-end paint for cladding, which is good since paint and chrome can get marred on the trail.

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Image for article titled The Chevy Silverado EV Trail Boss Takes The Electric Truck Off-Road, Where The Ford F-150 Lightning Can't Follow
Photo: Chevrolet

You could add protection to the front end of the truck, but adding weight to an EV comes at the cost of range. And Motor Trend reports that the EV Trail Boss will probably have less range than the standard model’s 400 miles, due to its all-terrain tires. The suspension will likely be dialed in for off-roading, also.

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It’s unclear what other off-road features the Trail Boss will have, and whether it will get the Hummer EV’s “Crabwalk” or “Extract Mode” feature. The former is four-wheel steering to move the Hummer EV diagonally around obstacles, while the latter raises the Hummer EV six inches using its air suspension.

Whatever price GM may sell the EV Trail Boss for, I hope it throws in way more than body cladding and a lift. The Silverado EV starts at $39,900 but that’s for the work truck, or WT. A fully loaded Silverado EV RST First Edition will cost $105,000. So price wise, the EV Trail Boss has a lot of wiggle room.

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