At this point, you’ve heard all about the 2024 Chevy Silverado EV, an all-electric truck that’s sure to take the industry by storm. You’ve likely heard its noteworthy specs, from the 10,000 lb towing capacity to the 400 miles of range from a full charge. We’re all very impressed by its 660 hp and 780 lb-ft of torque, even if that is reliant on the Wide Open Watts system that delivers that boosted performance.
All of this brings me to my point: Chevy has clever names for things like the “Wide Open Watts” system. In fact, GM loves to utilize branding to give us all sorts of interesting terms like the “Ultium” battery platform, “Wide Open Watts,” the GMC Hummer’s “Watts to Freedom” system and its “Infinity Roof,” plus “Super Cruise” and “Ultra Cruise” along with whatever will inevitably come after that. And yet, the best they could come up with for their new electric truck is “Silverado EV?”
No, my friends, they didn’t just run with the first thought that came to them; according to my sources deep within the bowels of GM, there were a number of ideas that got thrown around for this new EV pickup. All of these concepts were eventually dismissed, however, and left to rot in the rubbish bin of automotive history. But I’ve got the inside scoop, and now I’m going to share what could’ve been with you.
The Chevy Thunderstorm
According to my contacts at GM, the folks inside Chevy’s marketing department got REALLY into trying to beat the “F-150 Lightning” name, and they kind of became obsessed. Their first effort at this was the “Chevy Thunderstorm,” which evokes the idea of lightning, but it’s bigger and more powerful. Not a bad idea, I suppose, but it still lacks much of a “truck” feeling to it, and they inevitably decided against it. One internal memo I’ve seen mentioned the “Avalanche” and “No more trucks named after disasters!”
The Chevy Thunderbird
One interesting moment from the marketing department occurred while brainstorming and running some word association drills. Someone mentioned the old Chevy Apache truck, and another person ran with that going from Apache to “Chevy Thunderbird.” According to my sources, they were so pleased with themselves at this that they then devoted four months and more than $3.5 million in their marketing budget to developing the ad campaign for the Chevy Thunderbird. At some point, however, someone walking by their offices overheard what was going on, then stuck their head through a doorway and said simply, “Hey guys, there was a Ford Thunderbird. You know that, right?”
Fourteen low-level employees were fired, and two managers received raises to compensate.
The Chevy Maracaibo
This one I was actually impressed by. While Chevy’s marketing department was still fixated on “lightning,” one of them suggested the name “Chevy Maracaibo,” based on the location that gets struck by lightning the most on the planet. Lake Maracaibo has lightning strikes 300 days a year, and it’s truly spectacular – plus it plays into the place-name theme they have going with “Colorado” and “Montana.” Apparently, they wrote this name down on a piece of paper, which ended up getting lost, and they simply forgot about it – shame.
The Chevy Quicksilver
And now we come to the finest option they could’ve chosen: the Chevy Quicksilver. It harkens the “Silverado” name without being redundant while evoking the feeling of something fast, smooth, and just a little dangerous. It’s a bold, imaginative name that would’ve left things like “F-150 Lightning” and “Cybertruck” in its mighty shadow, but Chevy chose not to go with it for reasons that I have, as of yet, been unable to determine.
The Chevy Golderado
At one point during brainstorming, someone shouted out, “I’ve got it: the Chevy Golderado! What’s better than silver? Gold. So what’s better than a Silverado? A Golderado!” My sources indicate that this announcement was followed by a solid seventeen minutes of absolute silence in the room, broken eventually by the weeping of those who had witnessed this moment of genius. The woman who suggested this name has already been promoted, and this was the name the marketing department decided on – but by the time they came to this decision, it was already four days past the big Silverado EV announcement. Maybe next time!
Editor’s Note: Based on our own research, we’ve been able to determine that “Chevy Quicksilver” was this writer’s idea for what GM should’ve named the truck, and it’s not based on any documents or sources from Chevy. That being said, our editing team was disappointed GM didn’t go in a different direction and play on the explosive success of their other EV models by calling it the Chevy Won’t-Set-Your-Garage-on-Fire-Ado. It’s clearly the best idea, and we’ve already contacted GM in hopes they’ll change it before its release. We’ll let you know when they respond. Thank you.
