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While General Motors is leading the charge on new battery technology for electric vehicles, it is actually the only manufacturer that offers no form of hybrid pickup trucks. That said, GM used to offer a hybrid version of both its Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500.

Does GM make a hybrid pickup truck?

If you have your heart set on a hybrid Chevy Silverado or GMC Sierra, you’re going to have to buy used. GM no longer offers a hybrid pickup truck. And with multiple fully-electric GMC and Chevrolet trucks on the horizon, there’s a chance that General Motors will never offer a hybrid electric pickup again.

Promo photo of General Motors most recent hybrid pickup truck, the 2012 Chevrolet Silverado.
2012 Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid | General Motors

General Motors was one of the first manufacturers to offer a hybrid pickup truck. In 2004 it rolled out a “mild hybrid” version of its GMC Sierra 1500 and Chevy Silverado 1500. This truck has a 5.3-liter V8 and CVT transmission with a small electric motor integrated into its flywheel. It was targeted at fleet buyers and didn’t offer quick enough acceleration for most other drivers.

By 2009, General Motors released a second generation of its hybrid Sierra and Silverado 1500 pickup trucks. This hybrid bumped the engine up to a 6.0-liter V8 to improve acceleration. But GM’s hybrid truck was never popular enough to continue production and the company discontinued it after the 2012 model year.

Who makes hybrid pickup trucks?

Ford manufactures multiple trucks with hybrid powertrains. Toyota just unveiled a premium hybrid engine option for its 2022 Tundra. Ram does not offer a full hybrid truck, but it does offer a mild hybrid system to smooth out the start/stop function on all of its gasoline engines.

A construction worker plugs a skillsaw into an F-150 Powerboost.
2022 Ford F-150 Powerboost | Ford

If you want a hybrid Ford pickup truck you can choose between the 40 mpg compact Maverick or the F-150 with its PowerBoost drivetrain. The PowerBoost sandwiches a powerful electric motor between the popular 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 and Ford’s 10-speed transmission. The resulting hybrd earned a fuel efficiency rating of 25 city/25 highway (25 combined).

Toyota has developed a very similar drivetrain: the new i-FORCE MAX. This premium engine uses a 3.4-liter twin-turbocharged V6 originally used in a Lexus sports car. It also has a 10-speed transmission. Despite its similar stats, the i-FORCE MAX only gets 20 city/24 highway mpg (22 combined) in the Tundra pickup truck.

As a mild hybrid, the Ram eTorque system is an outlier. Its electric motor is not sandwiched between its gasoline engine and automatic transmission. Intead, its motor is a combined starter/generator unit connected to either a V6 or V8 through the serpentine belt. This motor is able to launch the truck from a standstill and recharge its battery through regenerative braking. But it does comparatively little of this, mostly serving to smooth out the existing start/stop function and adding 3 mpg to the gasoline engine’s combined efficiency.

Does General Motors make electric pickup trucks?

The GMC HUMMER EV was one of the very first hybrid pickup trucks to the market. That said, General Motors sold less than 100 of these supertrucks in its first year. But the company will leverage the new Hummer’s battery technology into a mass-produced Chevrolet Silverado 1500 EV.

Promo photo of a pre-production GMC Hummer EV off-roading.
2021 GMC HUMMER EV | Steve Fecht for GMC

Next, see the Ford F-150 PowerBoost vs the i-FORCE MAX from the Toyota Tundra.

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Staff Writer

Henry Cesari

Henry Cesari joined MotorBiscuit in 2021 and brings his deep interest in vintage cars, trucks, and motorcycles to the site. Having restored his first classic car at just 16 years old, Henry has wrenched on everything from overland campers to Japanese motorcycles and even pre-war Bugattis. Henry is also an avid attendee at local car shows and genuinely enjoys connecting with fellow auto enthusiasts.

Henry earned a Bachelor’s in Anthropology and English from the University of Vermont. He has since incorporated his love of the written word with his admiration of classic cars. While Henry is interested in vintage cars, he believes the golden age of cars is yet to come. He is confident journalists will play an important role in this revolution by exposing the industry as it is now and envisioning its possible future.