GM just took the wraps off the electric-drive pickup America’s commercial fleets have been waiting for: a one-ton chassis, dually rear axle and massive capability baked in. The best part? You can have it in any color you want — as long as it’s Army green.
Officially dubbed the UGV, the newly revealed Unmanned Ground Vehicle is a cab-less, autonomous machine built on what GM is calling, “the dual-rear-wheel Chevy Silverado 3500 HD skateboard architecture,” the UGV is being developed to support military operations with silent (read: electric) logistics and casualty evacuation.
The most significant takeaway, however, is that GM has developed an extended-range electric 3500 pickup chassis – and it may be Army-crawling its way to production.
Wishful thinking
GM’s official press release on the UGV concept is understandably short on precise specs, which is the norm for military vehicle announcements. What we can infer, however, has massive potential for the electric truck market. Consider the following reported capabilities: a 102 kWh battery pack, silent electric drive, an onboard internal combustion engine (likely the same 186 hp, 2.8 liter GM Duramax four-cylinder turbo-diesel used in GM’s other Silverado-based military trucks) to recharge the battery and provide continuous V2L and V2G capabilities to equipment in the field.
That’s a ton of capability (sorry) packed into GM’s one-ton dually chassis – and it’s exactly the kind of work-ready EREV or PHEV pickup that America’s work-focused fleets, RVers, and truck enthusiasts have been begging for. And, as for whether or not the UGV really has a chance at seeing production, GM’s own people are hinting that this military concept isn’t a one-off.
“We do not begin with a blank sheet of paper,” said Steve duMont, president of GM Defense. “By transferring GM’s world-class engineering, supply chain and manufacturing scale directly to the service member, we are transforming customer needs into mission-ready capability faster than ever before.”
In addition to the hybrid 3500 chassis, other potential consumer breakthroughs include a more advanced autonomous system than we’ve yet seen in production-spec GM vehicles. The UGV was displayed with Scout AI’s Gx Ground Agent autonomy system, which uses an open, modular interface to accommodate different sensors and mission systems while subtly implying that the eyes-off ADAS scheduled to appear in 2028 under GM’s Super Cruise branding is also making significant progress.
So, is GM bringing full-size, body-on-frame, electric drive EREV 3500 dually pickup, with real hot-shot towing capabilities, and eyes-off ADAS to market in 2028? A boy can dream, can’t he? Let us know how that all sounds to you, in the comments.
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