The GMC Sierra EV Is in It for the Long Haul

The GMC Sierra EV can go the distance.The luxury electric truck has set a new distance record for production electric vehicles by covering 507 miles on a single charge.The benchmark test was conducted by the Edmunds car shopping website in real-world conditions on public roads. It evaluates each vehicle on the same California route that is split 60/40 between urban and highway driving and has an average speed of 40 mph.The Sierra EV Max Range Denali just got over the line to beat the old mark set by a Lucid Air luxury sedan by a single mile. The result easily surpassed its own advertised range of 460 miles.The Multi-Flex Midgate extends the bed into the cabin. Courtesy GMCHowever, unlike the sleek, light, and very efficient Air, the Sierra EV Max Range Denali takes a sledgehammer approach to the challenge. The 20-foot truck weighs nearly four and a half tons and has one of the biggest batteries of any EV today. The 205-kilowatt-hour pack alone tips the scales at around 3,000 pounds.I didn’t try to repeat Edmunds’ feat during a recent test drive, but can confirm that the 760 horsepower and 785 lb-ft of torque provided by its dual electric motors have no trouble moving the elephantine girth around. With its Max Power mode engaged it can even charge like an angry elephant and sprint to 60 mph in less than 4.5 seconds.You’ll pay $100,495 for the experience, but an Extended Range Denali trim with 390 miles of range is available for $91,995. For those unfamiliar with today’s pickup prices, you can easily spend that much on a heavy duty GMC with an internal combustion engine.In fact, the Sierra EV Max Range is technically a heavy duty truck. The easiest way to tell this is that the passenger side mirror is flat and not wide angle, which is required by law on light duty vehicles. Objects in it are exactly as big as they appear.The Max Range Denali is a luxury trim. Courtesy GMCThe Max Range Denali is rated to tow up to 10,000 pounds, and that’s a big part of why GMC stuffed such a large battery in it. The extra weight and aerodynamic drag of a trailer could cut its range with one hitched on in half.Hauling things in the bed is more interesting. The Sierra EV has a feature called the Multi-Flex Midgate that allows you to fold the back seats down and remove the window to open up the rear wall of the cabin, which extends the 5-foot 11-inch bed to up to 10 feet, 10 inches. It’s also possible to leave the window in place, fold the seats and leave the tonneau cover on the bed to keep long and low items protected from the elements. Under the hood, you’ll find a large front trunk instead of an engine that needs an oil change.The rear seat provides limousine-like space for passengers and the driver gets a first class experience. The Denali trim features high-grade leather and wood trim, heated and ventilated seats and a 16.8-inch touchscreen for the infotainment system. The Max Range Denali comes with enormous 24-inch wheels, but also a computer-controlled independent air suspension system that smooths out the ride and can lift and lower the vehicle for easy entry and to clear obstacles like deep snow. It still rides more like a truck than an SUV, and its weight becomes more evident when you hit the brakes, but it is superior to a traditional pickup.It is also equipped with a four-wheel-steering system that can turn the rear wheels opposite the front wheels that shrinks its turning circle to that of a midsize car’s. A Crab Walk mode turns both ends in sync up to 10 degrees at low speeds, which allows it to drive diagonally. This is a neat trick that doesn’t have a lot of practical applications, although I did take advantage of it to shuffle closer to the curb after a bad parallel parking job.The Sierra EV has a front trunk storage space is under the hood. Courtesy GMCThe Super Cruise driving system is standard and the price includes a three-year subscription to the service required for it to operate. This feature works with a trailer attached and can drive the vehicle within a lane by itself on more than 750,000 miles of pre-mapped roads while your hands are off the wheel and feet are off the pedals.A camera ensures that your eyes stay on the road for emergencies and it will warn you and then disengage if they aren’t. It can also be set to change lanes and pass slower cars. It doesn’t do more than that, but it does all of that so well that I use it as much as possible when I’m driving a GMC or other General Motors vehicle with it.And with as much range as this truck has, you can drive it a long way.

The GMC Sierra EV Is in It for the Long Haul

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