Silverado ranked as the second best selling pick-up truck brand last year, and third best this year after losing its spot to Ram. The most popular vehicle in its lineup is Silverado 1500, lets see how it compares with highly anticipated Tesla Cybertruck.
Silverado Sales in U.S.
Silverado has enjoyed strong sales numbers for decades. There was a sharp decline due to 2008 economic recession, but sales have recovered significantly from the lows. To be exact, they sold 585,581 units last year, second highest in pick-up truck category and overall as well, only behind Ford F-series.
We can only speculate what Cybertruck sales numbers will look like, but it most probably would be tied to how fast Tesla can make deliveries without getting bogged down by manufacturing constraints.
Models
The 2021 Cybertruck comes in three models, namely Single Motor RWD, Dual Motor AWD and Tri Motor AWD, but you may notice Dual and Single variants are missing in some charts. This omission is due to unavailability of certain details by Tesla.
The 2020 (yes new one) Silverado 1500 comes in; four body types; Regular Cab Long Bed, Double Cab Standard Bed, Crew Cab Short Bed and Crew Cab Standard Bed — eight trims; WT, Custom, Custom Trail Boss, LT, RST, LT Trail Boss, LTZ and High Country — and six engines; 4.3L ECOTEC3 V6 (LV3), 5.3L ECOTEC3 V8 (L82), 2.7L TURBO (L3B), 5.3L ECOTEC3 V8 (L84), 6.2L ECOTEC3 V8 (L87) and DURAMAX 3.0L TURBO-DIESEL I-6 (LM2). The availability of these engines depends on the selected trim.
Horsepower
Highest powered engine for Silverado is 6.2L ECOTEC3 V8 (L87) which produces 420 hp, about half of Cybertruck Tri’s 800 hp. The lowest is Duramax 3.0L Turbo Diesel at 277 hp.
Torque (lb-ft)
Cybertruck Tri produces 1,000 pound feet of torque, more than double the highest powered gas and turbo diesel engines, both producing 460 lb-ft.
0-60 (mph)
Tesla officially provides naught to 60 numbers but Chevrolet doesn’t. For Silverado 1500, only reliable source is Motortrend who tested 2020 model’s 2.7L Turbo version, it goes from 0 to 60 mph in 7.1 seconds.
Driving Range (miles)
Due to excessive number of configuration options in Silverado 1500, our calculation resulted in over 50 driving ranges depending on engine, body type and trim combination. Its not feasible to mention all of them here, and also to make it a fair comparison, only Crew Cab body type with standard bed and 4×4 will be compared with Cybertruck.
The Crew Cab version of Silverado 1500 has a 24 gallon tank. There is only one diesel engine out of six choices, it also has the highest range. The DURAMAX 3.0L TD I-6 (LM2) has city and highway mpg of 23/29 for 4×4 version (this engine is not available in 4×2 for Crew Cab standard bed). Since Tesla advertises combined mileage, we will combine it for Silverado as well, that gives us 26 mpg. Multiplying it by tank capacity, we get 624 miles range. Similar formula is applied for highest gas powered range 2.7L TURBO (L3B) (4×4) with 19/22 mpg resulting 492 miles and lowest range at 384 miles for 6.2L ECOTEC3 V8 (L87) (4×4) (Trail Boss trim) with 14/18 mpg.
All gas powered 4×4 Crew Cab and Double Cab configurations have less range than Cybertruck Tri.
Cost Per Mile (US Cents)
Since we don’t even know the curb weight of Cybertruck, its impossible to accurately calculate its cost per mile. As a reference Model S, Model 3 and Model X cost per mile is compared in this chart, it is calculated based on estimates provided on Tesla’s website for its Supercharger.
Towing Capacity (lbs.)
While digging into 2020 Silverado 1500’s spec sheet, 61 different towing capacities were discovered for a combination of body types, trims and engines. The highest capacity is 13,900 lb for Double Cab body type with 6.2L V8 engine, which is 1,100 pounds less than Cybertruck Tri. This will not be include in following comparison as only Crew Cab with standard bed can be fairly compared with Cybertruck. All Crew Cab standard bed models are listed below.
Payload Capacity (lbs.)
Cybertruck Tri has 65% more payload capacity than the highest capacity Silverado 1500 configuration in Crew Cab at 2,130 lbs, which is after availing the optional Max Trailering package.
Cargo Box Capacity (cu. ft.)
Tesla has the highest cargo capacity at 100 cubic feet. Second is Long Bed (Regular Cab) version at 89.1 cu. ft., then Standard Bed at 71.7 cu. ft. and Short Bed at 62.9 cu. ft.
Vehicle Length (in.)
Silverado 1500 Crew Cab standard bed is 9.5 inch longer than Cybertruck. Double Cab is of same length and Regular Cab is 229.5 inch long.
Vehicle Width (in.)
Silverado 1500 Crew Cab is 1.4 inch wider than Cybertruck’s 79.8.
Price (US Dollars)
You can choose all Silverado 1500 Crew Cab trims (including high-end trims) in 2WD which brings down the starting price as much as $8,000 in some trims, this can give unfair advantage to Silverado if we choose it as the base price. So, for a fair comparison, only Crew Cab with standard bed and 4WD will be selected, since Cybertruck Dual and Tri only comes in AWD.
The lowest priced trim for Silverado 1500 is WT with 4.3L EcoTec3 V6 engine at $39,795, then Custom at $42,195 and Custom Trail Boss at $43,795 with the same engine. Then we have LT at $44,495 with 5.3L EcoTec3 V8 engine DFM, the LT Trail boss at $50,395 and High Country at $58,395 share the same engine. RST is priced at $46,395 with 2.7L Turbo engine.
Afterthoughts
Cybertruck exceeds in performance by a big margin. Silverado 1500 is nowhere near in terms of horsepower, torque and payload capacity. Combine that with a long list of features that are standard on Cybertruck like autopilot, on-board power inverters, air compressor, electric retractable tonneau cover and sixth person seat, its no surprise more than 200,000 people have already pre-ordered Cybertruck.
