{"id":33704,"date":"2024-11-21T18:00:15","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T22:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=33704"},"modified":"2024-11-21T18:00:15","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T22:00:15","slug":"payne-gmc-sierra-denali-ev-goes-toe-to-v8-with-heavyweight-champ-sierra-denali-ice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2024\/11\/payne-gmc-sierra-denali-ev-goes-toe-to-v8-with-heavyweight-champ-sierra-denali-ice","title":{"rendered":"Payne: GMC Sierra Denali EV goes toe-to-V8 with heavyweight champ, Sierra Denali ICE"},"content":{"rendered":"

Woodside, California<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 Forget Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul. The heavyweight fight to watch is GMC Sierra Denali Ultimate vs GMC Sierra Denali EV.<\/p>\n

That’s right, the gold-studded GMC brothers are facing off in a V-8 vs. battery death match.<\/p>\n

Along with Honda, General Motors Co. is the most committed legacy automaker to an electric future. It even says it will beat Honda there by 2035. So confident is GM of its transition to electron power that it isn’t testing the EV waters with a separate EV model line \u2014 think Honda 0 Series or Hyundai Ioniq or Volkswagen ID.<\/p>\n

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The 2025 GMC Sierra Denali EV starts at just over $91k.<\/em><\/div>\n
Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/div>\n

No, the General is hitting the EV front lines with battery-powered versions of ICE badges like the Chevy Equinox, Silverado, Blazer and GMC Sierra. Heck, it’s ditching its entire Cadillac lineup for EVs \u2014 even accelerating the demise of its popular ICE ute, the XT4.<\/p>\n

So far the EVs have struggled to better their ICE peers \u2014 take the Equinox EV and ICE I recently tested back-to-back with the EV giving up a whopping 148 miles of range to the ICE while having to call in $7,500 government subsidies to make up for its $5,000-more-expensive sticker price. And that taxpayer sugar is in political peril with a new sheriff in D.C.<\/p>\n

The GMC heavyweights, meanwhile, are a straight fight. Sure, the $91,995 Denali EV is five grand more expensive than the $86,995 Denali ICE, but that’s pocket change when we’re talking near-six figure automobiles.<\/p>\n

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The 2025 GMC Sierra Denali EV features 760 horsepower.<\/em><\/div>\n
Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

GMC knows, like Porsche, that EVs are a luxury niche, so its first electric is the top-line Denali trim. Porsche did the same for its first EV with the Taycan sedan EV at the same price point as its Panamera sedan ICE.<\/p>\n

And for the extra $5K, the Sierra EV comes loaded with tools you won’t find the in the Sierra ICE tool box.<\/p>\n

OK, Payne, since this is a heavyweight fight, let’s talk some smack. Better tools than the Sierra Denali ICE\u2019s, ferocious, growling, 420-horsepower, 6.2-liter V-8? Seriously? The same small-block V-8 as in the Corvette C8?<\/em><\/p>\n

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The 2025 GMC Sierra Denali EV can tow up to 10,500 pounds – more than a Denali Ultimate ICE.<\/em><\/div>\n
Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/div>\n
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Oh, yes. On California Route 35, I floored the Sierra EV throttle and flattened my face. The 760 horsepower from the 205-kWh battery came on like a light bulb and I hit 60 mph in just 4.5 seconds, a second quicker than the Denali V-8.<\/p>\n

Holy Mother of Pearl. But, dude, a 205-kWh battery? That must weigh as much as the Titanic! No way it’ll stay with the 5,586-pound Denali ICE.<\/em><\/p>\n

Yeah, the Denali EV weighs, ahem, 8,960 pounds \u2014 a shocking number for a brand known to make the lightest-weight, best-engineered pickup chassis on the planet.<\/p>\n

But with all that weight down low plus four-wheel-steer (another Sierra EV-exclusive tool), the Denali EV was surprisingly nimble through the Route 35 twisties. I even had some fun with an Alfa 4C that came up behind me. I would have loved to see the look on the driver\u2019s face when I came off corners like a rocket ship.<\/p>\n

Speaking of that carbon-fiber Alfa 4C, the Denali ICE has a carbon-fiber bed. How’s that for a sharp punch?<\/em><\/p>\n

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A panoramic sunroof is standard on the 2025 GMC Sierra Denali EV.<\/em><\/div>\n
Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Punch absorbed, and right back \u2018atcha with another haymaker. The Denali EV brings the most unique bed in large trucks: a midgate. I dropped the midgate behind the second row seats, stored the rear window in it and promptly opened another three feet of length to the standard, 5-foot-11-inch bed.<\/p>\n

I grabbed a kayak, dropped the MultiPro tailgate in back and walked up the steps into the bed. I secured the kayak \u2014 its nose extending into the cabin \u2014 then stored my luggage in the frunk where the engine used to be. I activated Super Cruise when I hit the Route 101 freeway so I could drive hands-free.<\/p>\n

Dragging a 5,500-pound trailer behind me like it was a matchbox, I merged onto the freeway with authority. Did I mention the EV has 300 pound-feet more torque than the Denali V-8 and can tow more weight?<\/p>\n

Holy Mother of Pearl ! But I repeat myself. Frunks, midgates, and Denali EV has the same MultiPro gate and Super Cruise as the Denali ICE?!<\/em><\/p>\n

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Where the engine would be in an iCE vehicle, the 2025 GMC Sierra Denali EV adds frunk storage.<\/em><\/div>\n
Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Of course. It’s a Denali, a luxury suite on wheels. And with a Sierra-first: 24-inch wheels, I might add. The interior is exquisite just like the Denali Ultimate ICE: tasteful materials, jumbotron screen, head-up display, open-pore wood trim, even the longitude\/latitude of Mt. Denali etched in the dash.<\/p>\n