70
645 - 760
1 speed
Electric
Four Wheel Drive
Photo: Tim Stevens
The 2025 GMC Sierra EV is available exclusively in Denali trim, replacing 2024's Denali Edition 1 trim. The 2025 Sierra EV Denali offers a comprehensive set of standard features, including 24-inch wheels, adaptive air suspension, four-wheel steering, and General Motors' (GM) Super Cruise hands-free highway driving-assistance system.
Denali buyers can choose from two battery packs, with the smaller of the two delivering 390 miles of range and starting at $91,995. For this review, I drove a Sierra EV Denali outfitted with the larger battery pack, offering 460 miles of range. GMC prices that truck at $100,495, producing it at GM's Lake Orion Assembly in Michigan. GM is now delivering the first 2025 Sierra EV Denali run to dealers.
Photo: Tim Stevens
While the Chevrolet Silverado EV offers a somewhat futuristic take on what a truck should look like, the GMC Sierra EV dials that back a bit. But only a bit. From the side, the profile lacks the dramatic rake from the crew cab to the bed. The division is more upright and abrupt, closer to a standard Sierra 1500.
But that isn't to say the Sierra EV looks typical from the outside. The flowing lines that run down the side of the truck are far more sculpted and nuanced than in the regular Sierra 1500, and one look at its front end will make it clear this isn't your average truck. The flat face and dramatic lighting set the Sierra EV apart.
Things are somewhat more traditional inside, with five seats in an expansive, comfortable cabin. The rear seats offer plenty of room for three adults, even those with long legs.
The two seats up front are wide enough to support the most generous of proportions, while prodigious heating and ventilation help with temperature regulation too. That's all standard stuff for a Denali, but what's different here is the 16.8-inch touchscreen that dominates the experience. More on that in just a moment.
That touchscreen stands proud over a dashboard inlaid with a strip of open-pore wood that feels good to the touch. Other surfaces and the upholstery show slightly more presence and refinement than those in the Silverado EV. That said, the difference isn't night and day between the Sierra and its somewhat more budget-oriented sibling on the Chevrolet side.
Photo: Tim Stevens
Start tapping on that 16.8-inch, portrait-oriented display, and you'll find a software solution that's reasonably comprehensive and easy enough to use. It's also snappy and responsive, though it fails at taking full advantage of all that volume. That's a lot of display, enough to tire out your arm reaching from one corner to the next as you navigate through menus, often with big gaps of wasted space in between.
GM's latest Android Automotive-based software powers it all. Sadly, the system supports neither Android Auto nor Apple CarPlay. Smartphone projection is out, leaving you pairing up and streaming over Bluetooth for any media you want to access on your phone.
That feels like a bit of a throwback to a decade ago. Still, the software does at least offer a reasonably comprehensive selection of built-in apps, including Google Maps and Waze for navigation and YouTube Music and Spotify for streaming media.
On the safety side, the Sierra EV offers a comprehensive set of active safety features, including active blind-spot warning, automatic emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection, traffic-sign recognition, and a rear-seat reminder system. There's a standard surround-view camera too, which could be a literal lifesaver, given how tall the nose is on this truck.
However, the most notable feature in this department is GM's Super Cruise, which allows hands-off driving on divided highways and an increasing number of secondary roads. Super Cruise generally worked great on the Bay Area's often-crowded highways, moving through traffic with automatic lane changes executed without hesitation. The system struggled to spot the lines in the morning glare right after sunrise, but otherwise, it worked flawlessly.
Photo: Tim Stevens
Pull the column-mounted shifter forward and down to engage Drive and pull away in the Sierra EV, and you'll be immediately struck by how quiet and smooth it is. For a big truck, it pulls away from a stop effortlessly, with far more control than something with a large-displacement engine under the hood.
That smoothness hides the sheer amount of power on offer. GMC rates the Sierra EV at 760 horsepower and 785 pound-feet of torque. According to GMC, that's enough to launch this truck to 60 mph from a standstill in less than 4.5 seconds. It only takes a few taps to enable the maximum power mode in the software, but I can't say I necessarily recommend it.
Yes, the truck does get going with all the enthusiasm you'd expect from those numbers, but the loose feeling you get as the truck leans back and launches forward is a surprise. The Sierra EV feels like it wants to leave its lane, which will give your passengers an extra dose of fright if they weren't already shocked by the acceleration.
So, stick to any of the other standard drive modes or configure your own custom one, where you can pick your favorite settings from steering weight to suspension stiffness.
When not trying to shove the accelerator through the floor mat, the Sierra EV is extremely refined on any road, even the disconcertingly narrow and bumpy ones that carve over and around the northern California hills. The four-wheel steering is a boon too, especially when pivoting this 19.5-foot-long truck through narrow parking lots.
At higher speeds, the Sierra EV is just as capable. It's quiet too, with only a bit of wind noise from the oversized mirrors to let you know you're moving at speed.
Sadly, my time with the Sierra EV didn't include any trailering or hauling, but GMC rates the truck to tow up to 10,500 pounds and can haul 1,350 pounds in the bed. Those numbers are down 2,800 and 900 pounds, respectively, over the maximum you can do in a regular, internal combustion Sierra 1500.
However, one thing that regular Sierras can't do is haul longer items in a shorter bed. The Sierra EV’s pickup bed measures 5 feet, 11 inches long, but a trick Multi-Flex midgate opens up to the cabin, extending the maximum length to 9 feet, 1 inch. You can then drop the MultiPro tailgate down, flip up the rear retainer on that, and have 10 feet, 10 inches to work with.
It's a great solution and a well-engineered one. Folding up the rear seats, pulling out the rear window, and dropping the midgate takes just a minute.
