GM's Electric Silverado Vs. Ford's F-150 Lightning: Which Is The Better Electric Truck?

General Motors Co GM last week revealed a key product that will put it in a definitive head-to-head clash with legacy rival Ford Motor Co F in the full-size electric pickup truck category that is expected to explode further with the entry of Tesla Inc’s TSLA Cybertruck and Rivian Automotive Inc’s RIVN R1T

The head-on clash between the legacy rivals comes with a twist as the GM owned Chevrolet Silverado electric goes on sale next year, starting with the more expensive, fully-loaded version first, while Ford’s F-150 Lightningrevealed last year — will begin deliveries in the spring. 

Here’s how the two legacy rivals stack up in the full-size electric pickup space in the key departments. 

Pricing: The base variant of both the electric Silverado and the F-150 Lightning are priced just below $40,000. Though Ford’s deliveries will begin this year while GM’s base variant delivery is expected in 2024. 

A fully-loaded Silverado RST First Edition model will go on sale at $105,000 beginning next year. The more affordable options in between the base and the fully-loaded electric Silverado variants will be priced around the $50,000, $60,000, $70,000, and $80,000 price points, as per GM. 

In contrast, a fully-loaded F-150 Lightning, the most expensive variant, will be priced at around $90,000.

Pre-orders And Booking: Ford opened the order bank last week and said it plans to ramp up to about “80,000 units of production for the 2023 model year” and then to a run-rate of 150,000 units per year by the mid-2023 calendar year. 

GM claims the fully-loaded electric Silverado sold out in minutes after reservations opened on Thursday.   

See Also: GM's Silverado EV's Fully-Loaded, Top Variant Sold Out In Minutes, Says CEO

Range And Charging: Range and towing could be a make-or break deal for a full-sized pickup priced at these levels. Chevy claims the electric Silverado will have range of up to 400 miles for the bigger-battery. Ford has two different battery options for the Lightning with an estimated range of 230 miles and 300 miles. 

Power And Torque: The Electric Silverado’s first editions will have 664 horsepower and 780 foot-pounds of torque, which is 101 horsepower and five pounds per feet more than the most expensive variant of the Lightning. 

The later variants of the Silverado electric will have about 510 horsepower compared to Lightning’s 426 horsepower. In terms of torque, the more affordable Lightning variants will have a higher torque, though. 

Performance: As per GM, the RST and WT feature public DC fast charging capabilities of up to 350kW enabling about 100 miles of range to be added in 10 minutes.  The Silverado EV’s PowerBase charging system offers up to 10 outlets, to provide a total of 10.2kW of all-electric power. The Silverado has 10.2 kilowatts of power and 10 outlets, while Lightning has up to 9.6 kilowatts. 

See Also: Why Analyst Sees GM's All-Electric Silverado Launch On Wednesday As A 'Renaissance' Moment For Legacy Automaker

Why It Matters: America’s love for bigger trucks is well known, and both GM and Ford are betting on the popularity of its iconic, best-selling and most profitable models to carry forward that success to electric vehicle options as well. 

In 2021, the total gas-powered Silverado pickups alone contributed 24% of GM’s total sales volumes, while the F-series trucks contributed about 40% of Ford’s full-year volumes. 

Price Action: GM shares closed about 1% lower at $62.3 a share on Friday. While, Ford stock closed at 24.44 on Friday, down a mere 0.04%.

Photo: Courtesy of Automotive Rhythms on Flickr

Posted In: News
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