Man Saves Three Chevy S10 Electric Pickup Prototypes From Extinction
GM built hundreds of Chevy S10 Electric pickups for testing purposes, but few still exist today – making this trio something extra special.
These days, General Motors remains pretty committed to an all-electric future, a mission that it began years ago and continues to forge ahead with today, even as demand for those types of vehicles has tapered off in a big way. Of course, this isn’t the first time major OEMs have tried their hand at making EVs – in fact, fully-electric powertrains are nearly as old as the automobile itself, they just haven’t quite managed to take down the popular ICE engines that consumers have long preferred.
Regardless, there are some pretty cool and much newer EV prototypes that are well worth saving – including this trio of Chevy S10 Electric pickups.
It isn’t everyday that we come across a Chevy S10 Electric, and for good reason – GM built 492 of them in 1997 and 1998, but all as part of a prototype program. Ultimately, the vast majority of those models were crushed by GM, with just 60 escaping that sad fate.
Of that surviving group, most went to government agencies for various uses, including these three, which were discovered and saved by a fellow named Keith Dillman. The Drive recently came across Dillman’s trio of Chevy S10 Electric pickups when he posted them on Facebook, and proceeded to get the scoop on these rare discoveries.
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Dillman believes that his Chevy S10 Electric pickups were used on Robbins Air Force Base in Georgia during their heyday, but he still hasn’t actually driven one, even though he purchased the first way back in 2018. The problem, it seems, is the old school lead acid batteries, which wound up failing and are obviously in need of replacement.
Thus, Dillman continues to wrench away on these rides, getting everything else functioning properly as he awaits the arrival of new battery packs – including a diesel-fired heater that pulls fuel from a small tank inside.
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As one might imagine, parts are virtually non-existent for these obscure Chevy S10 Electric pickups, but Dillman teamed up with a group of other owners, initiating a group buy from Trajectory EV, which is currently making lithium-iron-phosphate batteries for those models. A few of those packs have been completed and shipped to customers, though Dillman is still waiting on his.
As one might imagine, they aren’t cheap – with a price tag of $12,000 – and range isn’t too great at 150 miles, either. However, trucks like this barely exist at this point, and we’re just happy to see that some folks are working hard to keep the few surviving examples alive for future generations.
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