Electric GMC Sierra cometh: 440-mile range, crab-walk capability, 17-inch screen

Posted by Talbot Payne on April 16, 2024

The frunky, ginormous GMC Sierra EV will be crab-walking your way this summer with 440 miles of range.

Sierra EV is the premium pickup brand’s second entry in the electric pickup space following the brand’s 2022 Hummer moonshot. The GMC is for buyers who might shy from the military-inspired Hummer’s blingtastic personality for a more traditional GMC wardrobe — yet want to be a first adopter on the route to General Motors Co.’s all-electric future.

Like the Hummer EV Edition 1, Sierra EV will debut in loaded, top-drawer Denali Edition 1 trim featuring tricks like all-wheel-steer (for side-to-side crab-walking), SuperCruise driver-assist, air suspension and 200 kWh of battery giddyap.

The 2024 GMC Sierra EV can add 100 miles of charge in 10 minutes with its 800-volt platform.
GM, GM

“Denali has been an industry icon for 25 years and the Sierra EV Denali Edition 1 provides customers an exclusive opportunity to be a part of the next chapter,” said GMC Global VP Duncan Aldred. “As a limited-run exclusive trim for launch, the Edition 1 is truly the Denali of EVs.”

Sierra EV is instantly distinguishable from its internal combustion engine-powered counterpart by its closed face — a striking contrast to the Sierra’s typical handsome grilles. If that robs character, then the bold, blocky EV adds back a sci-fi element with three, perimeter-fascia light bars that double as battery indicators while charging. Headlights are subtle and positioned low on the bumper.

Pop the hood, and . . . a massive front trunk (frunk) is revealed where the engine would be in an ICE truck. The frunk includes a 120-volt outlet and a pair of drain plugs.

The GMC Sierra EV Denali Edition 1 with the power-operated hood open, showcasing the storage in the front eTrunk. GM, GM

Following its sister pickup, the Silverado EV, Sierra EV boasts a MultiPro midgate (shades of the ol’ Chevy Avalanche) that disappears to allow nine feet of storage from the rear cabin to GMC’s signature MultiPro Tailgate’s load-stop feature out back. Also in the bed, the EV Denali Edition 1’s Power Station Pro feature allows the pickup to be used as a mobile power source for, say, your home. The available Ultium Power Bar offers up to 10 outlets that can help power tools at a worksite or cooking accessories at a tailgate party.

Sierra has been delayed from its early 2024 launch, but buyers will be rewarded for their patience with a GM-estimated 440 miles of range (40 more than initial estimates), 10,000-pound towing (500 more than initial estimates) and 1,450 pounds of payload capacity (150 more).

If those numbers have inflated, the Sierra EV’s price has deflated from an initial six-fire hit of $108,695 to the new $99,495 starting price.

The all-new MultiPro Midgate expands the usable bed space up to 10 feet, 10 inches on the GMC Sierra EV Denali Edition 1, which can help accommodate longer items like a canoe. GM Design, GM

Available SuperCruise, the industry’s leading hands-free driver-assist tech, will also show increased capability with the ability to navigate 750,000 miles of roads (up from 400,00 in 2022) in the United States and Canada by the end of 2025.

Sierra EV sits on the same, heavy, 800-volt Utium battery platform as Hummer and Silverado. That translates into as much as a 350 kW recharge rate on a fast charger (100 miles in 10 minutes), but also an asphalt-crunching weight of an expected 9,000 pounds.

For all the pickup’s heft, Sierra’s four-wheel-steer feature is designed to make the beast feel smaller in parking lots by allowing for a sharper turning radius. Crabwalk is fun to show off at the country club, too.

With more room to maneuver, the GMC can snap your head back with an estimated 754 horsepower and 785 pound-feet of torque in Max Power mode. That will get you to 60 mph in under 4.5 seconds — or about the same as an all-wheel-drive Tesla Model Y weighing half as much. Want more? Brand halo Hummer EV offers 1,000 horsepower and will skip to 60 mph in a dizzying 3 seconds in Watts to Freedom Mode (WTF Mode, as GMC likes to call it).

Interior shot of the GMC Sierra EV Denali Edition 1 showing the first application of a 16.8-inch-diagonal, portrait-orientation freeform infotainment touch screen. GM, GM

True to its premium badge, Sierra EV will feature Air Ride Adaptive Suspension for comfy trips and 2 inches of adjustability up or down.

Inside, the Sierra EV Denali Edition 1 is a rolling boardroom with pore wood and metal trim. A giant, Tesla-like, 16.8-inch display screen dominates the console — though truckers will appreciate the un-Telsa-like volume knob and toggle control switches. A digital, 11-inch instrument cluster and a head-up display is in front of the driver — who sits below a fixed panoramic sunroof.

After the EV Denali Edition 1’s summer debut, less-expensive models will follow in 2025 including an off-road-oriented AT4 model and more affordable (think $50k) Elevation trim.

From left to right: 2025 GMC Sierra EV Elevation, 2025 GMC Sierra EV AT4, 2024 GMC Sierra EV Denali Edition 1.GM, GM

“The 2024 Sierra EV Denali Edition 1 is just the beginning,” said Aldred. “From the Hummer EV supertruck to the first-ever Sierra EV, GMC continues to write the next chapter in its future as a premium truck and SUV brand.”

Reservations to order the Sierra EV Denali Edition 1 are now open.

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.

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