Cheapest 600-hp Pickup Truck In America

No vehicle is off limits these days when it comes to performance. Family sedans, commuter hatchbacks, and even the dependable work truck have all been elevated to a level never seen before. Power is easier to make than ever before, especially thanks to the dawn of the electric era, and buyers are willing to pay for it, because truly cheap electric cars are not yet a reality in the US. Put the two together, and you have a perfect storm for one of the great eras of automotive performance.

2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV

Horsepower: 510 hp – 754 hp
Torque: 615 lb-ft – 785 lb-ft
0-60 MPH: > 4.5 seconds (RST)
Towing Capacity: 8,000 lbs – 10,000 lbs

Bigger and bigger horsepower numbers are becoming increasingly common, but we feel 600 horsepower is now very quickly becoming a new benchmark. We just discovered how cheaply you can attain that number if you’re looking for an SUV, but for just a few thousand dollars more, you can now get yourself a pickup truck that will do the same, and it comes with plenty of other tricks up its sleeves that may just convince you that the 2025 Silverado EV is the perfect performance truck without breaking the bank.

This article compares manufacturer claims and real-world testing from our drive reviews to get you up to speed on what makes the 2025 Silverado EV the most affordable performance pickup truck to get. All pricing excludes destination and fees.

Meet the 2025 Chevrolet Silverado EV LT

Like with all new big EV reveals, the rollout of the Silverado EV has been a staged one. It started with RST First Edition, which arrived in 2024 with a steep $94,500 price tag, and the bare-bones Work Truck trim with incredible range and not much else arrived soon after. For 2025, however, the brand has unveiled a new LT trim that offers most of the amazing performance and amenities of the RST trim, with a price tag that’s much easier to swallow.

Starting Price	$75,195
Horsepower	645 hp
Torque	765 lb-ft
Estimated Range	408 miles
Drivetrain	Dual motors
Charging Capability	Fast charging enabled

The new trim arrives with features like standard 18-inch aluminum wheels, unique front and rear fascias, a standard Multi-Flex Tailgate, and over 28 inches of screen space in the interior. More importantly, thanks to upgraded dual electric motors, the vehicle can produce up to 645 hp and 765 lb-ft of torque when the Wide Open Watts (WOW) mode is engaged. A 12,500 lb towing capacity and 1,800 lb payload are standard, and thanks to some impressive thermal management and battery architecture, a claimed 408 miles of range on its Extended Range battery pack.

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3 Trims, 1 (Mostly) Great Experience

The 2025 Chevrolet Silverado EV comes in three different trims, but all three offer different flavors of the same experience. The base trim is the Work Truck, or WT trim for short. This vehicle is only currently available to commercial customers, and it is as bare-bones as they come to drop its price to $57,095. Performance is exceptional, however, as it boasts over 500 horsepower and up to 492 miles of range for 2025 when equipped with the extended-range battery pack. If you didn’t know, this puts every other EV truck on sale to shame.

Base Chevy Silverado EV Has More Range Than Most Expensive F-150 Lightning

The EPA definitely made Chevy very happy, but Ford F-150 Lightning owners may be crying right now.

Of course, the LT trim slots are next, about $20,000 more expensive but sporting a ton more amenities and more power. The range is still over 400 miles, but will drop to 390 miles if you opt for the upcoming Premium package, which adds the Multi-Flex Midgate, Super Cruise, 22-inch machined-face aluminum wheels, and more.

Feature	WT	LT	RST
Starting Price	$57,095	$75,195	$89,395
Horsepower	510 hp	645 hp	754 hp
Torque	615 lb-ft	765 lb-ft	785 lb-ft
Range	Up to 492 miles	Up to 408 miles	Up to 460 miles
*All 2025 model year trims

Finally, you get the top-of-the-line RST performance trim, which not only boasts up to 754 horsepower and 785 lb-ft of torque, but up to 460 miles of range too, still easily beating all of its competitors. When WOW (Wide Open Watts) mode is engaged, Chevy claims you can hit 60 mph from a standstill in just 4.5 seconds, but we actually bested that, hitting the number in just 4.3 seconds. Whether you have access to the base WT trim or opt for the top RST trim, you get the same great functionality and ample room to accomplish all of your truck tasks, and range anxiety will quickly become a thing of the past.

How It Stacks Up To Its Rivals

So yes, the Silverado EV is good, but how does it compare to others? Well, while many would probably assume its cousin, the Sierra EV, would be its closest competitor, that model costs quite a bit more, and it’s the Rivian R1T that most closely mirrors it in terms of value and performance. The R1T makes slightly more horsepower, torque, and range, but it’s $1,000 more expensive. Perhaps this makes the Rivian the better deal, but it doesn’t make it the cheapest.

Driven: 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV Impresses And Frustrates

What could have been a perfect electric truck is too “GM” for its own good.

The F-150 Lightning is another great option, particularly because it’s much cheaper than the Silverado, coming in at $67,996 for 580 horsepower and 320 miles of range. If Ford was able to find just a little more performance, it would win this matchup handily, but sadly it falls a bit short. Where it does win is perceived quality, as we discovered that by far our biggest disappointment when we first drove the Silverado EV was its cheap cabin materials and patchy build quality.

Here are the rivals:

Feature	GMC Sierra EV Denali	Rivian R1T Dual Motor	Ford F-150 Lightning AWD	Tesla Cybertruck AWD	Hummer EV Truck 2X
Starting Price	$80,920	$76,900	$67,995	$79,990	$98,845
Horsepower	754	665 hp	580	~600 hp	570 hp
Torque	785 lb-ft	829 lb-ft	775 lb-ft	Unknown	Unknown
Range	400+ miles	Up to 420 miles	Up to 320 miles	Up to 325 miles	Up to 311 miles
Drivetrain Configuration	AWD	AWD	AWD	AWD	AWD

Finally, the Tesla Cybertruck is a few thousand dollars more expensive and lacks range and (most likely) power, but Tesla loves to keep official performance numbers close to its chest and quote absurd torque figures that aren’t always realistic. GMC has done the same with the Hummer EV pickup, and we do know the base trim makes 570 hp, but range and pricing put it in last place.

The Best Value in High-Powered Pickups Is Flying Solo For Now

Besides the Rivian, the Silverado EV offers the best combination of power, range, and pricing, and foreshadows big things to come for GM’s future EVs. The past year has been a rollercoaster for the industry, with many rolling back initial production goals in favor of pivoting to hybrid and plug-in hybrid options. GM is no different, and it’s already decided to delay production of the upcoming Buick EV while postponing the ramp-up of EV production at the company’s Orion Assembly plant in Michigan. The Chevy Bolt is still on the way, however, set for a 2026 release, with plans to make it even more affordable than before thanks to expanding the Bolt family beyond the hatchback and EUV versions of the previous generation.

2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV RST Beauty Shot

We Have Bad News About GM EVs You’ve Been Waiting For

GM CEO Mary Barra has confirmed a slight change of plans, including Buick’s first EV in America.

That leaves the Equinox EV, Blazer EV, and Silverado EV as the brand’s three main electric vehicles for the time being, and all three offer great value, performance, and range. They prove that GM is listening and investing in the right areas to compete with the best in the industry, and we look forward to true entry-level models in the future. Let’s just hope that someday the company comes to its senses and once again offers Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in its new models.

Sources: GM.

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