GM changes priorities, announces more powerful Silverado

Just when it looked like General Motors was accelerating its electric pickup truck lineup as quickly as possible, a new priority has emerged — another Silverado.

The automaker has unveiled the 2022 Silverado ZR2. It’s expected to go on sale in the spring of 2022. Three electric pickup trucks, including a Silverado, were previously announced.

With the announcement of the off-road leading Silverado ZR2, the pending electric trucks from GM, may, if only briefly, have taken a backseat.

New Chevy Silverado: New safety, convenience stuff

“We are getting ready and coming very soon,” said Kelly MacDonald, director of Chevrolet truck marketing. “We will be releasing more information. It’s a tremendous product and we can’t wait to share it with you.”

Industry EV truck experts predict the Silverado EV and an EV sibling electric pickup from GMC will be released by 2023. The GMC Hummer EV pickup is still expected at the end of 2021.

Updates to the 2022 Silverado trucks including the ZR2, range from redesigned features to new safety and convenience technologies, including the addition of GM’s Super Cruise hands-free highway driving system.

Super Cruise will be offered on the top-end High Country model of the 2022 Silverado, officials said. The system uses a host of sensors, radar and cameras to steer, accelerate and brake automatically within the vehicle’s lane. GM is in the process of expanding the system to 22 vehicles by 2023.

The ZR2 has a maximum payload of 1,440 pounds and a trailer tow rating of 8,900 pounds. There’s also a Terrain driving mode that allows for one-pedal crawling off-road.

GM has also added standard safety features to the 2022 Silverado such as forward collision alert, lane keep assist with lane departure warning, and automatic emergency braking.

The Silverado ZR2 will be the second ZR2 model for Chevrolet. The trim was introduced on the Colorado midsize pickup in 2017. Pricing hasn’t been announced.