2026 GMC Sierra EV Elevation First Test: Lighter, Slower, Cheaper. Better?

Pros:

-Bargain interior still looks luxe
-Best regen braking in truckdom
-Increased optionality

Cons:

-Insufficient optionality
-Low-resolution cameras
-Choppy ride excites rattles

By now, a well-established pattern of electric vehicle launches has developed: Lead with the max-profit models first, then backfill with more affordable offerings as demand dwindles. Throughout its freshman year, the GMC Sierra EV lineup was represented by one variant: the swanky Denali Edition 1. Severe sticker shock constrained sales to about a quarter that of the more affordable Chevy Silverado EV. Well, now a new Elevation trim level gives electric truck buyers line-item veto power over much of the Denali’s standard equipment list, its $64,995 base price slashing $36 grand off the opening price. Are these more affordable Sierra EVs worth a longer look?

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What $64,995 Buys You

The standard-range, 119-kWh battery is rated for just 283 miles, and its DC fast charging rate drops from 350 to just 220 kW, so don’t expect to tow anything for a meaningful distance. Overall output of the e-AWD system with the smallest battery gets pruned to “just” 605 hp and 605 lb-ft, so restrict your drag racing to gas pickups. You get a MultiPro tailgate but no MultiPro MidGate. Niceties like Super Cruise, four-wheel steering, and heated, ventilated, eight-way power memory seats are disallowed. We still don’t know just how basic this loss leader feels to drive as we’ve been unable to get our hands on one to date.

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What This Elevation Extended Range Came Equipped With

Stepping up from the “rental grade” Sierra EV can happen in one of two ways: Fancy up the interior and niceties with the Denali Standard Range ($71,795), or step up the battery size and range with the Elevation Extended Range we tested, which starts at $72,695 with a 170-kWh battery good for 410 miles of range. Output and DC fast charging speed also improve, to 645 hp/765 lb-ft and 300 kW. This trim grade unlocks some enticing options, including the mid-gate and a suite of ProGrade Trailering features. No dice on rear-wheel steering and Crab Walk, and the Elevation grade doesn’t offer the 205-kWh, 478-mile Max Battery that charges at 350 kW. (Your cheapest way into that setup is Chevy’s Silverado EV LT Max Range, priced at $91,295.)

This $86,345 truck came loaded with a few mega-packages, like the $5,750 Premium package that gangs a lot of stuff we wish were à la carte, including the aforementioned mid-gate, trailering gear, and convenience package. Oh, and this package is required if you’d like to add Super Cruise ($3,255). Our truck had all the above, plus $2,200 worth of 22-inch wheels, $1,850 of hard tonneau cover, and $495 paint. So equipped, our truck tipped the scales at 8,376 pounds—about 450 less than previous Max Range test units, carrying 13 pounds per horsepower to the other trucks’ 12-ish lb/hp.

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How Quick/Fast Is It?

At 4.3 seconds to 60 mph, it runs neck-and-neck with the (also new) Sierra EV AT4, between the two Max-battery Chevy Silverado EVs we’ve tested and a few ticks behind the average of seven Ford F-150 Lightnings we’ve tested. (Hummer EVs, Rivians, and Cybertrucks all run in the 3s.) By the quarter mile, its Max-battery siblings and the Lightning brigade are pulling ahead, slightly. From behind the wheel, the Sierra still feels very heavy, forcing one to consider the energy being expended to rocket four-plus tons up to speed—and to whoa it all back down in case of an emergency.

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What About Handling?

Among General Motors Ultium platform truck stablemates, this lighter GMC on street rubber is (comparatively) the track rat, stopping 5–18 feet shorter from 60 mph (127 feet), besting them all in max lateral grip (0.77 g) and circulating our little figure-eight course quickest of all (27.3 seconds at 0.67 g average). The aluminum-bodied Lightnings average 1,650 pounds lighter still and hence outperform in these categories. Regarding the lack of rear steering, senior editor Scott Evans noted, “I like the way this one drives without it. It feels more like just a plain truck. I’d miss the convenience in a parking lot, but just cruising around I like how familiar it feels.” Another ding against handling: Several editors noted a tug of torque steer whenever they nailed the go pedal.

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Range and Charging

This middle-rung battery is optimistically rated for 410 miles of EPA range. That withered to just 295 when we juiced up and drove it down to 5 percent charge at 70 mph. A 28 percent drop underperforms all its GM truck brethren. But despite its lower (300-kW versus 350-kW) charge rating, peak and average rates differed little from those we’ve reported on other, similar Chevy and GMC models, adding 115 miles in 15 minutes versus 118–133 on big-battery Ultium trucks.

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How Well Does It Truck?

Heavy, long-wheelbase vehicles are excellent for towing, and this one behaves well, yanking around a 7,900-pound ski boat with comparative ease. The ability to adjust one-pedal driving and then augment it at will by pulling on the left shift paddle is great when slowing a trailer. Reversing a trailer would be easier with rear steering, but the trailering package’s list of goodies eases other trailering tasks, and extensive towing checklists and suggestions should help alleviate anxiety for folks who infrequently tow, as is probably the case for buyers of a smaller-battery, slower-charging electric truck.

This Sierra EV can’t tackle off-road obstacles very well at all. It managed to follow the Silverado EV Trail Boss up a cement hill but did so with far more suspension clunking and belly-pan scraping. Sandy hill climbs were not its jam, either. This is a road truck.

For hauling loads around town, we find the MultiPro tailgate to be the least useful of the Detroit Three’s fancy gates. And because of how fiddly that mid-gate is to open and close, we worry that few owners will use it enough to justify the cost and excuse the rattles and squeaks it invites—especially in trucks shod in these flintier-riding 22s.

Bottom Line

We welcome the availability of less expensive GMC Sierra EVs, and we endorse most of the decontenting—like the cloth replacing the Denali’s wood. We just wish it were possible to build exactly the truck we want. Maybe base Elevation trim, max battery and charging speed, plus ProGrade trailering, rear-steering, and Super Cruise but no mid-gate, on the base 18-inch tires for a superb highway long-hauler that occasionally pulls a trailer. Maybe next year.