GMC’s third EV truck, for those who rely the Hummer and the Hummer SUV as two separate vehicles, is the Sierra EV. The posh pickup debuted as a $100K 2024 mannequin 1 final yr and received some modest upgrades for 2025. GMC flew us to the hills above Silicon Valley to test it out.
The GMC Sierra EV Denali shares the identical platform because the Chevy Silverado and, to a lesser extent, the GMC Hummer. Chief amongst these is the industry-leading 205+kWh battery pack. That’s round 50% greater than a lot of the competitors, making these autos the one recreation on the town relating to towing heavy stuff lengthy distances with out having to recharge typically. Add to that the power to make use of Tremendous Cruise whereas trailering, Energetic Air suspension, 4-wheel steering and the Sierra EV is your trailering EV king.
New for 2025, the Sierra EV Denali has a whopping 460-mile vary, up from 440 miles within the 2024 mannequin. GMC remains to be utilizing the identical battery packs, however has extra environment friendly motors and software program this time round. GMC can also be providing a 390-mile “Prolonged Vary” selection for $92K. Sierra EV AT4 and Elevation are anticipated to be accessible the primary half of 2025, pricing will likely be introduced nearer to launch.
Even with an enormous trailer, that’s nonetheless over 200+ miles of vary or round 3 hours of driving time. The Sierra EV Denali may also use all of these 350+kW charging stations and might add miles as quick as 100 miles in 10 minutes. We’ve seen charging speeds in extra of 360kW which for those who divide the 200kWh pack in half appears moderately quick 180kW for every 100kWh sub-pack. Charging from 10%-80% takes about 45 minutes in order that’s including 322 miles in a toilet/meals cease.
2025 GMC Sierra EV Denali expertise
GMC had a very nice course for us to take out to Half Moon Bay from Menlo Park with a stupendous cease at a mountain vineyard after which a horse farm for some aggressive trials.
The massive takeaway is that vary anxiousness is non-existent if you begin the day with 460 miles, even when driving a lot of the day over mountains. Actually, I’d say that 460 miles is conservative and even driving to LAX from San Francisco is feasible in keeping with the Google-powered navigation system. This 760 horsepower and 785 lb-ft of torque in Max Energy mode automobile goes 0-60 in 4.5 seconds as properly. Even with an enormous trailer, getting on the freeway is straightforward. Actually, it’s straightforward to overlook you’re even trailering, particularly with the Supercruise.
Whereas we have been doing the Crab Stroll time trials and seeing how a lot stuff we might stuff into the MultiPro MidGate expandable mattress vehicles, I couldn’t get my thoughts off of the Airstream camper show that was absolutely powered by the Sierra EV and will keep that means for days and even weeks. I’d suggest that each GMC seller within the nation get a camper to energy since it is a nice promoting level of this automobile and, I assume, the Hummer too.
Tenting is perhaps the most important benefit of the 205kWh battery pack. Certain you may tow a lot additional however you may also keep tenting for for much longer with that massive battery pack and 30A/240V output. I think about individuals who don’t wish to be tied to a powered tenting web site would love this feature. Add some photo voltaic and you actually might reside off grid perpetually with this factor.
And talking of energy, GM confirmed off its GM Power PowerBank which is the corporate’s reply to Tesla’s Powerwall system. It’s accessible now and will be a part of the Sierra buy.
The one factor I had an issue with was the switchover time when the ability went out, which was about 4-5 seconds. My Powerwall system, when it goes off Grid/Islanding, is sort of instantaneous to the purpose the place I don’t even discover it and clocks and computer systems don’t even reset. GM stated it’s engaged on decreasing the time to change over to off-grid when the ability goes out however didn’t make any guarantees that an instantaneous switchover could be doable.
The wonderful thing about this technique is that the monster 205kWh battery pack contained in the Sierra is built-in and might present energy for weeks. Actually, you would present energy perpetually for those who took the truck to a quick charger each week or so and introduced it again to energy the home and recharge the batteries. Photo voltaic integration can also be doable however wasn’t demonstrated.
Electrek’s take:
The spec sheet for the GMC Sierra EV Denali is fairly spectacular:
- 760 horsepower and 785 lb-ft of torque in Max Energy mode (4.5 sec 0-60)
- 800 Volt DC public quick charging-capable at as much as 350kW, enabling as much as 100 miles of vary in roughly 10 minutes
- Air Journey Adaptive Suspension, which supplies the power to lift or decrease the truck by about 2 inches, whereas additionally providing a extra comfy journey
- The MultiPro MidGate expandable mattress, which gives room for hauling objects practically 11 ft in size, whereas nonetheless leaving room for a rear-seat passenger
- Obtainable 10,500 kilos max towing
Certain it’s a luxurious model of the Chevy Sierra however if you’re already dropping $70+okay on a 205kWh pickup truck you may as properly get air suspension, 4-wheel steering/crabwalk and a stunning luxurious inside for 20% extra.
My solely grievance about this factor could be that you would most likely construct 3-4 EVs or 10 PHEVs with this battery and that is perhaps a little bit higher for the planet. The shortage of Carplay/Android Auto is sort of totally mitigated by the inclusion of most apps I take advantage of (Spotify, Google Maps, and many others).
My large takeaway from this journey was that the top of pickup truck luxurious is that this Sierra EV Denali. Inside and outside, it has top-rated specs and efficiency. Nothing comes near that 205kWh battery pack, which, for vary and powering electrical, means the one competitors are GMC’s sister autos, the Silverado and Hummer EV.
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