5 Big Ways The Chevrolet Silverado Has Evolved Over Time

The Chevrolet Silverado is one of the most popular trucks today, and it's gotten there through revisions over the years — both big and small. While there are a lot of similarities between the first generation of Silverados, you'll find the modern ones have a lot of extra features that have helped Chevy become the powerhouse it's known as today. While they haven't all been hits, the majority of Silverado model years have been solid purchases.

People who have stuck with the Silverado over the generations have experienced all kinds of upgrades, and many of them are now taken for granted. Several additions, such as backup cameras and touchscreen displays, are now commonplace in many cars, but they are still big changes. There's no longer any fear about plowing your big truck into something while backing up, something that could have certainly be an issue with earlier Silverados thanks to the size. 

While many people aren't expecting great gas mileage out of a hefty truck when they make the purchase, it's not a bad thing to have. Many reliable engines have powered the Silverado, and GM's Ecotec3 engine is no exception. This engine was added to the Chevy Silverado beginning in 2014, and it greatly improved the gas mileage in not only the Silverado but other pickup trucks that featured the engine. The Silverado could get 16 city and 22 highway miles per gallon with the 5.3 L Ecotec3 engine, a notable bump from the 15 city and 21 highway from the 2013 model.

This engine has helped the Silverado from model years 2014 through 2018 maintain high resale values — the latter of which still holds more than 50% of its value in most cases. Perhaps the engine came at the right time too, as GM was hit with a lawsuit alleging the previous 5.3 L engine that powered the 2010-13 Silverados among several others was faulty. GM was ordered to pay out $102.6 million in 2022 as a result of the lawsuit.

The year 2014 was a big one for the Silverado because not only did it get the new Ecotec engine, but it was also the first year it was given Chevy MyLink support. MyLink proved to be a game changer, part of why a form of it is still being used today, albeit in a much more advanced state. What this did was allow you to connect your smartphone directly to your vehicle for seamless access, allowing you to easily play music and make phone calls. The Silverado was one of the first to use voice recognition that allowed you to make calls without having to touch your phone at all. It might be hard to envision today, but this was a novel feature in the mid-2010s.

A touch screen was also included in the 2014 LTZ and LT Silverados that gave you even more versatility, such as letting you look at a map while you drive. Fast-forward to now and these are commonplace on many cars, but the Silverado helped blaze the path ahead.

Big, heavy trucks aren't known for good gas mileage, but that hasn't stopped Chevy from trying to get the most out of the Silverado line. The engine is part of the factor, but another way to get better mileage is to cut weight where possible. In an effort to compete with Ford's popular F-150 line, Chevy dropped around 200 lbs from its Silverado Cheyenne brand, and about 450 was cut off in 2019. 

The Cheyenne revision was clear to follow — the manufacturer cut the trailer hitch, spare tire, and center console to drop the additional weight. On top of that, aluminum was substituted for the wheels. To shed this weight in 2019, Chevy said special manufacturing and mixed materials made it happen. In a surprise, not only was this Silverado lighter than it had been before, but it was also bigger and had more space. While these moves won't suddenly make the Silverado get the same gas mileage as a car, owners will notice how they save money over time.

With the world moving toward electric vehicles more and more each day, it should be no shock to see the big auto manufacturers throw their hats into the ring. Chevrolet debuted its Silverado EV, the first-ever fully electric Silverado, in 2023. Despite ditching gas, the Silverado EV is still very much the powerhouse it's come to be known as. It's estimated it can tow up to 10,000 lbs and reach up to 450 miles on its battery before needing a charge. Unfortunately, this comes at a price and it's that the base model starts north of $70,000.

There are three options available for the Silverado EV — a 4WT, 3WT, and RST model. The 3WT model hauls more, as it's estimated to hit up to 12,500 lbs of max towing along with 1,750 max available payload, but this comes with a lower estimated range of 393 miles. The RST is the most expensive of the bunch and you'll have to spend more than $100,000 to pick that up. Unfortunately, the high cost does effectively price a lot of people out of the Silverado EV, but as the push continues toward electric vehicles, it will almost certainly become more affordable to the average person.

The Chevy Silverado is one of the most customizable trucks out there, and you can get one practically tailor-made for you based on your needs. The 2024 Silverado has nine different trims to pick from, so if you're on a budget or don't want the fancy bells and whistles, you don't have to spend that much. Going back to the 2014 model, we see just four different trims, so Chevy has more than doubled the trims in a decade.

While many features like large touchscreens have become standard in many cars, the Silverado lets you opt out of that to save cash. The Work Truck trim begins at $36,800, while ZR2 starts at $69,900 — representing a wide price range. The WT trim is best for people looking for something simple, which is partly why it's aptly called Work Truck. If you've narrowed your purchase down to the WT trim, you have even more decisions to make, as there are 10 different styles from which to choose. The ZR2 is the only trim with a single style, so you'll certainly have to do your research before walking into the dealership and picking one out.