For now, though, it’s business as usual with old-school V8.

AN electric imperative for a classic American pickup marque just regaining traction here with V8 petrol models has local distributor interest. 

General Motors Special Vehicles’ New Zealand has reacted positively to news that the Chevrolet Silverado pickup it holds distribution rights to will configure, perhaps as early as next year, in a wholly battery-powered format delivering more than 600 kilometres’ range between charges. 

There’s no indication from GM yet about what this might mean for right-hand drive markets, however the maker insists its plan to sell some 30 electric vehicles by 2025 is a properly global intent. It has also made clear that, ultimately, it intends to only produce the truck in electric format.

New Zealand currently receives Silverado as a brand-new model purely in its historic V8 petrol form. Current editions, all powered by a 313kW/624Nm 6.2-litre V8 mated to a 10-speed automatic, are delivered from the United States via Melbourne, where they are converted into RHD.

 While company policy restricts comment on future product, the make’s local operation based in Auckland has indicated will maintain a watch on the model’s new technology direction, announced by GM’s president Mark Reuss, an American who since running Holden in 2008 and 2009 has enjoyed a rapid management ascendancy to his current position.

A GMSV spokesman in NZ today said the focus for the present remains on product it already has here and that incoming.

“At GMSV we're focusing on bringing three exciting vehicles to Australian and New Zealand truck and performance car enthusiasts - the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Chevrolet Silverado 2500 and the all-new, direct from the factory right-hand drive, C8 Corvette.   

“We are glad there is so much excitement around EVs, but we don't have any comment to make with regards to future product and won't be drawn on possible speculation relating to the local market.”

The new derivative, which has been teased for months, seems set to share and underpinning, battery and other technology with the electric Hummer, whose potential for right hand drive markets has not been clarified, and will offer around 640 kilometres range on a full charge.

That’s almost 80kms’ additional range than has already been cited the Hummer EV Edition 1, which GM has previously said will offer up to 746kW, and appears to beat any of the petrol editions. Regardless that they have extra-large fuel tanks, the petrol models are cited to deliver an optimal economy of 12.3 litres per 100km.

The maker has added that the range prescribed for Silverado is not absolute and might vary “based on several factors, including temperature, terrain, battery age, loading, and how you use and maintain your vehicle.”

It has not offered information on any other performance aspects, though this will be high interest. Silverado has a particular forte as a heavy-duty towing choice, with the petrol models rated to haul an impressive 4500kg on the hook. 

Silverado is Chevrolet’s biggest selling model in North America.

The company did not immediately say when the electric Silverado will go on sale, but independent reports since Reuss announced the project cite sources with GM as saying the edition could be production by the end of 2022 – a timeframe that, if accurate, means it will beat the Hummer into showrooms.

The push synchs with GM’s announcement in January that its entire 'light-duty' range, into which this model falls, will be electric by 2035. Commentators say this means the new electric Silverado will eventually be the only light-duty pick-up available from the brand by then.

The electric Silverado will be made at “Factory Zero,” the recently rebranded Detroit-Hamtamck plant dedicated to EVs that GM is currently retooling at a cost of more than $US2 billion.

It’s the same plant where GM will build the electric Hummer in SUV and pickup formats.

Industry observers in North America say an electric Silverado is not too surprising considering that rival Ford already has an electric edition of its F150 pickup under development. That vehicle is intended to release in 2022.

The V8 Silverado as sold by GMSV is converted by Walkinshaw Automotive Group, the former parent company of Holden Speical Vehicles, which previously held distribution rights to the model.