Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid Review

Here we have another truck which fails to qualify for the categories set by a die-hard trucking fan because this one has one glaring fault. It is not your typical fuel-guzzling truck, this one is a hybrid. But somehow you won’t find the torch bearing mob trying to set it on fire, like how they went mad about the Honda Ridgeline. Why? …simply because this one looks and feels just like any other truck, so what if it is not a fuel guzzler, it works in your favor. Your pockets remain full instead of you blowing it refilling gas at every odd kilometer or something. This is the Chevrolet Silverado. Let’s dig out information to see if Chevy’s attempt at economical trucking while being eco-friendly has paid off.

Under the hood, you have a 6.0 liter V-8 engine pumping out 332 bhp at 367 lb-ft of torque merged into a two-mode hybrid system, containing a pair of 60-kW that is 80 bhp electric motors located in the bell housing of an electrical variable transmission that operates as a manually shifted four-speed auto. This is powered by a 300-volt nickel-metal-hydride battery that is well hidden under the rear seats.

The layout of the truck is pretty standard too; the Silverado is only available in a short- bed crew cab configuration. The drivetrain layout is available as a rear wheel drive and as four wheel drive. The engine is front- mounted. The belt driven air conditioning and power steering pumps are replaced with electric ones, the Silverado rolls on low-resistance tires and thanks to GM’s active fuel management system, the Silverado is able to shut off half its cylinders when it not required, this saves fuel and thus increases mileage. The mileage recorded an impressive 21 mpg in city roads and 22 mpg on the highway for a RWD and 20mpg in the city for a 4wd and 21mpg on the highway.

Moving forward with the performance, the Big hybrid is no slop, it can easily do a 0-60mph in 8 seconds. And the electric motors add to the blast-off. The braking was pretty decent too. The rid-quality was damn good too, because of the hydraulics mounted in the body. this was mainly installed as a counter-weight to the battery pack under the rear seats. The major issues that the Silverado has to deal with are the steering, which felt very light in other words it wasn’t accurate.

The one and only advantage the Silverado 1500 had over the hybrid version was the towing capacity, which were 5900 tonnes in the 4wd and 6100 tonnes in the RWD. Payload was down too, 1459lb for RWD and 1418lb for 4WD.  Don’t get me wrong, the engine didn’t seem to struggle a wee bit but yes, as expected, fuel economy will drop. As far as interiors are concerned, there are six-way power-adjustable bucket seats and the cabin has decent legroom for four passengers. Some of the accessories include, a navigation system, rear-backup camera, brand new updated Bose audio system, fog-lamps, power-adjustable pedals and an auto-dimming mirror. One function that , I’ve forgotten to mention earlier is when you the leave the truck on, it senses if the battery level is dropping below the limit and automatically charge it up.

The Silverado is priced at $38,995. is the price tag worth it?…well a yes and no….yes if your not hauling massive  logs of wood for miles on end and your budget is $40-50,000 and no if u plan in doing so even if you have the same $40 K budget. All in all this is something that you cannot ignore give it a shot.