The hotly anticipated Silverado EV pickup just received a major leg up on the competition after the EPA announced that the fleet version of the pickup just returned a 450-mile range. This is an improvement of 50 miles over what Chevy was previously advertising and now puts it miles (literally) ahead of the competition in range, with the closest non-GM competitor, the Ford F-150 Lightning, only able to muster 320 miles of range.

Remember that the WT version tested most definitely has the extended-range battery pack, but there will also be a smaller battery option. The EPA hasn't returned test results for any of the other versions of the truck, but this result means that even the higher output versions like the RST and Trail Boss will most likely hit/exceed their targeted ranges of 400 miles. If reservations were already crazy before, we imagine they're about to increase significantly.

Speaking to the Detroit Free Press, GM President of North America Rory Harvey said, "When you look at that range, particularly in respect to the work truck which is predominantly a fleet vehicle, we believe that gives us a competitive advantage in terms of those fleet customers."

This competitive advantage in the range comes from GM asserting the WT version is estimated to have one of the lowest drag coefficients of any available pickup truck; hard to argue with when the EPA mileage turns out to be this significant. Harvey says the team was able to achieve these gains thanks to the engineers behind it. "We look at refinements, we look at aero, we look at the way the vehicle is calibrated, the way the vehicle is set up. There are so many factors that go into it. The team was able to refine it."

Chevy still says that the base Silverado EV will start at $39,900 before destination fees, meaning the extended battery pack version should slot in around $50,000.

This will comprise fleet customer-exclusive 3WT and 4WT models powered by two electric motors, one in the front and one in the back, producing 510 horsepower combined. The prices on the truck skyrocket from there, more than doubling until you reach the top-of-the-line RST's $107,000 price with 754 hp on tap.

All this information means that the Silverado EV will undercut the Ford F-150 Lightning Pro by over $10,000 and offer 130 miles more range; if this can't help it match the Lightning in sales, nothing will. If we were bigwigs at Ford right now, we'd be making some serious phone calls right now.

Ram's first electric truck, the Ram 1500 REV, is claimed to have a 350-mile range in base form, which is 100 miles shy of the Silverado 1500 EV WT. However, the Ram will also have the option of a gargantuan 229 kWh battery that Ram claims will grant it 500 miles on a charge - a figure the EPA has not yet verified.