Chevrolet’s Electric Truck Is Quicker Than Some Camaro SS Models
Various automakers have been rolling out electric trucks for a couple of years now. As you’d expect, a lot of enthusiasts haven’t really taken to them. They seem like the absolute antithesis of what a proper gearhead would want, and you’d be right in a lot of respects. One electric pick-up truck offering, though, is hiding some serious performance.
Electric Pick-Up Trucks Are Becoming Part Of The Next Wave Of Unassuming Sleepers
Electric pick-up trucks aren’t the kind of vehicles you’d expect to be Sleeper Cars. But, with the way they’re developing, they are becoming that way. The instant torque from electric motors and the substantial power available from dual-motor all-wheel drive setups have ended up semi-accidentally creating vehicles that can rival sports cars or even supercars in a straight line. That trend has carried over into this early generation of mass-production electric pick-ups, thanks to them using all the same battery and motor technology.
They’re Starting To Threaten The Performance Of Enthusiast Favorites
The performance figures of these electric pick-up trucks are so good, in fact, that they’re starting to threaten traditional enthusiast favorites. This includes cars like the (sadly no longer produced) Chevrolet Camaro SS. The final generation of the Camaro SS was considered as being one of the best old-school sports cars you could get on the market. But, sadly, times have changed. The Ford Mustang is the only old-school V8 muscle car still left, and if the truck we’re about to talk about has anything to say, they’re about to make these cars genuinely look slow.
The Chevrolet Silverado EV RST Is An Electric Pick-Up Truck That Can Match A Camaro SS On Pace
You don’t hear a lot of people talking about the Chevrolet Silverado EV RST when electric pick-up trucks get mentioned. That might be because it’s one of the least flashy. It looks like a fairly normal truck. In fact, it could easily blend in with more conventional trucks on the roads! But, it’s really impressive in other ways. Not only does the Silverado EV have an incredibly long range for an electric truck, but the RST has performance that puts it on par with a Camaro SS in a straight-line sprint. The Silverado EV RST has a 0-60 mph time of just 4.1 seconds in Wide Open Watts (WOW) mode. That makes it as fast as both the manual and automatic versions of the final-generation Chevrolet Camaro SS in the same sprint. Its 1/4 mile time is also very close to the Camaro SS’s – the Silverado EV RST manages a 12.6 second 1/4 mile at 111 mph, while the manual and automatic Camaro SSs manage it in 12.4 seconds at 116 mph and 115.8 mph, respectively.
The Chevrolet Silverado EV RST has that much performance thanks to being based on the General Motors Ultium platform. This gives it two electric motors (one per axle in an all-wheel drive format) that generate a lot of power working together. The RST has a claimed output of 664 horsepower and 780 lb-ft of torque. That’s over 100 horsepower and over 300 lb-ft of torque more than the final-generation Camaro SS. When you see those numbers, it gets a lot less surprising that this truck is as fast as it is.
Other Electric Pick-Up Trucks On Sale In North America Have Even Crazier Levels Of Performance
The Chevrolet Silverado EV RST is far from the fastest electric pick-up truck on sale in North America, too. Some other options in this expanding niche have confirmed performance figures that not only leave sports cars in the dust in a straight line, but can also challenge the acceleration of some proper supercars.
The Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum boasts a 0-60 mph time of 4 seconds and a 1/4 mile time of 12.7 seconds at 107 mph. The GMC Hummer EV, which uses the same Ultium platform as the Chevrolet Silverado EV RST, is capable of a 0-60 mph time of 3.3 seconds and a 1/4 mile time of 11.9 seconds at 106 mph in Watts To Freedom (WTF) mode. The quad-motor variant of the Rivian R1T has also been recorded as a remarkable performer, with a 0-60 mph time of just 2.6 seconds and a 1/4 mile time of 10.6 seconds at 128 mph. The Tesla Cybertruck also deserves mention: in its quickest Cyberbeast variant, it has been measured at a 0-60 mph time of 2.6 seconds and a 1/4 mile time of 11 seconds at 119 mph.
Does that terrify you a little? It should. These electric pick-up trucks are proving that they can consistently match and beat proper internal combustion sports cars in a straight line. It’s getting to the point of debating whether you would buy something like a Chevrolet Camaro SS or a Ford Mustang Dark Horse, when you could buy one of these electric pick-ups and get similar (or better) straight-line performance with much better utility and daily running costs.
An Electric Pick-Up Truck Can Never Match The Appeal Of Good Old-Fashioned V8 Muscle
While these electric pick-up trucks are phenomenally fast, they are just not the same as a traditional V8 sports car or muscle truck. There’s a reason why these old-school V8 machines are so loved. They’re much more characterful than an electric equivalent. That does include the noise, but it also includes their power delivery and how they look. More traditional muscle trucks tend to have more conventional styling, as opposed to some of the choices made for electric pick-up trucks. The Tesla Cybertruck, with its angular and aggressive lines, is one that’s often singled out for looking ugly compared to more conventional gas-powered trucks.
If You Just Want Performance, A Used V8 Muscle Truck Is Better Value For Money
As well as being more fun and characterful than electric pick-up trucks, more old-school V8 muscle trucks are better value for money. A brand-new Chevrolet Silverado EV RST can cost as much as $108,445 fully loaded. For much less money than that, you can have a celebrated V8 muscle truck from the used market. The original Ford F-150 SVT Raptor is worth around $38,273, dropping it into near-bargain territory for the performance and capability it has. The Ram TRX also comes in significantly under the price of a fully-loaded Chevrolet Silverado EV RST, at around $84,439. That’s not to mention that it’s returning for 2027, with a 777 hp supercharged V8 that makes it the most powerful gas-powered truck in the world. If your main concern really is performance, you’ll be much more satisfied with going for one of these used options.
Sources: Chevrolet, GMC, Ford, Tesla, Classic.com, Ram Trucks
Related posts
Latest Post
No Comments