Chevy dealers set to sell electric pickups, crossovers

General Motors has made its goal to be the leader in electric vehicle sales clear. And Chevrolet dealers are determined to play their part.

"We want to beat Tesla on EVs," said Keith McCluskey, dealer chairman of the Chevrolet National Dealer Council. "We want to meet demand."

GM unveiled the Silverado EV at CES in January, and since then the automaker has logged more than 110,000 reservations, including those from more than 240 fleet operators. The pickup is slated to go on sale in 2023, along with electric Equinox and Blazer crossovers.

GM has committed $35 billion toward electric and autonomous vehicle development and plans to launch 30 EVs globally through 2025. As GM's high-volume brand, Chevy will sell EVs at price points for every consumer, executives have said. The Equinox will start around $30,000.

GM this year expanded production plans for the Silverado EV and intends to build a total of up to 600,000 electric pickups a year at two Michigan plants. The automaker is investing $6.6 billion to convert the Chevy Bolt EV assembly plant in Orion Township and to build a battery plant in Lansing.

Last year, GM sold 768,698 gasoline-powered Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups in the U.S., according to the Automotive News Research & Data Center. Tesla, which doesn't report sales by country, delivered 936,000 EVs globally in 2021.

McCluskey believes 600,000 electric pickup sales is a realistic target for GM. The versatility of the Silverado EV's flexible midgate and storage area will appeal to nontraditional pickup buyers, said McCluskey, CEO of McCluskey Chevrolet in Cincinnati.

"It's nice to have the backing of General Motors and knowing that they're making those types of investments to create that kind of volume," he said. "There's a lot of us dealers out there. And if we're going to maximize our success, we need them to build enough product that we can be No. 1. You can't be No. 1 if you don't produce enough."

The Equinox also will be key to EV volume, McCluskey said. The gasoline-powered Equinox was Chevy's bestselling crossover in the U.S. last year, notching 165,323 sales.

"To have that very high-volume segment of the business and very high-volume vehicle for Chevrolet come in … with that look for $30,000 is going to be just what the doctor ordered," he said. "The Equinox is a great vehicle that holds its value very well, and people love it. A lot of our customers have been in multiple Equinoxes over the years."