2026 Chevy Silverado EV Gets 454 Miles In Highway Range Test

Two weeks ago, I wrote an article about a Silverado EV being driven well over 1,000 miles on a single charge. This amount was achieved by driving about 20-25 miles an hour mostly and on real roads, not a driving track. About a year ago, I wrote about another Silverado EV driven 460 miles on one charge at regular highway speeds on real highways, also not on a driving track. Within the last two weeks, a Silverado EV was driven 454 miles on one charge during a 70 mph range test.

It probably isn’t obvious, but there are different use cases for electric vehicles, so it doesn’t make sense to claim that the EPA-rated range is the only range for an electric vehicle. There are some drivers who don’t drive 70 miles per hour on highways or freeways for a variety of reasons. In some cases, there may be too much traffic to average 70 mph or more, such as in urban areas. Because of congestion, and confined space, a Silverado EV might actually achieve over 460 miles per charge. Usually I only drive at about 62 mph on highways and freeways, so if I was driving the Silverado EV I might get over the 454 miles achieved driving 70 mph.

It also depends on who is driving it and how much they can squeeze out of one charge by hypermiling. Some drivers don’t know anything about hypermiling so they drive too fast, blast the AC, run the entertainment system, do jackrabbit starts, slam on their brakes, don’t use the regen properly, etc.

One example is a lady who about 7 years ago rented a Chevy Bolt and drove from Northern California to Southern California at about 80 miles per hour with the AC on high and who also drove in heavy traffic at times. She also did not plan the charging stops well. Her conclusion was the Bolt didn’t have enough range. The truth was she ruined the range with her ignorance and incompetence. It was a situation of operator error not the technology. A guy who drives a Chevy Bolt today who knows how to hypermile and who doesn’t drive in California sometimes gets much more than the EPA estimated range. Recently there was also a situation where a fully electric Cadillac Escalade was driven over 600 miles on a single charge at highways speeds and not on a driving track.

In the case of the Silverado EV driven over 1,000 miles at about 20-25 mph, this test might seem like a stunt to extend the range. However, there could be use cases such as security patrols at ports, very large college or university campuses, factory campuses, business parks, airports, etc. There are also people in small towns who don’t drive fast and don’t drive often who actually might drive an EV for weeks on a single charge, and who use a trickle charge to maintain the battery. 

The point is that there are people who get better range than the estimated EPA range because they don’t drive at the same speeds as the range test. Of course, there are some people who get worse because they don’t care, don’t know or don’t even try to get the best energy efficiency and range. The lady who drove a Chevy Bolt on a long trip at 80 mph with the AC blasting is just one example.