INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Driving without your hands on the steering wheel while driving a pickup weighing nearly 6,000 pounds on the 105 in Los Angeles seems like a profoundly bad idea. Having it hooked up to a trailer that could weigh at least twice as much seems like … well, whatever is at least twice as worse as “profoundly bad.” Irredeemably stupid?

And yet there I was, hands held in my lap and my right foot resting on the carpet while a Chevy Silverado towed a 20-foot box trailer. Was it filled to the brim with concrete? I doubt it, but the Silverado’s ability to lug the trailer was not in question this day. It was its ability to do it by itself that was, or at least mostly by itself with a human there merely to look at the road ahead and take over if necessary. Intervention never was necessary, so I can’t say that made me feel particularly useful. I even missed an exit, so it’s a net loss for humans on the scorecard.

As a brief recap, Super Cruise is GM’s name for its advanced driver assistance system that will automatically accelerate, brake, keep its distance to the vehicle ahead, keep itself centered in its lane and even automatically change lanes without (and this is the critical bit) the driver having contact with the steering wheel or pedals. The driver must simply set the speed and following distance, and crucially, maintain eye contact with the road ahead. A special steering wheel with lights glows green when the system is engaged. It only works on controlled accessed roadways that have been mapped by GM, which includes wide-open stretches of snowy nowhere as depicted above (not driving is hard enough, did you expect me to take car-to-car photos, too?) as well as congested city freeways with stop-and-go traffic. 

Super Cruise also does in fact work with “all trailer-capable vehicles,” and considering that a good number of so-equipped models are body-on-frame trucks and SUVs, that’s a significant share. Not surprisingly, there are some limitations. Automatic lane changes are a no-go when towing, and if the truck estimates that you’re towing something beyond the gross vehicle weight rating, it’ll prevent Super Cruise from activating.

How does it know all that? Simple, really. It knows a trailer is connected because it’s almost certainly wired into the truck, and even if it wasn’t, the parking sensors can tell something’s back there. The weight estimate is then measured by engine and brake strain relative to the truck’s base gross vehicle weight.

But just because something is possible, doesn’t mean it’s a good idea, right? I certainly had a hard time telling my brain it was, because I kept finding my left hand sneaking back up onto the wheel without making a concerted effort to do so. Nevertheless, I felt more confident with Super Cruise activated. I was concentrating almost as much as I would normally, but had a safety net. It felt like this perception would be even stronger and more beneficial on those wide-open stretches of highway where you’d be a bit more likely to start fiddling with the infotainment system, your phone, your Arby’s sandwich … staring at the scenery, yelling at your kids … you get the idea. Basically, when in charge of a vehicle in two pieces weighing 18,000 pounds, having a co-pilot or emergency backup isn’t such a terrible idea. That the system prevents you from mistreating it makes it hard to see the downside.

Would I envision myself wanting to use it in gridlock on the 105? Well, no, but then no one should ever want to drive on the 105. More to the point, this was an exercise intended to show Super Cruise can be used while towing even in an unlikely, borderline extreme situation. It did it, and it did it without issue. In other words, not a profoundly bad idea at all.

The 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV RST is nearly on sale, and ahead of deliveries scheduled for mid-2024, GM has a few updated details to share with us.

An official range estimate is now available, and it’s notably higher than what Chevy initially promised. The RST is rated for 440 miles on a full charge, beating the original estimate of 400 miles by a healthy margin. That makes it the second-furthest-driving Silverado EV in the trim mix, only beat out by the 4WT, which is rated for 450 miles. That said, the 4WT is the Work Truck spec, so it gives up a lot in terms of luxury and creature comforts for not much additional range. It should also be noted that this makes the Silverado EV the range king when it comes to electric pickups, handily beating rivals like the Ford F-150 Lightning, Tesla Cybertruck and Rivian R1T.

A final starting price is available today, too, but only for the First-Edition RST model. This fully-loaded version of the Silverado EV will start at $96,495, including the $1,995 destination charge. Again, that’s an improvement compared to the original price Chevy claimed it would be, by nearly $10,000 no less. However, let’s not forget how Chevy increased the price of its Work Truck from the initially advertised price of $39,900 to $77,905 when it went on sale. Needless to say, the price of new EVs has been a volatile space to play around in.

That’s all we have for today in the realm of new information. If you’re curious about how the Work Truck drives, we have the review for you right here. And if you care to learn all there is to know about the RST model, the Silverado EV’s original reveal drop can be found here. Additional trims – for lower prices – are coming later, but GM hasn’t specified on-sale dates yet.

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