2026 GMC Sierra EV Reviews, Pricing & Specs

The most conservative design among EV pickups is the Ford F-150 Lightning, which looks the same as any F-150. Moderately more creative is the Rivian R1T, which looks unique yet still very normal. The Sierra EV lives somewhere between those two. It is plainly obvious from the solid illuminated grille, bracketed turn signals, and the one-piece body—no gap between the cab and the bed—that this is a different Sierra.

But the simple vertical taillights, conventional door handles, the MultiPro Tailgate, and the red GMC logo are comfort food to Sierra owners, as are the chunky 18-inch wheels on the GMC Sierra EV AT4 model. This off-road trim level also includes blackened front and rear bumpers, red tow hooks, and running boards that don’t impede ground clearance. Alternatively, the GMC Sierra EV Denali adds more brightwork and 24-inch wheels.

The body's softer edges and the upright, rounded-off fascia recall the streamlined locomotives General Motors built in the 1940s. It's handsome and masculine without flexing too hard. The interior is clean without being overly minimalist and screen-heavy like a Tesla Cybertruck or a Rivian. It's the same layout you'll find in any new GMC truck or SUV—vertical screen, a single row of climate toggles, clearly-marked buttons on the steering wheel, some plastic chrome, good fit and finish, real door handles, and decent vinyl.

Even in Denali Reserve trim, the cab is hardly as plush and crafted as a gasoline or diesel Sierra 1500 Denali Ultimate. You're paying for what you can't see—the battery, the electronics, the otherworldly performance we'll get to in a moment—not an ornate interior. That's fine. There are enough padded and soft surfaces, the two sliding trays on the center console move with heft, and the switches and stalks feel substantial. On long cruises, it's a delightful cabin. Yet a few splashes of color and rich leather would be welcome.

In the course of a normal vehicle's development, engineers maximize capability while avoiding excessive size, mass, and cost. Heavier, taller, and longer vehicles steer more clumsily, accelerate more slowly, roll more noticeably, and consume more fuel. GMC markets the Sierra EV as a light-duty truck, yet it weighs close to 9,000 pounds empty—more than a Sierra 3500 HD with dual rear wheels. So the Sierra EV rides on a heavy-duty suspension with eight heavy-duty lug nuts on each wheel and each tire filled to a heavy-duty 60 psi. Yet, it can tow up to only 12,500 pounds. That's great for a light-duty but a mere third of what a 3500 HD can pull. The payload is skimpier than a midsize truck's, at only 1,500 pounds with the Max Range battery. In AT4 trim, with a two-inch lift, it stands six feet, eight inches tall. Tow hook to trailer hitch, you're looking at nearly 20 feet of truck.

The Sierra EV's physical heft should equate to disastrous results but, on the contrary, the driving experience is practically faultless. Two electric motors deliver more midrange torque than any diesel, and with anywhere from 605 to 760 horsepower, the Sierra EV slingshots into traffic like a supercharged Camaro. Traction and roadholding are akin to a midsize three-row SUV, not a mammoth truck. Unlike the undersized rotors on most GM trucks, braking is exceptional—a panic stop, even on all-terrain tires, was delivered smoothly and assuredly. Body lean, pitch, and dive are controlled and mitigated like on a sporty crossover whether you choose the trail-tuned AT4 or the air-sprung Denali Reserve.

Maneuverability is equal to a midsize sedan. The rear wheels turn in the opposite direction at low speeds, which makes for easy U-turns and quick parking even in the tightest lots. The ride is serene, and the suspension crashes on big bumps only if you're driving on the Denali Reserve's giant 24-inch wheels. Even then, there are no harsh, bone-shaking impacts like you'll feel in unladen heavy-duty trucks. This is an extreme vehicle that turns every dial to the max, and yet walking on that knife edge of high performance doesn't cause it to fall apart or upset its poise in any way.

We didn't test the AT4 off-road. Its 10-inch ground clearance is impressive, but its approach, breakover, and departure angles are worse than those of the internal-combustion Sierra 1500 AT4X. The Crab Walk diagonal-steering feature from the GMC Hummer EV is now standard, but all it does is induce motion sickness. The effect is like pushing a shopping cart on four loose wheels—you can't point it reliably in any direction and hope to get there. The four-wheel steering is where the fun is at, not Crab Walk.

What about the downsides of owning an EV? The Max Range battery is so large that at 50 percent charge, the Sierra EV has another 200 miles of range left. Our testing in 80-degree weather allowed us to run 390 miles on a single charge (from 100 percent to 12 percent). Run all the way down, we would have seen 440 miles. That’s slightly short of GMC's 478-mile estimate, but without even attempting to conserve energy on a fast highway, with up-hill climbs and the A/C blasting, our results were incredible. And this is not some slippery, low-slung sedan or coupe. It's a brick in the wind, albeit rounded on the edges but a hard brick nonetheless.

In cold weather, when we tested a 2024 Sierra EV Denali Edition 1, our range was only about 300 miles. But since then, GMC has made numerous tweaks to the powertrain and software, which has improved range significantly. Now that fast-charge stations are finally becoming reliable and more plentiful, the Sierra EV makes long distance cruising enjoyable. It's the best electric vehicle, period. We only needed a huge truck with a battery that's as heavy and expensive as a small car, but GMC got us here.

For 2026, there are three battery choices. The Standard Range (283 miles) is standard on the base Elevation and the Denali. The Extended Range is standard on the AT4 (390 miles) and optional on the Elevation and Denali (410 miles). The Max Range is optional on either the AT4 or Denali (478 miles). DC fast-charging rates vary by battery. Only the Max Range can take up to 350 kW, while the Extended Range and Standard Range are 300 kW and 220 kW, respectively. In New England, fast-charging at upwards of 64 cents per kWh makes it no cheaper than running a diesel. Your rates may vary (especially at home) but 205 kWh is a huge amount of energy to replenish.

The rear seats are palatial. Truly. The flat floor, rear doors that open nearly 90 degrees, a panoramic glass roof, and what feels like a foot and a half of legroom make this the best crew cab extant. The front seats get massaging and cooling, but it's the back seats that are the place to be. Even though there's nothing more than heated outboard cushions and a couple USB ports, the sheer amount of space is unmatched in the segment.

The MultiPro Midgate is a marvel of engineering, just as it was on the early 2000s Chevrolet Avalanche. A few minutes to fold down the rear seats, stow the rear glass, and fold down the partition is worth the effort: Nearly 11 feet of bed length allows the longest items to fit without extending past the open tailgate (which includes a flip-up barrier to prevent movement). For items that don't require the entire height of the cab, the Midgate allows for either one or both partitions to fold down without removing the glass. Power outlets in the bed can feed up to 10.2 kW to 120- or 240-volt devices, plus there is a 120-volt outlet under the powered hood which opens for an extra 11 cubic feet of storage. However, the tailgate does not open or close remotely, which it should at this price point.

While the infotainment touchscreen responds quickly and menus are very legible, with large graphics and type across menus, GM’s decision to remove critical physical controls is a major misstep. Say you left the headlights on and open the door. The truck shuts off and dings at you as a reminder, but the only control is in the touchscreen, which is now black. So you have to hop back in, step on the brake to turn it on, tap the light icon on the screen, hit "auto" or "off" and then tap another button (twice) to turn the truck itself back off. The truck also started several times without requiring the brake pedal to be pressed—including once when the key fob was placed on the windshield outside the truck. Even the dome light and window lockouts are controlled by the screen.

Another issue is that GMC doesn't offer a built-in sunshade or electrically-adjustable tinting for the glass roof. On hot days, the cabin bakes under the sun. GMC will sell you a cover you have to manually install and remove. The drive modes also require several screen taps to access, and when you want Max Power Mode, a cheesy sound effect mutes the stereo for several seconds—and you cannot turn it off in the settings. These are all glaring annoyances we'd like to see addressed in future model years.

Aside from making ordinary tasks like ignition and lighting a multi-step process, the touchscreen also does not support phone projection beyond basic Bluetooth connectivity. Whether wired or wireless, GM's newer electric vehicles do not have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, despite using a Google-based system with Maps, Assistant, and the Play App Store that, on GM’s internal-combustion models and the Cadillac Lyriq EV, supports these features.

Super Cruise, however, is excellent. This driver-assist system will steer, brake, and change lanes without any driver input—you don’t even have to keep your hands on the wheel. The system only requires that you keep your eyes on the road. The light bar on the top of the steering wheel makes it easy to know when the system is active, temporarily inactive, or disabled.

A trailering app is nothing more than a safety checklist and maintenance minder. It cannot automatically reverse and steer a trailer like on the F-150 Lightning. But the 14 camera views, including an option to install a camera on the back of a trailer, are sharp. The head-up display spans 14 inches and can show safety and navigation alerts above the 11-inch instrument panel, which offers several preset layouts (including full-screen maps) that are easy to read and use.

Because the Sierra EV is classified as a medium-duty vehicle under its gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR), neither GMC nor the U.S. government publishes any crash-test results. Many of the safety regulations that apply to light-duty trucks do not apply at all to trucks in this category. You can do the math. In a collision, a 9,000-pound vehicle will obliterate a 3,500-pound car or a 4,500-pound family crossover. In this sense, the Sierra EV is a danger to other vehicles, not its occupants.

All that said, the Sierra EV comes standard with 16 driver assistance features including side bicyclist alert, front pedestrian and bicyclist emergency braking, and the Safety Alert Seat which sends warnings for the parking sensors, blind spot monitor, and collision systems as silent vibrations in the seat cushion. Even when parked, the Sierra EV’s seat will vibrate and notify the driver if someone or something is approaching the vehicle from either side.

The 2026 GMC Sierra EV starts at $62,400 for the Elevation, $69,700 for the Denali, and $79,300 for the AT4. Those trim levels, along with the multiple battery options newly available for 2026, make for seven possible combinations.

Our AT4 Max Range, in no-cost Summit White with a hard tonneau cover, had an MSRP of $93,645 with destination. With similar options, it's just as pricey as a Rivian R1T Dual or a Tesla Cybertruck All-Wheel Drive, but more expensive than a Ford F-150 Lightning (which does not offer a similar off-road trim or package). The Chevrolet Silverado EV is even pricier with the same Max Range battery. But an equivalent gasoline or diesel Sierra 1500 AT4 is $20,000 cheaper. And that's where the Sierra EV distances itself not only from the Sierra 1500, but every truck.

The Sierra EV is an overachiever. It has significantly more range than any electric competitor, truck or not, and has chassis composure and stability under acceleration that other electric trucks cannot match. It's incredibly roomy, handles oddly well, tows six tons, offers gobs of interior space and a clever bed configuration, and weighs as much as three cars while driving as if it were one small car. There are a few software faults, but aside from that, this EV truck is difficult to objectively criticize when it performs so, so well. Even without the federal tax credit, it's a strange thing to admit: The Sierra EV is a value.