New Chevy Small Electric Truck Could Top the Ford Maverick
Full-size pickup trucks with beefy engines have dominated the sales charts in the United States for years. However, popular compact trucks such as the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz have shown there is another way. Plus, there’s a great deal of buzz about new EV trucks, such as the Rivian R1T, Ford F-150 Lightning, and Chevrolet Silverado EV. Now, GM combines both of those two trends with a compact EV pickup truck. The new Chevy small electric truck could top the Ford Maverick.
GM has a small electric pickup truck to compete with the Ford Maverick — likely for the Chevy brand
Looking back only several years ago — if you had said that one of the most popular vehicles in the U.S. would be a small pickup truck, most automotive experts would express disbelief. This is America, the land of big trucks. While compact trucks are common in some international markets, not so much in the U.S. — at least not until recently. In America, full-size trucks such as the Ford F-150, Chevy Silverado 1500, GMC Sierra 1500, and Ram 1500 reign supreme.
However, the Ford Maverick proved the doubters wrong. The Maverick is so popular that Ford had to close the order books for the 2023 model year. Also, the only other small truck currently offered in the U.S., the Hyundai Santa Cruz, is very popular as well.
In the wake of the success of the Maverick and Santa Cruz, other automakers aim to compete with their own compact trucks. Both Toyota and Ram are considering small trucks for release in the coming years.
Now, GM aims to join the compact pickup truck party. While the automaker didn’t officially confirm which brand, it will likely be a Chevy truck.
Compact Chevy EV truck will be smaller than the Maverick
If you thought that the Ford Maverick was a tiny pickup truck, you might be surprised to find out that the compact Chevy truck is even smaller. As detailed by Autoblog, a new prototype compact electric truck was spotted by Automotive News at a GM-organized workshop. It has a more compact design compared to the Maverick and Santa Cruz — with only two doors instead of four. It also has a low roofline and a bed that’s 4.0 to 4.5 feet long.
Also, for the sake of comparison, the new Chevy small electric truck is “12 inches shorter, 11 inches narrower, and 10 inches lower” than the redesigned 2023 Chevy Colorado midsize truck. In terms of exterior dimensions, it’s similar to the Chevy Montana for the Brazilian and Latin American markets.
New Chevy compact electric truck is an affordable alternative to other GM EV trucks
Automotive News also revealed that the new Chevy compact electric truck would cost less than $30,000. This makes it a more affordable alternative to GM’s other electric pickup trucks: the Chevy Silverado EV ($39,900 MSRP) and the GMC HUMMER EV Pickup ($108,700 MSRP).
The key element of the new Chevy electric truck that could help it top the Ford Maverick is performance. One of the weaknesses of the Maverick is its relatively low output for its engines, particularly for the standard hybrid powertrain, which generates only 191 horsepower. The available turbocharged engine produces 250 horsepower.
It’s unknown what type of electric powertrain will propel the compact Chevy EV pickup truck. However, it could have a similar setup as the upcoming Chevy Equinox EV. The single-motor version of the Equinox EV generates 210 horsepower, while the dual-motor all-wheel drive model produces 290 horsepower. Plus, the instant torque delivery of the electric truck would likely result in much quicker acceleration than the Maverick.
Furthermore, like other electric vehicles, the Chevy EV truck would undoubtedly be very efficient — even more than the Silverado EV. GM claims that the Silverado EV has an estimated fuel economy of up to 47 MPGe, which is better than the Ford Maverick (up to 37 combined mpg).
When will the small Chevrolet EV pickup be available?
We don’t yet know when production will start for the Chevy small electric pickup truck. Also, it’s important to note that GM didn’t yet officially green light a production version. However, given the information revealed by Automotive News and the high demand for such a truck, a production model is highly likely. Also, GM aims for its electric vehicle division to be profitable by 2025, and a compact Chevy EV truck could be part of those plans.
