GMC Sierra EV review

There isn’t much to write home about in terms of how the GMC Sierra EV feels on the road. Similar to the GM vehicles that share its hardware like Hummer EV and Cadillac Escalade IQ, the hefty platform is inherently quite stable, so it pretty much absorbs any road feel, for better or for worse.

It’s perfect for the Escalade, whose job it is to provide maximum comfort, but less so for something like the Sierra which is meant to be put to heavier use and would benefit for a more communicative base.

You bring up the weight a whole lot.

We know, we’re running out of ways to say “it’s heavy” but there’s really no getting around it. For the most part, it’s not really an issue most of the time you’re driving it until it suddenly is. Meaning that the Sierra isn’t awkward or lumbering – in fact the steering is quite dialed in – when it comes to city driving or highway cruising, but it's sure there when quick stops and quicker starts are called for.

To expand on its acceleration a bit more, this EV’s as quick as any other when it comes to laying down power in an instant, it just can’t get around the physics. We’re talking seconds here but after that initial punch, you can feel the Sierra’s rate of acceleration scrub off almost immediately as its speed continues to increase.

And off the road?

If the Sierra EV is being put to work on a farm or charged with traversing a wooded path, it’s more than capable. An off-road mode dials in the wheel slip and inputs for more control at low speeds, as well as making the rear steering more aggressive for tighter turns.

If you find yourself in a position where the Sierra needs to travel gingerly, the AT4 trim’s terrain mode has that covered. We’re talking precise, one-pedal off-road driving for super-careful maneuvers at single-digit speeds.

Again, though, it’s heavy. Encounter loose ground or a boggy patch of mud and the Sierra is likely to park itself thoroughly within the earth. Towing out something this substantial would probably require, well, another Sierra.