Next year, Chevrolet is gearing up for the release of its first electric pickup truck, the Silverado EV. The Bowtie Brand sold out of the most expensive version of the truck in minutes, but GM Fleet hasn't stopped its aggressive push to sell the electric pickup to companies large and small. Automotive News reports that the automaker is seeing extremely high interest levels in the new truck, which isn't set for a full release until sometime in 2023.

GM's fleet team says it has taken 85,000 reservations for the new truck, with interest coming from almost 370 companies. Part of the increase in interest relates to the facts that fleet buyers just need to keep new vehicles coming. GM Fleet VP Ed Peper said that "fleet companies need replacement vehicles. They are tools of their trade and tools of their business, just like laptop computers are."

He's bullish on the automaker's market position going forward. "Our demand has never been greater than it is right now," he said. "We are going to be up significantly more than the rest of the industry." It's an interesting thought, given that Chevy isn't the first, or even the second, mover in the electric pickup truck space.

General Motors' fleet volume saw declines as the pandemic and microchip shortage took their toll, but the automaker reported a 7% increase in fleet penetration in the first quarter of this year over the same period last year. The progress put GM close to the 28% penetration it saw before the world shut down.

The Silverado EV will join the Ford F-150 Lightning when it's released as a 2024 model. Ford hasn't detailed the number of fleet buyers it has lined up for the Lightning, but the Blue Oval has claimed to have more than 200,000 standard customer reservations for its truck. Ford's working to ramp up production of the pickup, but at its current capacity, buyers will be waiting a while.

We don't yet know Chevrolet's production capacity for the new trucks, but it's clear there's plenty of demand. The Silverado EV RST, a range-topping luxurious variant, sold out in just 12 minutes and there are well over 140,000 reservations for the truck to date. That demand, coupled with Chevy's innovative features for the new trucks, should ensure sustained interest from fleet and retail buyers alike.