GMC Sierra EV review

It’s the Sierra EV, the Hummer-spawned electric pickup General Motors has ginned up to rival the likes of the Ford F-150 Lightning, the Rivian R1T and, well, that’s it, really. The young segment is thin on any serious offerings, with automakers struggling with the ‘why’ as much as the ‘how’. Ford focuses on folks looking for a work truck while Rivian’s got the techy status-seekers covered, so where does the Sierra EV slot in? Frankly, wherever it can fit.

Sure is a big’un.

You’re not kidding. Coming in at nearly 9,000lbs and 19.45ft (almost 6m) long, the mighty Sierra is as expansive as the geological mass it’s named after. And it is mighty. It has to be, if only to just get itself around.

What kind of power are we talking about?

The three flavors of Sierra EV are configured with three battery sizes, all of which connect to a dual motor setup – one for the front and back – which dictate the power on offer. The good-better-best structure for these batteries is here called the 119kWh standard, 170kWh extended, and the205 kWh max range. Good? Let’s continue.

The entry-level Elevation trim has 645hp while the mid-tier AT4 model has either 625 or 725hp on tap, and the Denali tops out at 760hp with the max range battery. Available torque between the models and battery configurations is between 765 to 785lb ft.

All the while, the Sierra EV has an estimated range of 410 miles at a minimum, while GM’s best guess at maximum range is 478. Either way you slice it, that’s a hefty handful of miles.

We’re guessing all the usual caveats come with this?

Oh of course. Drive like mad, tow a house, etc, and you’ll see a drop-off, but the ample amount of range here means it can take the hit. We started our day in an AT4 with a max range battery partially charged to around 80 percent, giving us about 380 miles to play with. By the end of the day, driving over 120 miles to and from our off-roading spot and running it through several loops with the AC blasting the whole time… we only used 15 percent of our supply.

How’s things behind the wheel?

Fairly comfortable, if a little disconnected. Models like the AT4 eschew the air suspension option in favor of a more durable conventional coil setup, and you’re not left feeling like you’re missing out. A massive amount of power on demand means the Sierra is quick to respond to inputs. Engage max power and the burly truck will punch forward fast enough to send a headrest into a passenger’s melon with the force of a boxing champ. That said, the sheer weight of the truck catches up just as fast, dragging it down almost as soon as it gets going.

Road driving is otherwise unobtrusive, save for the visibility which is an unavoidable issue with the mammoth pickup. Thankfully the Sierra is sorted out with a number of cameras and sensors to assist in navigating the world immediately surrounding you. Both on the road and off, rear-wheel steering works mechanical magic to seemingly bend the car around objects, and of course it’s pre-packaged with Super Cruise for hands-free highway riding.

What about off-road?

GM is bringing the off-road-ready AT4 line to the Sierra EV this year, so that means this is the truckiest version available for dirty excursions. Coil suspension, four-wheel steering and a ‘terrain’ drive mode that’s essentially one-pedal driving for rock-crawling. Given its weight, taking surface conditions into account is more critical than ever lest it sink into the soil, forever entrenched or push loose earth away from underneath it.

“But Top Gear,” you whine, “surely heavy vehicles have traveled off-road before, why so snarky here?” Because the vehicles you’re thinking of often have big knobby wheels or tank treads. This does not.

What other neat tricks?

To quickly rattle off a few, there’s the maximum towing capacity of 12,300lbs, 800 volt DC fast charging which means it can regain 100 miles of range in just 10 minutes on the right charger, vehicle-to-home charging if needed, and a nifty midgate that opens up to extend the cargo space to almost 11 feet. Oh and crabwalk! It can walk like a crab. Sort of.

The Sierra EV is an impressive machine manifested from the ambitious exercise of overlapping two genres of vehicles that are often at opposition. GMC’s take supplies the tech, capability and range demanded by both EV and truck nuts (not those truck nuts) rather successfully, but even after experiencing it for ourselves, we’re still chewing on if it was worth the effort.

In short, it’s constantly trying to get around itself in one way or another before it can be the thing you need it to be. While the models with the coil suspension provide much-needed ruggedness and reliability to tackle its truck duties, its weight is a critical factor in where you plan to take it. Additionally, its gluttonous amount of miles is what you’d expect given you’re carrying around a slab of batteries, you just can’t help but wonder if there was a better way to achieve the same results.

Still, it does what GMC says it will do, for whomever that may be.