Hi all...been a while since I posted on here as I've been very busy with work and family....since I last bought my Model X Plaid, my family and I have gotten into the RV camping phase, which necessitated getting a truck to tow our 25' 6k lb camper. Originally, I got a 24' Toyota Tacoma for it, but it felt cramped and underpowered for it, so I stopped up to a 25 Tundra. The room on it was great and power was there, but the gas mileage was dismal towing as well as just driving around. I decided to go back to EVs and looked at the Cyber truck, the R1S, the Hummer EV, th Denali EV, and a Silverado EV.

In the end, I chose the Silverado EV due to real world towing range and terrific lease rates on them (though personally I would of gotten the hummer if range was better). Here's my quick take on it after 3k miles including long range towing, helping move friends, and general DD:

TLR Terrific starting point for the Bowties Truck EV effort that makes other competitor trucks feel vastly inferior at doing real truck things!

Good : Great Air Suspension (RST model), great sound system, and does real truck things wonderfully (towing, carry cargo),

Bad : not a lot of OTA updates and aftermarket support is very lackluster.

Ugly : lots of potential for the integrated Android Auto system, but most features are not available

Notes:

- Towed my camper 250 miles to campsite AND was able charge it there onsite!

- Did a trip from SF to LA and stopped once (to eat, but charged anyways) , but could of made it without charging!

- huge bed combined with the midgate allows ample moving cargo room

- having such a huge 210kW battery allows me to charge whenever I like on solar to never really worry about range

- have gone off-road on it once (to riverside) and no issues with the air suspension

- wanted to go to 37s but wouldn't fit without aftermarket bumper

 

Glad you’re enjoying it!

Was the 250mi trip one way? Did you have to stop to charge? If not, that’s really impressive!

 

First, congrats on the new vehicle! I have a neighbor with one and he seems to love it.

We bought a travel trailer earlier this year and have used it a few times so far. Every campsite we've stopped at has signs stating EV charging is prohibited. Seems dumb to me.

 

Congrats @ST430 and welcome back! We have to get together for lunch again so I can check it out in person 🙂

 

Gotta come to EV friendly Cali 😊

 

IL seems pretty EV friendly, but our trip was from IL down to TX and back. The first place I saw the sign was at an IL state park.

 

Congrats! I have seen a bunch of Sierra EV's where I live but have not seen a Silverado. If you feel comfortable, would you share some general info about the lease that you secured on it? Doesn't have to be overly specific, just some general guidelines of where you landed would be awesome to know. Hope you enjoy the truck!

 

Lools.great as it is, Imo. 🏆

 

Correct, one way no charging. The huge battery pack is a game changer...

 

We have no problems here at our state and koa EV parks fortunately....

 

Sg...I'm.on another business trip but will be back on a few weeks and hit you up...

 

I am not sure about Denali, but for Silverado I have several rebates including :

- gm supplier discount (-1500)
- Costco exec member (-1500)
- conquest (-500)

And Silverados can have significant discounts (-10k) depending on which models. Keep in mind though, EVs depreciate badly (hence why I leased it). Using these #s, you can get a $0 down/driveoff, 800 month lease for 24 months readily. Will be cheaper if you go for lower model trims.
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Thanks, so your KOA's have dedicated charging stations?

This is from KOA's official website:"Currently, however, a small portion of our campgrounds are set up with EV charging capabilities. It is essential to understand that EVs require constant electricity flow to charge their batteries, and the majority of our campgrounds’ electrical pedestals do not have this capability. Our current electrical pedestals were originally designed for non-continuous loads typical of today’s RV usage, and therefore simply cannot support EV charging. Plugging your EV into a traditional 50-30 amp campground pedestal could permanently damage your vehicle as well as the campground’s electrical system.

If a charging converter was provided by your auto manufacturer, it does not change the way electricity flows within the campground’s electrical infrastructure and should not be used to connect your EV to our campground pedestals."

LINK

 

Congrats! Looks sharp

 

Oh well.. I just plug it in and no one gives a hoot... 🤷