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Are GM/Chevy EV Trucks Worth The Wait?

2218 Views 18 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  eFoilguy
Do you think waiting 18-36 months to receive(in your driveway) a GM/Chevy EV truck is worth the wait? Or is waiting the only option?

If you are into the EV conversion from ICE then why not hunt down an F150 Lightning (new or used) or a R1T? If you don’t NEED an EV truck then there is a large selection to go after


If EV conversion from ICE is not your thing then why wait? Grab the ICE you want now and ride with that until you want/need something else. Note: Big difference between Want and Need!

IMO the Big 3 will stick to the tried and true ICE script for EV trucks. Each will keep their market share. F150 Lightning will out sell all and everything will follow from there. None of the Big three will differentiate themselves with better anything. Same marketing crap, same dealership crap …… same ole everything.

GM/Chevy marketing has revealed a huge number of potential EV models but as yet has not delivered much of anything.
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For $100 it is worth the wait. So far GM has the only EV options able to carry full size sheet lumber home under cover and with the tailgate closed.
I might add, the wait for a lightning, hummer or R1T may end up rivaling the wait for a GMC/Chevy at this point. None of the manufacturers are cranking these things out in what would be considered "volume" yet.
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For $100 it is worth the wait. So far GM has the only EV options able to carry full size sheet lumber home under cover and with the tailgate closed.
Does it being an EV have anything to do with waiting or is it just the mid-gate and inexpensive reservation? By waiting you mean are making do with what you have? Or is there an interim plan?
I might add, the wait for a lightning, hummer or R1T may end up rivaling the wait for a GMC/Chevy at this point. None of the manufacturers are cranking these things out in what would be considered "volume" yet.
I agree. So why wait and not get an ICE now?
If I HAD to have a truck today, I would. For now I can rent one when I need it.
If I HAD to have a truck today, I would. For now I can rent one when I need it.
I am retired but in the past I went the truck rental route for a while. Always came back to owning one, even if I only used it occasionally as a truck.

I waited for (18months) for my R1T not because it was a truck but because it was an EV first and a truck secondly.

Since current and near term EV truck offerings are not capable of towing range wise like current ICEs I don’t understand why so many folks would choose to wait 2-3 yrs instead of getting what they want now and deciding again in 5-10 years. It would be understandable however if they were into supporting the switch to EV.
My ICE Silverado will stay, regardless of whether I end up buying Silverado EV or not. Therefore the potential wait is not a factor for me. I don’t NEED an EV truck, I just happen to WANT one. Chevy, that is.

I’m not considering any other brands or options at this point. If the price goes way above what I’ve been thinking as my max, which most likely will be the case, somebody else can have my reservation. No skin off my back.
For our houeshold, a BEV truck is something we're looking forward to... and is worth the wait. I don't have the gumption to try and be a first-first adopter (Rivian or Hummer EV), but I think the Silverado or Sierra EV will worth the wait as the bugs get worked out. I'm also in the Cybertruck queue, but I doubt I'll get the CT if my turn ever comes up to take delivery (GM will really need to drop the ball for me to get the CT now).

The motivator for me is not really some thing to come out ahead with savings. We want to make a small impact to how our energy consumption affects our environment for our kids. We don't want to sit on the sidelines and just complain about what others are doing (or not doing). Rather, we want to make some difference wherever we can. I was a stupid Tesla Stan. My garage wall is covered in Tesla Powerwall 2s, I had a stupid Tesla logo on my gutter box connecting everything, and I have two Tesla Wall Connectors on a master/slave configuration. But I'm going with another brand for my next vehicle.

We also have as big of a solar array as we can fit on the roof. This enables us to be ~85% "off-grid" of sorts, where 85% of the annual home energy needs are self-powered (sun charges the on-premises batteries, and the batteries sustain the daily energy cycle). Unfortunately, the winter months just don't see enough sun, so we rely on excess NEM exports in the Summer to provide credit to power the home in the Winter during cloudy days.

Getting BEV vehicles is yet another attempt to actually make a difference to our carbon footprint. You don't have to go far to find EV Naysayers who post on every GM Authority article about EVs. Or the trolls in the comment sections of FLT videos on Youtube. These anti-EV-ers always spout the sophomoric lines from FoxNews that the grid is dirty so charging an EV with the grid is bad. The simple solution to this lazy thinking is to charge the EV with solar.

I'm glad you all are actually trying to make a difference by going EV; instead of listening to the naysayers that it's not worth the effort to get BEVs or PHEVs. There are too many people who find reasons not to do something. And the anti-EV crowd loves doing nothing while complaining about rising gas prices. So to me, these BEV trucks are well worth the wait; and an ICE will simply not be a reasonable replacement. I'm going to be one of the lame-azz losers who gets the truck to basically move some kiddos around and pick up crap from the furniture store or hardware store. I'm so annoyed when crap doesn't fit in this CUV Volvo lol.

Anyway, my wife's Model 3 is ~85% daytime charged with solar from the home (or daytime solar provided by CAISO). My PHEV Volvo is only about 40% electric charged, but getting rid of this, and switching to a Sierra EV means being able to charge with daytime solar (from my home or the grid) and getting around ~85%. We don't know how much of a difference such efforts will make to our environmental future, but we gotta try! Also, California's utilities keep complaining that there is too much solar production (residential + large-scale-commercial), so let's use that excess to charge some EV batteries!
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I want the midgate and I want to run off my solar. I’m at a point in my life where I can afford a nice new truck, but I’m not going to pay double GMs advertised starting price.
For our houeshold, a BEV truck is something we're looking forward to... and is worth the wait. I don't have the gumption to try and be a first-first adopter (Rivian or Hummer EV), but I think the Silverado or Sierra EV will worth the wait as the bugs get worked out. I'm also in the Cybertruck queue, but I doubt I'll get the CT if my turn ever comes up to take delivery (GM will really need to drop the ball for me to get the CT now).

The motivator for me is not really some thing to come out ahead with savings. We want to make a small impact to how our energy consumption affects our environment for our kids. We don't want to sit on the sidelines and just complain about what others are doing (or not doing). Rather, we want to make some difference wherever we can. I was a stupid Tesla Stan. My garage wall is covered in Tesla Powerwall 2s, I had a stupid Tesla logo on my gutter box connecting everything, and I have two Tesla Wall Connectors on a master/slave configuration. But I'm going with another brand for my next vehicle.

We also have as big of a solar array as we can fit on the roof. This enables us to be ~85% "off-grid" of sorts, where 85% of the annual home energy needs are self-powered (sun charges the on-premises batteries, and the batteries sustain the daily energy cycle). Unfortunately, the winter months just don't see enough sun, so we rely on excess NEM exports in the Summer to provide credit to power the home in the Winter during cloudy days.

Getting BEV vehicles is yet another attempt to actually make a difference to our carbon footprint. You don't have to go far to find EV Naysayers who post on every GM Authority article about EVs. Or the trolls in the comment sections of FLT videos on Youtube. These anti-EV-ers always spout the sophomoric lines from FoxNews that the grid is dirty so charging an EV with the grid is bad. The simple solution to this lazy thinking is to charge the EV with solar.

I'm glad you all are actually trying to make a difference by going EV; instead of listening to the naysayers that it's not worth the effort to get BEVs or PHEVs. There are too many people who find reasons not to do something. And the anti-EV crowd loves doing nothing while complaining about rising gas prices. So to me, these BEV trucks are well worth the wait; and an ICE will simply not be a reasonable replacement. I'm going to be one of the lame-azz losers who gets the truck to basically move some kiddos around and pick up crap from the furniture store or hardware store. I'm so annoyed when crap doesn't fit in this CUV Volvo lol.

Anyway, my wife's Model 3 is ~85% daytime charged with solar from the home (or daytime solar provided by CAISO). My PHEV Volvo is only about 40% electric charged, but getting rid of this, and switching to a Sierra EV means being able to charge with daytime solar (from my home or the grid) and getting around ~85%. We don't know how much of a difference such efforts will make to our environmental future, but we gotta try! Also, California's utilities keep complaining that there is too much solar production (residential + large-scale-commercial), so let's use that excess to charge some EV batteries!
We are in many ways in the same camp of thought as you. Going EV will not save the environment or the human race but does seem to be a step or two in the right direction. The bolted door to EV and solar has finally been kicked open despite big oil, coal, the car industry and Government.

We are set for now in terms having EVs but will continue to wait and hold onto the $100.00 reservation as a just in-case. Really enjoy my R1T but still quite uncertain about durability/reliability with no local support from a brand new company. As much as I see dealerships as corrupt they do provide local support, which they make a lot of money doing. The Silverado EV is a decent looking truck and should at least be on par with other EV trucks for all other metrics.

I have never tried to justify moving to solar or EV financially. When we could afford to go solar on our home we did so because it seemed to be the right thing to do. The same is true of going EV. 16 years ago when we could afford a 2007 Prius we started on the journey to EV. Having solar(home ownership) + EV + mostly local driving is very convenient and satisfying but is also costly to implement and is not in most folks grasp. Especially if they ignore the car exhaust and particles they suck in each day as they drive or walk outside and are unwilling to make any sacrifices to change that.

If other EV Truck manufactures offer reservations we will probably get in line ASAP. As I have posted numerous times, I will not pay ADE (Added Dealer Extortion) or as most would say ADM (Added Dealer Markup).
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I want the midgate and I want to run off my solar. I’m at a point in my life where I can afford a nice new truck, but I’m not going to pay double GMs advertised starting price.
Agreed except that the mid-gate is a none issue for me.

Running off mostly solar is quite satisfying. The cost of going solar was steep but in a way was pre-paying for our current and future electricity while reducing the carbon load on the grid. Each time I pull into my driveway and catch a glimpse of our solar panels it feels right.
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I'm considering hybrid truck, either Ram 1500 or F150 buy trading in my Mach-e and 2014 Ram 1500. Has advantages of down to 1 car to insure and get high trade in value.
I am honestly not looking for a new vehicle today, my current car will probably be retired in 2025, so for the $100 it made sense for me to get a reservation and wait. I am only looking at BEV or PHEV for my next vehicle so the BEV truck is a bonus.
So I'm pinging a couple of GM dealerships to see if HQ has provided them with assistance for prospective customers waiting for a BEV to bridge to the time that GM ever gets their act together and gets BEVs in the wild.

As we've seen with the Hummer and Lyriq launches, GM is very slow and unable to meet the expectations of buyers. I would assume some suit in the RenCen would have some career motive to establish some mechanism to do better than Tesla, Ford, Rivian, etc and actually help their customers out with options.

So I'm exploring if GM Financial has terms to allow an early-exit of a GM lease if the exit were then rolled into a GM BEV. This way, I can start a lease on a car that suits my needs today, instead of just getting a competitor vehicle. And I'd lock in the residual value of the lease return and not be exposed to the secondary market in 2024/5 if I were to have to sell/trade in a vehicle.

Such a subvention wouldn't cost GM or GM Financial much. And would be a cool unique selling proposition or differentiator to effectively support prospective buyers of their future vehicles. But knowing GM, they just expect customers to go shove it. Since Detroit is not known for consumer-friendly-business practices. We'll see.
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Given the ridiculous time on new ev orders, and high demand vehicles, I just added a ford extended warranty add to my 2021 Mach-E for 6 years 100k miles. Car rates are high and dealerships are still not really motivated to sell.
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Given the ridiculous time on new ev orders, and high demand vehicles, I just added a f9rd extended warranty add to my 2021 Mach-E for 6 years 100k miles. Car rates are high and dealerships are still not really motivated to sell.

Yeah, you aren't kidding. I inquired about some vehicles with local dealerships (Northern California). The pricing dealerships are confident people will pay is just insanity.

Customers usually get fixated on the "sales price" of a vehicle. But dealerships make money across the board. On the trade-in value, residuals, capitalized costs, money factor/interest rate, random fees, mandatory options, etc.

A quote I got had a $6k additional mark-up; the money factor on the lease implied almost 10% APR (which is absurd since I'm well into 800+ FICO-8 or FICO-10), whacked the residual, and had some forced dealer-installed option load that was basically free margin to the dealer. Even if I did a "one-pay" lease to buy down the money factor, it was just out of control.

Even if they threw out the dealer mark-up so I could proudly boast "I didn't pay a penny over MSRP", it'd be a terrible deal. I really wonder what's going to happen during the next recession and these ridiculous money-trap-arrangements start to go into default.

I don't know how you all were planning on paying for your BEV GM trucks when they finally come out; but you're probably best to avoid leasing if they're sneaking in all these round-about ways to maximize their margins (even if they nix ADM). Just stick with a nice rate from a local credit union or go in hard with cash hah.
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I was looking at 2023 Ram 1500, the rates are terrible and 8 passed as I just didn't want that high of payments.
Why no Lightning? Loved this truck when I saw it in the dealership recently. Lower range and smaller bed a deal breaker.

Why no Rivian? Bed too small, only one service option in my town. Without competition service could be stressful.

Why no ICE? I need a car very soon, probably way before the Silverado EV is attainable. I have put a downpayment on a Toyota Sienna Woodland due in May. I don't use a truck for work, no major need for towing. Main thing I need is space in the back for my sports toys and affordable gas mileage. Bigger the space the better.

When I get my chance at the Silverado EV, hopefully trail model, it will be a match made in heaven. No more gas stations in my day to day existence. Quiter cruising. Midgate for my skis and surfboards, carrying occasional lumber for home projects. I probably will go the cab route for weather protected hauling. My travel 4x's per year will be the only negative having to navigate the power station thing. I go the same places so I will dial it in.

When the time comes I truly believe based on what I'm seeing is that the Toyota Sienna will have a good resale. And I will have saved on gas. Wished I could have gotten on the GMC Sierra EV, Ram Rev, Cybertruck lists. Just for options as things unfold.
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