This is the next-generation GMC Sierra 1500 pickup truck. The hosts are excited because the 2027 version is a big new release for GM’s popular full-size trucks.
The podcast is talking about a particular truck and sharing pricing information. Knowing the price helps you understand what it would cost to buy that truck.
They’re talking about testing in Germany, where ZF is based and does a lot of engineering work. It’s a clue that the tech being discussed is coming from a major supplier.
The Chevrolet Silverado is a large pickup truck made for work and everyday use. People talk about it a lot because it’s common and gets updates that can change things like power, towing ability, and comfort.
The Dodge Ram is a large pickup truck. It’s popular because it can be configured for different jobs, including towing and hauling, and it’s often included in comparisons of how many trucks different brands sell.
The Sierra EV is the electric GMC Sierra. They’re saying the regular Sierra pickup now borrows the EV’s headlight look, so the front end resembles the electric model more than before.
An in-person reveal is when a manufacturer shows the vehicle physically to media and the public, rather than only sharing photos or videos. The hosts argue that seeing a truck up close can change how its styling and proportions “read” compared with images.
“All terrain” tires are made to work on both regular roads and rougher surfaces. Here, they’re talking about bigger all-terrain tires as part of the off-road truck package.
“Running gear” means the key parts underneath the truck that help it move and handle bumps—like the suspension and related off-road hardware. They’re saying the AEV version adds better off-road parts.
The hosts start asking how the GMC Sierra will be different from the Chevrolet Silverado. They say styling has been covered, but the biggest differences might be inside the cabin.
“Understated luxury” means it feels premium, but it doesn’t try to scream for attention. In this segment, they’re saying the GMC Sierra 84X goes for a more subtle, classy vibe instead of a loud, flashy one.
Car
Ford Raptor
The Ford Raptor is Ford’s top off-road truck. In this conversation, they’re using it as an example of the more expensive, more dramatic-looking trucks compared with the GMC Sierra 84X.
The Ram TRX is one of the most extreme off-road trucks Ram makes. They’re mentioning it because it’s louder, more dramatic-looking, and typically more expensive than the more low-key option they’re discussing.
A “flagship off-road truck” is the brand’s top off-road model—usually the most capable and most expensive. They’re using the term to compare the GMC Sierra 84X to the best, priciest off-road trucks from other brands.
The Ford F-150 is a large pickup truck. People talk about it a lot because it comes in many versions, including high-performance ones that cost more and are built to be more powerful.
A “wide body” truck has extra-wide fenders and a broader stance than a standard truck. The hosts are saying that this wider, more dramatic look is part of why some top off-road trucks feel more flashy.
The GMC Sierra 84X is a special version of the Sierra meant for serious off-road use. Here, they’re saying it’s aimed at buyers who want that capability without the loud, flashy look of some other top off-road trucks.
Car
Raptor R
Raptor R is a higher-end, more hardcore version of the Ford Raptor. They’re bringing it up to show that some of these top trucks can easily push past $100,000.
This is a high-end version of the Ford F-150 pickup. The hosts are mainly talking about how much it costs compared to other trucks.
Car
Denali
Denali is a nicer, more upscale trim level on GMC trucks. In this segment, it’s used to talk about the type of buyer who can afford very high truck prices.
This is a high-end version of the Ram 1500 pickup called Tungsten. They’re pointing out the sticker price when it’s loaded with options, and how that adds up fast.
MSRP is the sticker price the manufacturer sets for the car. It’s the starting point before you add things like destination fees, taxes, and other charges.
An upcharge is extra money added to the price. So even if the dealer doesn’t offer a discount, you might still pay more for certain add-ons or availability.
The GMC Sierra is a big pickup truck from General Motors. In this segment, they’re saying the new Sierra is getting more “luxury” interior features, especially screen and storage tech.
A passenger screen is a display meant for the person riding in the front seat. Instead of being always visible, this one is covered and then revealed, so it can hide when you’re not using it.
A digital rear view mirror is a screen that shows what’s behind you using a camera. It can help you see better than a normal mirror in certain situations.
Climate control settings are how you control the heat and A/C in the cabin. If they’re on a screen instead of physical knobs/buttons, it can be harder to adjust quickly.
Trailer brakes are brakes on the trailer itself. A trailer brake controller helps the truck manage them so the trailer slows down safely when you brake.
The Tesla Cybertruck is a pickup truck that runs on electricity instead of gasoline. It’s built to do truck jobs like carrying things, but it uses a battery and charging instead of a gas engine.
Four-wheel-drive controls let you choose how the truck sends power to all four wheels. Modes like 2WD, 4WD high, and 4WD low are used depending on whether you need extra traction or more crawling power.
A sunroof is a panel in the roof that lets in more light (and sometimes air). They’re saying this truck has a very large one that covers most of the cab area.
Super Cruise is a GM feature that helps the truck drive more on its own. It can keep working even when you’re towing, but you still have to watch the road and be ready to take over.
Term
digital control
A “digital control” here refers to moving physical lighting/headlamp switches into a screen-based interface. The hosts are comparing the truck’s headlamp controls to what they saw on the Silverado, suggesting a more software-driven cabin layout.
The Chevrolet Silverado EV is a pickup truck that runs on electricity. It’s meant to do truck tasks, and the discussion here is about how comfortable it is to sit in.
MultiPro is GM’s name for a flexible, multi-position feature. In this case, it’s being used in the center console so the armrest can fold into a bigger work platform.
USB-C ports are the common newer charging/data connectors you see on many phones and laptops. Here, they’re built into the console so you can charge devices while you work.
Antennas are the parts that help a vehicle pick up signals for things like radio and navigation. The point here is that the truck’s roof looks clean, with no obvious antenna sticking out.
The Chevrolet Corvette is a sports car made for fast driving. When people talk about its engine updates, they’re usually talking about how quickly it accelerates and how it drives.
A cold start is when an engine is started after it has been sitting and the engine is at a low temperature. The hosts mention the “growl” on a cold start being especially noticeable on these new V8s, suggesting the sound character changes when the engine is first fired up.
Supercharged means there’s a device forcing extra air into the engine. That usually boosts power and can make the engine feel more responsive than a non-turbo engine.
Naturally aspirated means the engine isn’t using a turbo or supercharger to force air in. With a large V8, that usually gives a fuller sound and a different driving feel than turbo engines.
Aftermarket means upgrades or parts that aren’t made by the car’s original manufacturer. People use them to change things like sound, power, or appearance.
A performance exhaust is an exhaust system designed to change how the engine sounds and how easily exhaust gases can leave. It’s often chosen for a louder or more aggressive sound.
Duramax is GM’s line of diesel engines. Diesel engines are often chosen for their strong pulling power, and here they’re saying the truck will still offer a diesel option.
Term
Turbo Max, Turbo 4
This refers to a smaller engine that uses a turbocharger to make more power than a naturally aspirated small engine. The discussion is mainly about how that turbo engine will be matched with a 10-speed transmission.
A “10-speed” is an automatic transmission with 10 different gear ratios. More gears can help the engine stay in the right rev range more often, which can make the truck feel smoother and sometimes more efficient.
The “2.7” is the engine size in liters. Bigger numbers usually mean more potential power, but with turbocharging a smaller engine can still make strong power.
Towing is how much weight the truck can safely pull behind it. They’re saying GM hasn’t released the final towing numbers for the new setup yet, but current trucks already tow a lot.
The Chevrolet Silverado 1500 is a pickup truck that’s being compared to the GMC Sierra 1500. The point here is that both trucks can tow a lot already, especially with the right tow package.
A “maximum tow package” is a set of factory options meant to help the truck tow at its highest rating. It’s the difference between towing “okay” and towing at the top number the manufacturer allows.
“Heavy duty” means you pick the more capable towing setup. The hosts are saying if you’re towing heavy loads all the time, you should choose the truck/package meant for that kind of use.
Trim levels are the different versions of the same truck model. Each version comes with different equipment, and that can change things like towing gear and off-road options.
Lockers are off-road traction features that help the wheels keep turning together when the ground is slippery. With lockers on both the front and rear, the truck is less likely to get stuck when one wheel spins.
Term
DSS feed dampers
Dampers are the shock absorbers that control how the suspension moves over bumps. “DSS feed” sounds like a particular shock design meant to better control the truck when driving off-road.
Term
spool valves
Spool valves are internal valve components inside certain dampers/shocks that meter fluid flow to control damping force. By changing how the valve opens and closes, the suspension can respond differently to bumps and impacts.
A jounce bumper is like a safety cushion for the suspension. If the truck compresses too far over a big bump, the bumper helps prevent metal-to-metal contact and protects the suspension.
“Starting price” means the lowest price the truck is advertised at. The hosts point out that the final amount you pay is usually higher once you add extra fees and taxes.
Destination charge is the fee manufacturers add to cover shipping the vehicle from the factory to the dealer. The hosts note it’s “odd” they didn’t mention it, and they speculate it could be built in or around $1,000.
“Plated” means the truck is officially registered and has license plates. That’s usually part of the extra steps and costs beyond the base price.
Concept
SUV version of the truck
They’re comparing a truck to an SUV version that’s related. The point is that the SUV will likely cost more—just under $30,000—than the truck’s starting price.
DIY just means doing the work yourself instead of paying a shop. Here, they’re saying the truck is set up so owners can install some add-ons on their own.
Remote battery monitoring means the truck can report battery status to your phone. It helps you see if the battery is low or acting up without guessing.
Remote start lets you start the truck from outside, usually with a key fob or an app. People use it to warm up or cool down the cabin before they drive.
The Ford Edge is a mid-size SUV that’s built for regular driving, not off-roading. People talk about it because it’s common, and the podcast reference sounds like they’re describing a particular one they noticed.
“Jailbreak edition” is a special trim level on the Durango that’s mainly about unique looks. Think of it like a factory styling package with more freedom to be flashy.
The Dodge Durango is a popular family SUV from Dodge. Here they’re talking about a special “jailbreak” version that’s mostly about bolder styling and color combinations.
An electric motor is the part that uses electricity to make the wheels turn. They’re saying the vehicle might not be set up to easily add one in the front.
“Rear wheel drive only” means the car powers just the back wheels. In bad weather it can be less sure-footed than all-wheel drive, depending on tires and conditions.
“205 to 208 miles” is how far the vehicle can go before it needs recharging. If you drive longer trips, range is one of the biggest things to pay attention to.
“Two wheel drive” means power goes to only one pair of wheels. It can be fine for everyday driving, but it may not grip as well as all-wheel drive in snow or heavy rain.
A lowering kit is an add-on that makes a truck sit lower to the ground. It usually changes the springs and shocks so the suspension has less travel and a different ride feel.
A lift kit raises the truck higher off the ground. People use it to clear bigger tires and handle rougher terrain, but it can change how the truck drives.
Term
altering tires
Swapping or changing tires can change how well the truck grips and how it rides. In snow, the right tire matters a lot for traction.
Traction control is a safety system that prevents the wheels from spinning too much. On ice or snow it helps the truck get moving, but it can also make it harder to slide on purpose.
A diff lock is a feature that makes both wheels on the same axle work together. If one wheel starts slipping, locking the differential helps the other wheel keep pulling.
LIVE
This is going to be a packed episode of TFL Talking Trucks podcast because we have huge
news this week.
Yeah, it's like everything in the truck industry is happening all at once.
There's actually a bunch going on.
Yes, so this week is the world debut of the 2027 GMC Sierra 1500, the new generation of
the truck.
So we're going to be talking all about that, but there is more.
Yeah, because we also have news from Slate, and of course, Roman was just out in California
checking that truck out, riding along in it.
We have pricing information on the Slate truck, which is a pretty big deal.
And we're actually configuring our very own Slate for the company.
Yeah, exactly.
Then you went to Moab, actually, recently, actually yesterday you got back.
Yeah, just in basically a few hours.
Yeah, within the span of a couple hours ago, got back from Moab, and you were also
just in Germany with ZF testing a lot of big truck technology.
Yeah, semi-trucks, actually, producer Cole and I were there for several days, and so
we can talk about all that and much more.
But let's hit it with the biggest news, dude, because Sierra 1500 and GM full-size trucks
in general, they're the best seller, basically.
Yeah, so a new iteration of this truck is obviously a very big deal.
We spent an entire podcast talking about the Silverado and all the updates made to it,
and a lot of the updates for the Sierra follow along those same lines.
So this entire podcast isn't going to be exclusively about these trucks because we went
into a lot of detail with the Chevy version of it.
Last time, yeah.
But there are several differences, of course, between the GMC and Chevy versions of their
new full-size truck, and yet, to your point, Sierra and Silverado combined are the best-selling
full-size trucks.
Yeah, if you compare that combined number against Ford, Ram, and everybody else, I mean,
they're on top as far as General Motors combined.
So let's go over it, though, because this is really important.
The styling is really different from the Silverado.
We can argue if we like it or not like it.
Also, we can talk about the chassis, the powertrains, the interior.
There's a lot going on in the interior that I didn't expect, actually.
Yeah, and so if you're listening along in podcast form, the main thing about the styling of these
new Sierras is that they've kind of adopted the Sierra EV headlight design and headlight
signature.
So the front end of this truck looks a lot more like the Sierra EV.
It's not quite as round, I would say, as the Sierra EV.
So it doesn't look like a carbon copy of it.
You can tell that this is a Sierra 1500.
But there's definitely some of that styling and design language that has bled over now
into these 1500 trucks, and it's, I think, a bigger transition from the previous generation
trucks than what we saw with the Silverados, because the new Silverados look...
Just kind of looks the same, but fresher.
Yeah, it looks a lot like the old model.
This one has changed decidedly more, but my personal take is I kind of like the look of
the Chevy's more than the Sierra's.
But of course, that's all preference.
It's all personal preference, like you said.
I am, well, this is my first impression with looking at images and video clips that we have
of the new Sierra 1500.
I always like the Sierra a little bit more than the Silverado, just in most instances.
I mean, of course, the Sierra II Silverado is pretty nice, but I appreciate this.
And obviously, it has a large grille, because it needs to allow air into the radiator and
the rest of the engine bay, because they have some big engines underneath the hood.
Yeah, absolutely.
So it doesn't really seem like the grilles have gotten necessarily any bigger.
But the other thing with the styling of these trucks is that we want to withhold our final
judgment and feelings about them until we actually get to see them in person, because
that always changes your perception of how a vehicle looks versus looking at them in photos.
And currently, photos is all we have.
It's all anybody has, because neither for the Silverado nor for the Sierra has GM
done any actual in-person reveal of these trucks.
For the media and the journalists and the rest.
So no one's really gotten to see these trucks up close.
But I'm sure that'll be coming up in not too much time.
Yeah, but we have, if you're watching us on TFL Talk Channel, thank you.
If you're supporting us on patreon.com slash tflcar, huge thank you.
And we promise we'll do another live show very soon, maybe next week, because some of this
information is embargoed.
So we're kind of pre-recording this podcast before we can actually share it with you live.
So that's what we're doing.
Once again, they're showing the new 84X and 84 edition off-road trucks, which both get bigger
tires.
So the 84 now moves up to 34 inch diameter all terrain and 84X, their high-end truck,
moves up to a 35 inch tall tire.
Yeah, which we're especially excited about because we're based here in Colorado in the
mountain.
So off-road trims of trucks are always generally our first choice.
And the 84X would be our pick for any version of this truck if you were to opt for it.
They are also bringing back the AEV version of the 84X.
So if you want to spend the extra money, which is not an insignificant amount,
it's about $7,000 to upgrade to the AEV version of the 84X.
That's what it's currently is.
Yeah, that's what it currently is on the truck, on the previous model that's now being replaced.
So it's always an expensive upgrade to get the AEV version of one of these trucks.
Could be worth it if you're not too price sensitive.
It does get you some nice running gear.
Here's where I am on this because I think everybody's thinking the same thing you and I
are thinking is how's the Sierra going to differentiate itself from the Silverado?
We talked about styling.
We haven't touched on the interior, which is where the big changes are as well.
But before we get to the inside, I just wanted to bring up this point.
I've talked to several GMC dealerships around our area, Denver area here in Colorado,
and they usually tell me that the trucks that sell the fastest on their lights are 84Xs
and Denali Ultimates.
And if you think about it, I mean, these are $90,000 vehicles.
And so who is buying them?
I mean, apparently there's a big demand for this type of thing.
And I think it has to do with the brand kind of identity and also like understated luxury.
Because it's not very flashy.
It's not like you're driving a Lamborghini around.
Yeah.
And it's not as over the top as a lot of the other flagship off-road trucks that you could buy
from Ram or from Ford, because a TRX that's coming back and the Raptor are more expensive,
more powerful, they're wide body trucks, and they are flashier.
So the buyer for a GMC Sierra 84X maybe doesn't want something that has as wide of a track with,
maybe doesn't want something quite as brash and loud and flashy.
So there could definitely be a buyer for, well, there obviously is a buyer for this truck.
Yeah, because they're already successful with this.
You can also tell from the color palette, right?
We showed a little bit earlier kind of like all the trims levels together,
the image of all of them combined.
And you're seeing some sort of sandy colored, a lot of black, silver.
There's a nice blue actually on the left right there with a Denali kind of a standard Denali color.
But it's mostly kind of understated colors, kind of luxurious colors, I would say.
Yeah, and so the previous version of the 84X AEV or Denali Ultimate was around $91,000.
We don't have pricing on the new trucks yet, but that is less expensive than a lot of the other
flagship off-road trucks like a Raptor R or a TRX that are 100,000 plus.
Yeah, I actually have a couple screenshots, Cole, where I looked up some pricing, for example,
on the Raptor R and some of the other premium trucks.
So we could kind of look this up really quickly.
We could start with this one.
So the current 2026 model of the F-150 Platinum Plus is also near $90,000.
So it's very comparative to where GMC Sierra's currently are.
And the next image, hopefully, is a Raptor R. You could see here, but the price goes up,
$114,000.
Yeah, basically $115,000 because it's $114,900.
Yeah, and the thing is, I think the person or the family that's buying a Denali or an 84X,
they can afford this.
It's not a matter of, oh my gosh, I can't pay another $15,000 or something like that.
But it's about image, probably, right?
It's about what they want.
To your point, I think if you're spending $100,000 on a truck,
$115,000 is probably not necessarily going to be a deal breaker.
But the difference between $91,000 and $115,000 is quite big.
Yeah, that's a big chunk.
Yeah, that's a chunk.
So I have a couple of others.
Ram, well, this is what the current CRS are.
You can kind of see, we already talked about this between about $85,000 to about $91,000.
But Ram, look at this.
So in the lower right corner, MSRP on a Ram 1500 tungsten with many options is $95,000
plus destination.
So this is almost 98 grand.
Yeah, which is intense.
But by the way, Rams have huge discounts, as you and I have found out recently in a recent video.
Yeah, which does have an impact on the sticker shock with a lot of vehicles,
not necessarily something like a Raptor R or especially when TRX has hit the dealership.
They don't have any discounts.
No, those are not going to have discounts.
Maybe upcharges.
Yeah, unfortunate.
Yeah, maybe upcharges.
So let's move on, talk a little bit more about the interior and we can follow up with some power
trains.
But on the inside, dude, I want to see the video clip because GMC is doing something
pretty wild on the inside.
Yeah, and this is where a lot of the updates are.
And it makes sense because GMC Sierra is a more luxury trim of a truck.
So you would expect them to go above and beyond with the interior, with technology, with features.
Look at this.
It's articulating the whole screen and the center screen is moving.
And also the passenger screen is revealing itself.
Yeah, so if you're listening along in this podcast, one of the really interesting features
on the new Sierra is that the center screen will rise up out of the dash to reveal a cubby
behind, kind of like what you used to have in GM products in the past.
Yeah, this is cool.
They're ringing that back.
So you've got a little storage cubby hidden behind the screen.
Yeah, like James Bond.
Like James Bond.
And yeah, and it is pretty cool.
It's a neat operation to watch in progress.
Then these GMC Sierra trucks, like a lot of the Silverados that we were looking at,
the higher trim Silverados, have a passenger screen.
So love it.
I hate it.
You know, probably leaning toward the ladder.
They have a passenger screen.
What is interesting is that on these Sierra's, they're showing off a cover that covers the
majority, not the entirety, but a portion of the passenger and then unveils the screen.
Exactly.
And then tucks away folds underneath the screen to reveal the rest of it.
Yeah, it's cool.
Can you show this?
The flap closed just for just a couple seconds.
It looks like when it's closed, all you see is like the local weather report, like where
you are and the time, which is kind of tasteful, I guess.
I mean, that's kind of a nice touch.
But like, like we were saying, nobody has been screaming and asking for these passenger screens.
Yeah, because we all have a screen in our pocket and that that screen has all our stuff on it,
our email, our messages, and we're signed into YouTube, all of that.
So yeah, I don't think there's a lot of people that are holding their breath for a feature
like this.
But man, as far as screens go on these Sierra's, they've gone completely over the top because
the center screen, 16 and a half inches.
Passenger screen, 11 and a half inches.
It's what, 12.2 for the instrument cluster?
Yes.
And like 14 something for the heads up display.
And then I think an eight and a half inch digital rear view mirror.
So as far as screen real estate goes, if you struggle with your eyes, maybe you have a lot
might be tough.
Yeah, there's a lot of screen in the dash of this truck.
There are still physical buttons, not as many physical buttons as we would like.
Yes, this is a big deal too.
So if we can get back to the interior one more time, yeah, here we go.
So since the orientation of the screen is different than the Silverado in the Sierra,
the climate control settings are actually in the digital screen in the center.
So they're at the bottom, they called it, they're persistent.
So that bottom layer of the screen is always there, but it's not my favorite because when
you're bouncing around or moving around while driving, it's kind of hard to reach those buttons
sometimes.
Yeah.
So to your point, it is a dedicated portion of the screen.
So you don't have to dig through menus to get at your climate controls, but you don't
get the same feedback you get when you're operating and interacting with physical buttons.
But there is still a line of physical buttons underneath the screen and underneath the vents
for some of your shortcuts.
Of course, there are physical controls for your trailer brake, which is very important.
That has to be there.
Yeah.
I mean, the the Cybertruck.
Yeah.
So Rivian and Tesla have repurposed one of the scroll wheels or the buttons on the steering
wheel for the trailer brake control, which is actually pretty clever, I think.
It's clever, but maybe not the most intuitive thing and also not really the area where I want
them to reinvent.
Well, because you could accidentally, you know, touch it, you know, with your finger while driving,
but but, you know, traditional trucks be a GM for the Ram.
I mean, they have physical one.
And I know you and I have both been in conditions where you're in deep snow, for example, and
your trailer tries to pass you.
Yeah.
And you have to reach for it quickly, right?
You need to know exactly where that brake is looking around for where it's at.
So love that.
Also the four wheel drive controls for for high, for low, two wheel drive, all of that.
Right next to the trailer brake controller.
So that's all easy to access.
They have also gone to a pretty massive sunroof on these vehicles.
Yes.
So it's basically the entire length of the cab.
So this is the first time that they're doing a full sunroof.
Here's a picture of that as well.
But but of course, everybody else had it.
So I mean, I think they really they needed to kind of match what everybody
else was doing there and something that GM still has that their competitors don't
have is supercruise primarily because supercruise can be active while you're towing.
So supercruise is a really impressive system.
What they're saying is you can have it for as much as three years prepaid and then
included with the purchase.
And then from then on, it would become a subscription, but still a pretty nice feature
to offer.
Yeah.
And they said about 600,000 miles already active.
And like you said, we've towed with a supercruise system.
It's actually very confident, very, very good system for kind of semi autonomous driving.
You still have to pay attention and kind of monitor the system, of course, but
it can do that, which is nice.
And I was going to mention, if you can go back to the dash really quick,
kind of like the center console center screen area, because last time, remember,
we were talking about light controls, headlamp controls.
And I'm not sure it seems like they went to a digital control for these trucks for headlamps.
Yeah, presumably this truck is going to follow what the Silverado does.
And we saw what looked like the icon for headlight controls integrated into the screen
on the Silverado.
So my expectation is that it's going to be the same on this truck.
One thing that we don't know for sure is how the seats on this truck are going to be,
because that's been something that folks, ourselves included, have been asking for for
a long time.
Seats in GM trucks are very firm.
And they said they have paid attention to the seat comfort.
Yeah, so I'm assuming, by the way, like their CREVs and Silverado EV,
I think have more comfortable seats in general.
So maybe they're learning from that and hopefully putting those seats in here.
But I'm assuming heated functions, ventilated massaging functions are available on these
seats on the higher trim levels, like the Denali Ultimate.
There's also dual wireless chargers for two phones built into the center console.
With MagSafe.
MagSafe, which is nice.
You get a nice positive engagement when you place your phone there.
The console can slide back and forth.
And the console can fold into a table.
Exactly.
So MultiPro has made its way from just the tailgate into the center console,
because that's what they're calling their new center armrest that can fold forward
and create a large platform for you to use as kind of a workspace.
And it even has a couple of USB-C ports for you to charge devices.
So if you have a tablet or a laptop out and you're working on something on your center console,
you'll be able to charge while you're doing it.
So it is a feature that could be useful.
Yeah.
Well, I've used it like Ford has had this feature for some time in their Fun50 trucks.
And I have actually used it.
Like when we film on the iGauntlet and we're doing picking up extra video or B-roll,
or I need to check some specs, it's really nice.
Instead of working like a T-Rex sitting in a seat,
you can kind of put your laptop in the center and actually have that extra space.
And it looks like a really flat area.
No bumps, nothing like that.
And we're not the only people that do some work on the go.
We edit things a lot of times.
If it's time sensitive, we will finish filming,
jump in the car and immediately start working on that footage to get it uploaded
and out there to you guys to get you the news.
And that's how you can afford the Denali, by the way, by working hard.
Working constantly.
So yeah, no, it's good to have a platform.
There's certainly not the first people to do this, but it is now a featured there.
So it's funny.
Yeah, we got the passenger screen from Maram.
Table from Ford.
Which we kind of talked about with the Silverado because it's the same situation with that truck.
And the panoramic roof from the others.
Yeah, from both of them.
Yeah.
Also, our friend Sam from Will Bearing's podcast.
I was actually listening to, I always listen.
I was listening to their show last week and they mentioned with that panoramic new sunroof,
they, Sam was looking at it and he didn't see any antennas on the roof.
No shark fins, nothing.
So GM has redesigned their roof sections of their trucks.
And apparently they hid all the antennas right behind the cab in the chimzall area,
where the like the third brake light is and some of the cameras sometimes are.
So they hid all of the antennas in one place, which is also kind of keeps them out of,
well, first of all, it's more like a little bit more aerodynamic probably.
So and really smooth.
So that's a slick way of doing it.
So there's a lot going on with the interior,
which is why we spent a good amount of time talking about it.
Do they have hybrids?
No.
So we got to talk about powertrains,
because that's that's another big piece of news.
So they're sticking with the same basic formula for powertrains that they've had in the past.
But of course, everybody knows the big news are the two V8s that are going to be brand new going
into these trucks, the 5.7 and the 6.6.
Yeah, and they still are teasing us.
They did not let us know the horsepower and torque numbers on these big V8s,
these new engines that they're coming out with.
Of course, they share a lot with the new Corvette engine.
That's going to be available with just a 6.7 liter.
They did during the presentation when I was listening to this,
they did mention that the growl, especially a cold start on some of these V8s is pretty
spunky, but they didn't let us listen.
So we still have to judge it for ourselves.
Yeah, and I'm sure it's going to sound good.
It's a big displacement V8 when you think about the fact that the Coyote is a 5 liter.
The Hemi is a 5.7.
Of course, you're going to have the Rumblebee trucks as 6.4 or supercharged.
But a 6.6 liter naturally aspirated V8 is a big naturally aspirated V8.
It's going to sound like a nice boat probably, like a Corvette sometimes.
Especially if you go in there and rework things a little bit with the aftermarket,
I'm sure it's going to sound fantastic.
Well, also GM has offered performance exhaust systems within their accessories.
So they can probably do that as well.
So two big V8s that are coming, which is great news.
The 3 liter Duramax is going to return, which is also great news because it's the only diesel
in this segment of trucks that you can still buy.
So we love the fact that that diesel option is still around.
And then there's also going to be some updates to the base Turbo Max, Turbo 4.
Yes, the 2.7 liter.
That engine is also going to have a 10 speed.
So 10 speed across the board for every configuration.
No more 8 speed.
No more 8 speed available in that base engine.
And they said like 84X and the Denali Ultimate will be standard.
I mean, you're paying a lot of money, but they'll have the big V8.
I mean, there's no question.
Makes sense.
There's no question.
And then that Turbo Max, the 2.7, they are also calling it an enhanced
version of the engine.
So we're figuring that it is going to have some more horsepower.
But again, we don't have figures on that.
We also don't have figures on towing and payload.
But like with the Silverado, it doesn't seem like they're targeting significantly higher
towing or payload figures because these trucks are already pretty capable in that sense.
So they didn't feel the need to chase any crazy numbers beyond what these trucks have had in
that respect in the past.
So we don't have specifics on it, but it should be pretty comparable.
Yeah.
I mean, the current, if you buy the maximum tow package on the Sierra 1500 or Silverado 1500,
I believe it's like 13,300 pounds of towing, which is already a crazy big number.
And if you want to tow 13,000 all the time, I would just say get a heavy duty on that point.
Exactly.
So the numbers are already really good for a lot of these models.
So as long as they keep their payload high, because you know, with some of these 84x
AEV additions, because they have so much additional kind of armor on them,
sometimes the payload suffers on some of these trucks.
So as long as they watch for that.
Yeah, because those are some heavy pieces of kit that you can outfit these trucks with.
So it does have an impact on the payload.
But speaking of the AEV addition, we can go into some more detail as far as the different
trim levels that are going to be available on these Sierra's.
Yes.
So if we show the family picture one more time with all the trims.
Christmas card.
Christmas card.
Look at that.
There's a big brother and a little brother on the right.
So the little brother is the pro.
So the pro is coming back, which is their base model, basically a work truck.
Maybe they don't sell a lot of them, but still, I mean, that exists.
And it looks nice.
It looks like it has a smaller, maybe a 17 or 18 inch wheel.
Pretty nice.
Yeah.
The next one, the dark one right there is the elevation.
Exactly.
So that's going to be a step up.
It's going to get you bigger wheels, nicer finishes, more features on the interior.
Then an additional step up from that would be the 84, which is leaning a little bit more rugged
once again.
Of course, it's a higher trim level.
It's lifted.
So it's going to get you more features, stands taller.
And now these 84s are going to run on a 34 inch tire.
And then of course, we already talked about the 84X and also the AV edition of the truck.
By the way, if you zoom in just a little bit, what I kind of like is that they gave the 84 and
84X slightly different bumper configurations where the tow hooks look different and they are
positioned differently.
So I think that was nice to kind of differentiate them.
The 84, the tow points are vertical and on the 84X, the tow points are horizontal,
which is another visual clue for that.
And I almost feel like they should do something a little different with the naming,
because if you were to just look at the badge on the side of the truck,
you wouldn't think that the X in 84X makes that big of a difference.
But it does.
It makes a huge difference because that's what gets you front and rear lockers, 35 inch tires,
DSS feed dampers, spool valves, which is also a pretty big deal.
And those, the new jounce bumper, yeah, that's available.
Yeah, which is available now for the 2027 models.
And then on the left of this image is the Denali and Denali Ultimate.
They're almost identical, except the Denali Ultimate, of course, takes it to the next level,
you know, with all the materials and all the special woods, special leathers,
design textures.
It's one of the things that I love about those trucks is that they do have a very cool and
very special feeling interior because of some of the topographical shapes that they mold
into the leather into the wood.
A lot of really nice textures and design.
So those interiors feel special in a way that even a lot of the other top model luxury
trucks from Ford, from Ram, from Toyota don't feel.
I think Denali is up there as far as its interior.
Yeah.
Yeah, definitely.
But I still like that they offer both of them and also playing around with cool colors,
like that blue is actually very interesting, I think.
Yeah, it's almost a similar blue to that last Denali that we had here at the office when we
did a big truck comparison.
That's right.
A Nike with everything.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Kind of a similar shade.
Yeah.
And that was a beautiful truck inside as well.
And then they removed a couple of trims.
So if you're used to SLE or SLT Sierra 1500s and also Sierra, sorry, Silverado LT and LTZ
trims are also have been removed.
So they're kind of simplifying in a way some of their trim level.
And I actually like that they're using some actual real names like Elevation and Denali
where you don't have to always have alphanumeric symbols for the truck name.
And this lineup makes a lot of sense.
And I think kind of it spans the right range for this truck.
So we hope to drive these trucks very soon because they said they're going to go and
sell by the end of this year.
So within like November or December, first customers should be getting these trucks.
So that means that some of the media folks like us can get access to these trucks.
Yeah, hopefully late summer, early fall.
That's really going to be really cool.
All right, now let's move on because we have a lot more to cover, right?
So Slate Truck.
Exactly.
So we've been, you and I have been wondering and talking about its price
for I don't know how many months, maybe years.
Yeah, because that's really the main point that this truck is hanging its hat on
is that it is going to be affordable.
Well, now we actually have an official price.
Yes.
So it was unofficial a few days back because it leaked.
But now it's confirmed the starting price is $24,950.
Before destination.
Or taxes at least.
Yes, they didn't talk about destination charge,
which is odd because most manufacturers do talk about this.
So we don't know what it is or if it's, I think it's maybe built in
because we were just configuring ours Slate because Roman has a reservation.
So we can actually configure our truck now and place an order.
But nonetheless, let's say it's a thousand bucks destination.
Yeah, because my understanding is that there are going to be a couple of additional costs,
at least obviously if nothing else to get the vehicle registered.
Yeah.
So ultimately by the time you have it in your hands, plated and everything,
it is going to be a little bit more expensive.
And then the SUV version of the truck is going to be just under 30.
Yeah, so like $5,000 extra on top of a pickup truck
because it comes as a two door, two seat, just very basic.
That's what the name is.
It's a blank slate for you to start customizing and they have mind boggling numbers of options
that you don't really do at the factory.
You kind of do after the fact.
Yeah, so they're encouraging the DIY aspect of it, which is cool.
And they've made this vehicle very modular.
So it should be easy for you to DIY and fit pieces to it yourself.
But they do have a number of shops, quite a few shops across the country.
They mentioned about 3,000 partner shops, yes.
So if you don't want to work on it yourself, you don't have to.
But we were actually looking on the configurator at some of the available options for these slate
trucks and a lot of them are pretty inexpensive to add.
So the trucks come very basic as standard.
You can option things like a center armrest or a door armrest.
But the armrest on the door was 50 bucks and it's for both doors.
So it's 25 bucks a pop for an armrest.
Hey, it's like going out to dinner.
You skip a dinner, you get an armrest out of it.
And you can pick the color of those armrests so they are highly customizable.
So it seems really like the pricing on these things is pretty reasonable.
For example, one of the more expensive options that we were looking at was essentially a device
that you add to the truck to give you phone remote access.
Yeah, like remote battery monitoring or like remote start, something like that.
That was $275.
Yeah, and that's a feature in most cars if you want remote start.
But you don't have to.
That's the thing about slate is that you don't have to have that.
But so that's kind of how they're making that price so low.
Because I was concerned when they are going to come out and announce it,
that it was going to be like $29,999 because, you know, they wanted to stay under 30.
But I thought it was going to creep up, but they kind of held strong.
Well, and similarly, I was concerned that a base truck would be pretty inexpensive.
But the moment you outfitted it with a couple of features.
Oh, it would be like 50 grand, right?
Exactly. I was worried that the price was going to creep up really fast.
And it seems like you can't actually have a lot of fun customizing and picking out some
features and colors to add on to this vehicle without making the price go crazy.
Yeah. And for example, like if you're watching it with us, they're standing next to,
you can add speakers, obviously.
You could have you could bring your own like a mobile speaker into it.
But they also have built in speakers that go into the dash.
You can have one or three or even more.
Like you can add one, some into the doors.
And so you could just go crazy with this dude and look at all the different colors.
I mean, there's hundreds of colors.
Yeah, which is fun.
So I think there's going to be a lot of really cool color combinations and personal isolates.
There's probably going to be some really ugly ones.
There's maybe going to be.
Yeah. Can you imagine?
Can you imagine if somebody doesn't have like color blind?
Let's say somebody's color blind.
True.
Or taste blind.
Yeah. So we're going to configure the truck.
We'll keep Roman and Tommy out of it.
Well, wow.
As much as possible.
But we need several of us need to agree.
That's true.
It's going to be designed by committee, so that might actually be really bad.
Judging by the majority of customized vehicles that I've seen out there on the road,
I think there's going to be some shocking combinations.
Yeah. You know, sometimes you see that Lamborghini with like purple wheels
and like orange top and like, I don't know, pink doors or something like that.
I've seen some bad stuff.
I just recently saw a Ford Edge that was red, kind of a burgundy red,
and it had bright red anodized aftermarket wheels.
Wow.
And it was it was rough.
It did not look good.
So yeah, you can actually go crazy when you have so much freedom.
Because normally manufacturers like GMC, right?
They have professional designers that tastefully pick the color of the wood
and the color of the leather and the color of the metal and the finishes.
They'll lock you out of bad design decisions.
Oh, you know what else is like that is the jailbreak edition on the Durango.
Exactly.
So if you want to, you could go crazy with that.
Purple Durango with yellow brake calipers and red seat belts and pink seat belts.
All kind of crazy stuff.
You can do it.
So people will have a lot of fun with the design on these.
And that's realistically all that matters.
I do wish that even if it costs quite a bit extra,
I do wish that they had an option
to have this vehicle be modular enough for you to put an electric motor in the front.
Yes, because right now it's rear wheel drive only.
It's what it's like.
What is it like under 200 horsepower?
But it does have a lot of torque.
Roman went for a ride.
It's not the range is not super great.
It's like 205 miles or 208 miles, right?
So yes, you're buying it very cheaply.
But it doesn't have super great range if that matters to you.
It performance apparently is pretty good.
But it's only two wheel drive.
Exactly.
And for us in Colorado, that is kind of an issue.
But they do have a lowering kit for the suspension.
They do have a lift kit for the suspension.
They have altering tires that you could add.
So I mean, you kind of I wonder if lower it and make a drift truck out of it.
You could.
Well, at least in the snow.
Yes.
But I wonder like their traction control system.
We haven't driven the one actually.
But I wonder if you could like pull up use.
Well, a lock like a diff lock.
I wonder if it has that feature, you know what I'm saying?
Where you could lock both wheels in the rear together.
I wonder if that could work.
Yeah.
Because honestly, it even as far as attraction aid goes if you could.
I don't think it's got any kind of mechanical rear locker.
No.
I'd be surprised if it even has this price.
No, I don't think so.
It would be nice if they offered that even just as a traction aid.
But also for having fun, it would be cool.
I don't think it's going to happen, but we can dream.
So yeah.
So we have some work to do.
We need to configure on.
We'll do a separate story, separate video about this because we need to pick the color of the wraps.
Because it comes gray.
Yeah.
I mean, that's pretty boring at the end of the day.
Yeah, we're yeah, we're going to also do video with the truck.
So we need to make it stand out a little bit.
Yeah.
And the price of the material for the wrap is also not bad.
Yeah, it's $500, which is not too bad.
And you can pick multiple colors for it because there's kind of different zones
that they lay out for you on the configurator.
Of course, if you're wrapping the vehicle yourself, you could kind of go crazy.
You could do whatever you want.
Our friend Shane, right?
I mean, he's a master with this stuff of wrapping vehicles.
Yeah.
So we're interested to potentially we haven't run this by him yet, but I'm sure he'd be up for it.
We're interested to maybe have our buddy Shane wrap the truck because then it will actually turn out.
Good, because I don't think you and I should wrap it.
No, no, because we do even a pretty bad job of putting TFL stickers on the windshields of our car.
So wrapping an entire vehicle probably not a good idea.
But it would also just be interesting to get his perspective since he's wrapped literally thousands,
maybe tens of thousands of vehicles.
How easy is it compared to other cars to wrap?
Because Slade said that they got some feedback from people who do this
and they try to make it easier.
So I wonder independently verify.
Yeah.
We need to verify that that statement.
So that's pretty exciting.
I mean, for under 30 K, you can have actually a pretty usable vehicle with a few options.
It is in it.
Yeah, it's it's it's enticing.
You know, my good buddy Andy, who is with us just yesterday in Moab.
He has a little 22 RE powered Toyota pickup.
It's two-wheel drive.
Bed's very low to the ground.
It's really easy to load motorcycles in the back of it.
It's full of rust.
His name is Tiny Tim.
Okay.
A little five speed drives really well.
I can see this now.
Yeah, you can picture it.
No radio.
If if we buy this Slade, I want to go to Andy's house.
That would be good.
And see what he thinks.
Yeah, and maybe even compare it because that's that is kind of the idea of this truck, right?
I mean, his little Toyota has no radio.
It's hand crank windows, no AC.
Let me guess.
One mirror on one side probably.
That's a good question.
Not probably not both mirrors.
It might have both mirrors, but maybe he added one checked.
Yeah, it used to be a car quest truck.
But anyway, if you factor for inflation, the price of a little two-wheel drive Toyota pickup like that
was then essentially what this Slade truck is now.
So it's it's kind of going for that same idea, this old school idea of a truck,
just being a little utility machine rather than a big luxury vehicle like what we were
talking about with these GMC Sierra's.
Exactly.
Yeah.
So let's move on because I don't know if we have a ton of time left.
So there is a competitor in the space in a tiny truck space, which is Tello.
We've done several videos with them.
Actually, Nathan went out there and drove a prototype of a Tello truck.
And they recently, not to be undone by the price announcement of Slade,
they announced a partner that's going to help them build the Tello truck.
And you would you was a lot of people say why announce it, you know,
this not doesn't sound like a big deal.
But I think it is because they from the very beginning, they said,
we're not building a factory to build this truck.
They said, we're going to do the design, we're going to do everything,
you know, for safety, crash protection, usability, all those things.
And look, it's about the same length as a two door mini Cooper,
but somebody else will build it for us.
And they announced that I think, I believe it's like Schwab Industries is going to build their
basically the main structure of their truck.
It's nice to see.
So there's progress going on with the Tello truck because
because there haven't been a lot of progress.
Yeah, we haven't been hearing a ton of news about it.
But this is something that we're very interested in at least testing,
if not owning as a company vehicle, because it is a very radical idea and design.
It's almost a cab over, right?
So it has almost no hood.
And it does have four doors and room for at least four or five people inside.
But it's a five foot bed that expands to is it eight feet?
Well, because it has a midgate, like yeah, it does.
Like a CR-AV or something.
Fold the seats down.
Yeah.
So I don't remember exactly all the measurements,
but it's pretty impressive for a small footprint how,
but it's supposed to be all wheel drive.
And it's going to be quite a bit more expensive than the slate.
But it has more features built into it.
Much more.
So you mentioned your power wagon.
I mean, you tripped with Andy, so you guys went out to Moab.
Yeah.
And it was interesting because obviously the power wagon has been around for a long time.
It was really the first modern HD truck to lean heavily into off-road.
And then eventually we got tremor version of the Ford heavy duty.
We had ZR2 heavy duties.
Exactly.
And then there's even models that are a step down of that.
In the Ram, you have the heavy duty rebel.
You've got with GM, the trail boss.
And also Ram Warlock is heavy duty truck that's available as well.
Yeah, so there's a lot of off-road heavy duty trucks on the market now
that there didn't used to be when the power wagon came out.
And it was interesting spending a little bit of time with a power wagon after so much time.
So tell me about how you got there because it was the three of you, right, Tommy and you.
And then you loaded two bikes in the back of it, right?
Exactly.
So what I think was cool about it was revisiting the power wagon and seeing if it's still relevant
after now there's so much more competition.
And it really is still a very useful truck.
So we loaded a couple of small motorcycles into the bed of the power wagon.
The bed is very tall.
Yeah, because I mean, this truck is lifted.
I mean, that's huge.
That's why actually the way we have it, it has sidesteps.
Because without sidesteps, it would be very difficult to actually jump inside.
It would be a short hike to get into the truck.
So yeah, it sits very tall, loading motorcycles into the bed.
Not the easiest thing, but it's still a reasonably sized, useful bed.
The payload on this truck is not incredible.
It's around 1500 pounds.
So you take a pretty big hit there.
It's also rated to tell around 10,000.
Yeah, it's like 10,000, 9,000, 9,000, which is not heavy duty numbers really.
No, you take a big hit there as well.
And then on the flip side of the coin, when it comes to off-roading,
which is the reason that this truck is so compromised,
it is still much stiffer than a Wrangler or a Forerunner or a Bronco.
It's much bigger.
It's unwieldy compared to those 4x4s.
Well, it weighs about what?
About 7,000 pounds as it is, right?
Yeah, and the visibility is also pretty bad because the hood is tall.
So there's a lot of ways that you could knock it.
But for one, this truck is very cool, love the way it looks.
But more importantly, it is a capable machine.
I mean, it really gets to wherever you're trying to take it.
Yeah, so you, Tommy and I were talking about this this morning,
and Tommy would mention it because he's driving actually, right?
Yeah, he was mentioning that how the hood is tall,
and this version is a tradesman, so it doesn't have a front camera,
so you can't really get a lot of view out of this truck.
But it just don't care, like Nathan said.
Because you've got front and rear locking differentials,
you've got a disconnectable front sway bar,
so you can get that more articulation out of it.
You and I recently compared it to a Trail Boss Duramax truck that we have.
And the Duramax is very capable, the Trail Boss, heavy duty.
But the PowerWagen was just laughing when we did the RTI ramp articulation test,
the PowerWagen just walked away with it.
So, I mean, it's a very capable machine.
Yeah, so it is still a lot of fun to bring into a trail in Moab if you pick the right trail,
and Moab being an area, obviously, that doesn't have a lot of trees,
so narrow trails are not really so much of an issue.
You can bring a big truck like a PowerWagen there.
So, honestly, it did really fantastic.
And the whole reason that we went out there is because we were shooting a video in Moab
with mini bikes for our motorcycle channel.
We're actually auctioning off one of those motorcycles to benefit a charity.
It's our brand new Honda DAX 125, so it's not the one that my buddy Andy was riding,
which if you're watching, you can see a video of.
He's doing a wheelie.
Cruising a big wheelie on a tiny bike in front of some...
Towards a cliff.
Pretty huge chance.
He's a daredevil.
He is a daredevil.
Yeah, really, the PowerWagen, just shown as a great road trip vehicle,
still a useful pickup truck that we were able to load bikes into,
still a very capable off-roader.
What I'm really excited for, of course, is the PowerWagen that's upcoming with the Cummins.
Which is coming this year.
Because Tommy and I were joking about it, that the PowerWagen, as it sits with the 6.4 Hemi,
is neither very powerful nor is it a wagon.
Nor is it efficient.
Yeah.
So I like that the Cummins PowerWagen is going to bring some additional power to the PowerWagen.
And also efficiency, hopefully.
And capability.
Yeah.
Yeah, so actually it's coming.
Hopefully we'll have it soon.
I don't have a date yet, but I really want to compare the two.
That would be the ultimate video.
If we can go to a difficult trail and have the Cummins PowerWagen versus the stock Hemi PowerWagen.
And then also.
And compare.
Compare a Cummins PowerWagen to a PowerScroak Tremor to a Duramax ZR2.
That would be nice.
The three of those on trail in Moab would be pretty spectacular.
But I just love the fact that Ram is going to make a diesel truck with a front and relocker
and a sway bar disconnect from the factory.
And then it's a blank slate if I can use that term.
You imagine if you were to build a like a prospector.
Out of that setup.
Out of the Cummins PowerWagen with the factory lockers and sway bar disconnect.
Tasty.
Pretty cool.
Yum.
It's not going to be cheap though.
It's not going to be slate prices.
Okay.
That was a given.
It's going to be expensive.
So on the flip side, Cole and I are producer Cole.
We flew out to Germany.
You and I actually did the strip two years back.
So every two years, ZEF, which is a they're really a tier one supplier.
We know them because they build transmissions, right?
Yeah.
For pickup trucks like Ram 1500 and now heavy duties.
And then they build transmissions for most luxury German cars, sports cars.
They built suspension systems.
But they actually built a lot more than that.
Yeah, they do tons of technology,
especially for large commercial vehicles.
And Andre was there in Germany testing some of those.
So you even got to drive some pretty cool semi trucks.
Yeah.
This is super exciting because the truck you see on the screen here,
and this is a European style semi right cab over truck.
It has a true diesel electric hybrid system.
Not in the sense of that it's a generator that's powering a battery that's powering the wheels.
But actually like an F-150 hybrid where the diesel engine is here,
there's a next to it behind it is an electric motor.
And then behind it is a 12 speed, in this case, automated manual transmission.
So the truck can run on electricity alone or diesel power alone or combined diesel and electric power.
Which makes a lot of sense because you might want to run on electricity,
especially if you're in the city at low speeds.
But if you're doing a long highway cruise where...
Yeah, you could see it right here.
Yeah, where electricity is not going to be so efficient.
Yeah, the transmission is right there.
The electric motor is just ahead of it.
And of course, ahead of that is the 11 liter turbo diesel.
So and the truck that this is in is an Iveco semi,
which is a popular brand out in Europe.
So I thought this was just the bee's knees.
Just really cool because it's not as expensive as buying like a full electric truck, right?
It's also not as expensive as buying a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle,
like some manufacturers are talking about.
You could, the battery right there, the battery box you see right there in white can be small.
So not super expensive.
You could downsize your diesel engine.
So you don't have to have like a 15 liter or a 13 liter giant,
I don't know, Detroit diesel or Cummins.
You could downsize that engine a little bit more and still have a heck of a semi.
Yeah.
Now, realistically, something like this I think would struggle in the US market
because there's just in the trucking industry here a lot of technology that is not quickly adopted.
Right.
It's kind of old school.
And also the people who make decisions to buy these vehicles usually are not drivers.
I mean, of course, I'm sorry, if you're an owner operator,
I mean, there's still people like that.
Our friend Dan is exactly like that.
He owns his own business.
But generally speaking, if you look at a large fleet,
there may be one or two folks in that company who make decisions.
And those decisions really have to do with dollar bills, right?
They're not looking at oh, should I buy a manual transmission or an automatic?
They're not saying how big is my engine?
They're just looking what's the most efficient,
you know, cost effective way to do this business.
And this could be actually it.
You know what I'm saying?
Like if they can be convinced that it makes dollar and cents just make if it makes sense,
then it could go.
I mean, it could.
Yeah.
And it's got the potential to be a cool technology.
So you were actually behind the wheel of it driving it, right?
I was actually using my CDL.
It was really nice.
We were at the test track.
So I actually, in theory, you really don't need a CDL.
But, you know, the folks are very precise, you know,
everything was by the book.
You know, Cole was there helping out.
And we had, we didn't get any winners.
So did we call?
No, but we did.
And you said they were out of Currywurst.
Fresh out.
But you know what?
It's asparagus season in Germany, in northern Germany.
Could be good or bad.
Yeah.
Actually, it was good.
It's the white asparagus.
I'm used to green, obviously green asparagus.
Looking up pictures of German asparagus.
Cole, exactly.
So this is what I'm talking about.
Northern Germany apparently has the soil where asparagus grows really, really effectively.
And it was cheap.
Like, you could go anywhere and order asparagus by the pound.
I mean, this was amazing.
That sounds like too much asparagus.
What about Hollandaise sauce?
Look, you can put Hollandaise sauce on it.
Potatoes, maybe a little bit of...
It's not going to make me eat a pound of asparagus.
That's for sure.
But it's good for you.
Half a pound of most.
But it's good for you, case.
Yeah.
Well, I'm not sure asparagus covered in Hollandaise sauce
to the tune of one full US pound is good for you.
Hollandaise sauce probably is an issue because it involves butter and egg and I don't know what else.
That's what makes it taste good.
Yes.
You're not just snacking on steamed asparagus.
You're just going for it.
So anyway, so we have several videos from Germany.
We already published the city bus.
Did you see my city bus video, by the way?
I did not.
You should watch that because we are...
This was our first bus review.
Well, maybe not ever.
Well, I've done a video on a bus.
Like what kind of bus?
A 1949 Flexible.
Oh, yes.
Yes, with your dad.
Got more than a million views.
Yeah.
Unfortunately, my video did not get a million views,
but maybe after this podcast where everybody clicks on it,
if you go to TFL Now channel.
Sorry, we have so many channels.
I'm not even sure where it's published.
It's probably on now.
But it's got some cool tech, like driver assistance tech, some safety technologies,
and also do a height adjustable and adaptive suspension.
This is basically a Raptor.
Exactly.
Or a Tyrex.
To a weight ratio like one.
No, it is cool.
The technology that's going into a lot of commercial vehicles is not only impressive,
but realistically a smart thing to do because vehicles like these cover so many miles.
Yeah.
And also like they have to be comfortable, right?
Because for example, in a city bus like this, you have dozens of people potentially riding in it.
And if it's bumpy or if, look, it has steering assist where it parks it perfectly
at the bus station every single time.
And they gave me a ruler and actually verified it.
There is a shot of it where they said under his ruler,
it has to be 8.4 centimeters away from the curb.
That's very specific.
And I, well, I couldn't actually tell if it was, you know, look at it.
Look at this.
But it was right around eight and a half centimeters from the curb.
Yeah.
Are you impressed?
Yeah, I am.
I think it's cool.
Look, look at this.
I'm measuring.
But no new bus channel?
Well, I don't know if we should start the CFL bus because this is going to be difficult,
you know, to, to keep these videos coming always.
Yeah.
We don't get a lot of buses.
So, so there you have it.
Yeah.
You know, that was kind of a full show.
Let us know your comments.
Your thoughts, hopefully we'll get to drive a lot of these new vehicles,
including the Slate and the GMC Sierra.
And I have a feeling we'll get to drive the Sierra.
When we're going to order a Slate is the plan, right?
Yeah.
So that's the plan.
I don't think that's a secret.
No, well, not anymore.
Well, there you go.
Actually, Roman, his title of his video was should I cancel or keep my reservation?
Yeah.
So we're also going to do a video configuring one.
So, so yeah, so there you go.
It's pretty public.
It's pretty public information.
All right.
Thanks for joining us as always, and we'll see you next week.
About this episode
The hosts kick off with the “world debut of the 2027 GMC Sierra 1500” and connect its changes to earlier Silverado updates. They dig into what’s visually new—like Sierra EV-inspired headlight styling—and why photos can mislead until you see the truck in person. The conversation then turns to interior tech (rising screens, persistent climate controls) and towing/driver-assist details like Super Cruise while towing. Off-road trims get quantified with 34- and 35-inch tire upgrades, plus pricing and option “creep.”
( https://www.alltfl.com/ ) Check out our new spot to find ALL our content, from news to videos and our podcasts! It’s an absolutely packed episode of TFL Talkin' Trucks because the entire automotive industry is exploding with major news all at once! The guys kick things off with the massive world debut of the next-generation 2027 GMC Sierra 1500. They dive deep into the truck's over-the-top new luxury interior, which features a James Bond-style articulating center screen that uncovers a hidden storage cubby, passenger screens with integrated covers, and a massive full-length panoramic sunroof.
But the truck news doesn't stop there! The team dives into the official, mind-boggling price announcement for the all-new modular Slate truck, starting at just $24,950. The hosts reveal that the company has an official reservation and is actively customizing their very own Slate build. They debate the endless DIY aftermarket potential, from $50 factory armrests to $500 multi-zone wraps, and dream up how a base, two-wheel-drive utility machine holds up against classic, old-school work trucks. Finally, the guys look at recent engineering trips to Germany testing heavy-duty ZF semi-truck tech, trail wheeling trips in Moab, and a major production announcement from the tiny EV truck competitor, Telo.
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