The GMC Sierra EV Denali just claimed the highest spot on Edmunds’ EV range testing leaderboard by traveling 507 miles on a single charge, beating the previous record holder, the Lucid Air Dream Edition by one mile. Edmunds says it was capable of achieve this range using real world parameters for its test. Moderately than simply get on the highway and cruise at 70-plus mph to measure a spread, Edmunds does a 60/40 mixture of city and highway driving while staying inside 5 mph of posted speed limits.
The result was a powerful showing by the Sierra EV Denali, also beating its platform mates, the Chevrolet Silverado EV and GMC Hummer EV. Using Edmunds’ leaderboard for comparison, the Sierra EV got 23 more miles of range than the Silverado EV and 117 more miles of range than the Hummer EV. It’s especially interesting as, in case you take a look at the EPA’s range rankings, the Sierra doesn’t have the longest figure. Per the EPA, the Max Range version of the Sierra has a 460-mile rating while the Silverado has an EPA rating of as much as 492 miles.
As impressive because the Sierra’s range is, all of it comes at the fee of efficiency, as Edmunds explained:
The Sierra EV Max Range Denali is our leader by way of electric range but not in the case of efficiency. In reality, it’s not even essentially the most efficient pickup we’ve tested. We measured consumption at 48.1 kWh/100 mi, placing the Sierra EV behind the Rivian R1T, Ford F-150 Lightning and Tesla Cybertruck. The Lucid Air did nearly the identical distance because the Sierra EV but was significantly more efficient, measuring 28.3 kWh/100 mi.
Unsurprisingly, the Sierra EV’s massive weight is one among the explanations it’s so inefficient. At 8,800 kilos, Edmunds says the Sierra EV is one among the heaviest vehicles it’s ever tested. That weight reared its ugly head in performance testing, too. The Sierra EV Denali needed 4.3 seconds to achieve 60 mph; while that’s not exactly slow, this thing has 760 horsepower and 785 pound feet of torque. Don’t count on having a cushty ride, either. The Sierra EV Denali is barely available with 24-inch wheels, and as we’ve mentioned before, this makes for a driving experience that’s in all places.
Equally massive is the value. The Sierra EV Denali Max Range starts at $100,990, including a $2,095 destination charge. With options, Edmunds’ Sierra EV Denali cost $102,085, some $5,590 greater than the Silverado EV they tested. Between the Sierra EV’s efficiency, price and large size, GM’s Ultium tech would make rather more sense in a much smaller pickup.
This Article First Appeared At jalopnik.com
