Chevy Silverado EV Driven Over 1,000 Miles On A Single Charge

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Last year, I wrote an article about a Chevy Silverado EV pickup truck that achieved about 460 miles on a single charge. Recently, a 2026 model of the same truck was driven over 1,000 miles on a single charge. There is a big difference: the one that achieved about 460 miles was driven at normal highway speeds, the one that achieved over 1,000 miles was kept to speeds between 20 and 25 miles per hour. Once in a while, it hit 50 mph.

At first, when I saw a Silverado EV had been driven over 1,000 miles on a single charge, I assumed it might have been on a track. It wasn’t. The driving occurred on public roads. To achieve such a huge range, it was driven with the AC off, with the windows cracked, and at slow speeds for days. It also had a tonneau cover on the back to reduce air drag. (There was another very impressive recent real-driving test with a GM EV — the Cadillac Escalade IQ, which achieved over 600 miles on a single charge driving on eastern US public roads at normal highway speeds.)

Now, of course, there are all sorts of online trolls, haters, liars, and FUD spreaders who will try to dismiss the over 1,000 miles driven on a single charge achievement by pointing out all the driving was done at 20–25 mph. The point of the challenge was to show that the Silverado EV has great range and therefore it’s just silly to complain about range anxiety for this particular vehicle. In the video, Jordan points out that some people don’t seem to understand that when an EV is low on charge, you can extend the range by driving slowly for a while to get to a charging station safely.

Kyle figures out that the Silverado EV achieved about 4.7 miles kWh for the 1,000+ mile journey. Jon Doremus, a GM engineering manager, says the efficiency was actually about 4.9 miles per kWh. He also says there were some drivers during the test who got 6.5 miles per kWh for a 25-mile stint. This point is really interesting because the test was conducted using about 40 different drivers. If there had been a single hypermiler, such a person might have achieved even more than 1,059 miles on a single charge: maybe 1,100 or more?

Some people might try to claim there is no application for driving a Silverado EV at 20–25 miles per hour. Kyle points out security personnel on patrols might use it for that purpose. There could be some seniors who only drive in their retirement communities at slow speeds. I think there might be a use case for fleet vehicles on large job sites that move at slow speeds too. Another use could be providing support to cyclists or triathletes during distance competitions. I personally know some people who almost exclusively drive in small towns at less than 40 mph for their peak speed and an average of about 20–30 mph. 

A video commenter, @Nomadjackalope, agreed when he or she wrote: “My driving averages about 30 mph, and I don’t drive far in a week (~60 mi). I could go the whole summer on one charge… That’s crazy. Fun test!”