The Chevy Silverado is set to enter the all-electric era with the all-new 2024 Silverado EV, packing in the latest tech features and a battery-driven powertrain, plus all the capability expected of the Silverado nameplate. Notably, the new Silverado EV also incorporates a fresh design for the exterior and interior, the latter of which moves some of the HVAC controls to the infotainment screen.
Compared to the redesigned interior of the refreshed 2022 Chevy Silverado 1500, the 2024 Silverado EV ditches many of the traditional hard buttons, toggles, and switches in favor of a more digital interface that relies on the central touchscreen for inputs and controls.
Placed centrally in the cabin of the 2024 Silverado EV RST First Edition, you’ll find a large 17-inch infotainment touchscreen, which provides inputs for several HVAC functions. These include the air distribution (feet, face, and defrost), as well as heated and ventilated seat activation, heated activation, dual-zone temperature sync, and the air recirculation button.
Of course, we should mention that this is for the more upscale 2024 Silverado EV RST First Edition, while the fleet-oriented Silverado EV WT is equipped with a smaller screen and more tactile buttons.
No doubt, the overarching trend in the automotive industry is towards larger screens and the migration of feature controls to a digital layout. But then again, not everyone is a fan of that trend.
Of course, we want to know – which layout do you prefer, dear reader? Do you like the new digital interface on offer with the 2024 Silverado EV, or would you prefer the tactile hard-buttons and switches of the ICE-powered 2022 Chevy Silverado 1500? Let us know by voting in the poll below, and make sure to subscribe to GM Authority for more Chevy Silverado news, Chevy news, GM electric vehicle news, GM technology news, and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
Comments
I prefer hard buttons but in the end it doesn’t make a difference to me as typically I set the temperature once in the summer and once in the winter and leave it on auto.
Hard buttons are better. But I recall years ago a company I worked for took a poll and promised pinky swear they would abide by the result. The poll was offices or cubes. The company was the merger of 2 companies one using offices, one cubes. Well as expected the result of the poll was offices by a landslide, but of course cubes are cheaper, and “better” so management went cubes shockingly. The reality is touch screen prices are going down, and will continue to go down while physical buttons will get more expensive and continue to get more expensive. End result, we the consumer will be forced into touch screen for everything. And it will be “better”.
Mkavt, you’re right on cost wise but another driving factor is the young engineers doing the designs. Most have no idea how to dial a rotary telephone or to change the TV channel without a remote. For the young people entering the work force all they know is touch screens, therefore, it seems more natural to them. Look at the SpaceX capsule, all screens. From pictures I haven’t seen one switch.
When was the last time YOU dialed a rotary phone? When was the last time you had a television where the channel changer was even readily accessible in any way BUT the remote? When was the last time you dialed “the time lady” to set your wind-up watch, or your “precision Accutron that was minute-a-month accurate?
Times have changed. I grew up in the rotary dial era, and before Direct Distance Dialing. I know the original purpose of the letters on phone dials. I remember the “1 1” numbers. 113 for Information, 116 for emergency, and I think long distance was 110. I also remember “The following program is brought to you in living color!” to tell owners of those few color sets to get up, walk over to the set, and turn on the color switch because there were no “color killer” circuits in the early sets. If you left color turned on for black and white transmissions, you got a gawd-awful picture, and some sets even overheated a bit searching for a signal not there.
Now, all that is in the distant past, and has been for so long that the knowledge is at best quaint and good for trivia games.
Not all the youngsters are ignorant or stupid. Before I retired, I worked with a lot of them. They were savvy, smart, and also found a lot of the same frustrations as you and I do with having to perform four steps to do a one- or two-step task.
once forced it will not be better, you have to go thru to many steps / apps to get to the function you need. the hard dials or manual buttons are far easier. they are working trucks not grocery getting Tesla’s, all thow this new generation of EV truck is geared toward preppy suit guys trying to be cool, George Jetson.
Better was in quotes to indicate sarcasm…
Are you sure these are “working trucks” and not “grocery getters” though?
We’ll see when they finally start selling them and how much they actually cost. I would bet they’ll be more popular with the sort of person that would buy a Tesla, than someone that would buy a work truck.
I’ve noticed that when HVAC controls go Digital, you almost always have a way to adjust them remotely. Say for example if there were physical dials, someone might want to Start their car so the Car is cooled by the time they enter. But, because of that physical dial, it won’t. With digital controls you can adjust temperature from anywhere!
Like w/ the Chevy Bolt EV, even the 2017, you could adjust temperature with the MyChevy App
All those dials are really rotary encoders not pots. And the buttons are just momentary. They all just send a message on the CAN bus to do something.
I was unaware. Now I know!
My 2021 RAM Laramie with the 12″ screen has the HVAC control of both types, buttons on the left and right of the screen plus digital touch. When you use a button, the screen changes to the function you’re performing for about five seconds and you can immediately switch to using the screen. It works really well and for those cold mornings with gloves on it is no problem. All touch screen on those freezing mornings with gloves will be a hassle. The radio controls are both, hard knobs for volume and station but everything else is touch screen. There are radio control buttons mounted on the back side of the steering wheel. Again it works well we’re I use both. Buttons for volume but station selection and source (SiriusXM, FM, AM, etc) from the screen.
yes on the Ram with 12″ screen you also loose hard controls for heated and cooled seats
My ’22 Ram has the next screen down. The seats and wheel may be screen controlled, but no need to dig down. Just touch the upper left of the screen, make your choice, and 5 seconds later the screen reverts. For the passenger seat, it’s the upper right.
I normally don’t like touch controls for such things but MoPar did it right in this case.
It doesn’t make to much difference to me in regards to what this article is referring to, but one thing that I feel GM got right…. is having the infotainment screen going longitudinally instead of vertical. The new F-150 EV with the top of line Lariat model that has the vertical infotainment screen is hideous. The top portion gets into your windshield view, and it looks like to reach the bottom portion of the screen, your almost to the floor. It really looks like it was an afterthought, just slapped on at the last minute. GM’s is my notion is more thought out and is a much, much better layout.
JAY , speaking of after thought go look at the screen in a suburban or Tahoe , you talk a bout a cheap design or after thought, looks like it belongs in a toyota camry or honda accord. not an 80K SUV
Jay complains of F-150 infotainment screen blocking his windshield view, it has less height then the gauge cluster, and the steering wheel. this means Jay is only 4 ‘ / 7″ tall , so could someone get him some old telephone books to sit on so he can see over the dash , LOL
The entire industry has latched onto this screen-as-afterthought design, where the top edge obstructs part of the view, especially for shorter drivers.
Several years ago, California passed a revenue-harvesting bill where, unless you had your GPS in just the right place, and it was not bigger than this-by-that, you are fined. Some of these afterthought screens block even more, but I doubt anyone is getting stopped by the CHP about it.
it does not obstruct the view on any of them, not even the new Lighting and that screen is 15″ , The nav screen sets lower than the gauge cluster and steering wheel on all of them. Get ready , Ram is coming with a 15″ screen soon too. GM will be 5 years behind then follow in there foot steps. as usual. it took GM years to have trailer tow mirrors like ford , GM still has a 8 year old Duramax and still 2 years till refresh.
If you live in a hot climate like Florida , dealing with the infotainment screen is a pain in the ass with air conditioning. the hard knobs are the way to go. My 2019 2500 denali has dash knobs but you have to turn them slow or they don’t change temp or fan speed. its aggravating . My 2022 Ford F350 has dials for temp , and a large toggle for fan speed and it works great. My 2021 Ram 3500 has the hard controls with the 8″ screen and I ordered it that way so I did not loose the hard controls. the hard controls for the heated and cooled seats are a must too and both Ford and Ram have them.
This new EV dash in the silverado if BUTT UGLY, it slants down hill its paint bright silver and the rest of the truck interior is classic blown black plastic . o but lets not forget how cool that steering wheel is with the 1 inch flat spot.
You’re the kind of guy who has to turn climate control to LO every time you get into the car. It doesn’t help. It just blows warm air into your face because the evaporator isn’t cool yet. The exact same thing happens in the winter, except you’re damaging the engine by prolonging the warm-up. The system is smart, just leave it at the final temperature.
What seems to be glossy screens are going to be messy with fingerprints and need constant cleaning for those of us that hate the look after such use. But all should be digital with most heavily used used things alternatively quickly accessible IF the digital implementation causes multi levels of panels to control. i.e. if the heating cooling has an icon shows off and to turn one touch instantly changes the status to ON and touching again simply shows status of off then digital is fine, but if another sub panel shows up….then nope…give me some few buttons only for heavily used features…..like heating cooling on/off and adjustments as well as some other things heavily used. Often folks set and forget things….and its really only the heavily used daily features that need those quick accesses especially if they are not part of the steering wheel control buttons/levers IMHO
Like THE NEW LAYOUT OF THE INFORMATION CENTER. LESS BUTTONS, THE BETTER!
donald baker states less buttons the better, untill you touch the screen and find out you need to continue thru multiple screens to complete a function while driving is a pain in the ass. try turning the radio down with a tough screen , it takes longer and multiple touches to complete.
The short answer for me: Tactile buttons, & Larger screen.
If they made this screen any larger, there wouldn’t be any room for buttons at all. There already barely is.
In my experience with both, reaching for a knob can be done without taking one’s eyes off the road by feel, with a touch screen one has to look down and read the screen.
Knobs for me, please.
I had issues with my screen either freezing up or going completely black on my 2019 Sierra, that would be a big issue for me if that were to happen on a hot summer day in my new EV Truck when trying to gain access to my A/C, of course the coverage for the Infotainment System would address that problem and fix it, but I would prefer to access to my HVAC at my leisure through Knob -Controls and not a screen, perhaps Cadillac would be a good candidate to start with such technology.
Hard buttons or knobs and the screen signals the computer the same way, a digital signal is sent on a data buss. Losing the screen usually means the buttons won’t work, as described by mkavt post.
Actually that’s not normally the case that losing the screen means losing CAN bus comms. Ask Caddy CTS owners from a few years ago about all the issues the digitizer had, to the point the screen became useless (my M-I-L has one). But if there were hard switches then those would have worked just fine, as long as the digitizer isn’t flooding the processor with false interrupts. As a EE I know all to well the issues with digitizers and how very expensive they are to replace. I won’t buy a car with a digitizer based control system if I can keep from it, unless the manufacturer intends to stand behind it with a 10 year, unlimited mileage, warranty…that will be the day (ha ha ha).
“I had issues with my screen either freezing up or going completely black on my 2019 Sierra…”
Same with a 2018 Honda Idiocy I bought new. The screen would either freeze solid on this or that function, or just go blank. The “cure” was to pull over, put it in Park, shut off the engine, open the door, pause, close the door, and restart. That lasted anywhere from 15 minutes to a few days. A firmware upgrade was still 3 months out, and it was not just my Idiocy; it was many.
I dumped it for a crappy, rotten, no good, stinking, awful Chrysler Pacifica (so say the “experts”), and – presto! – no issues of that kind, or anything else except for side doors acting up. A firmware flash cured that one. No three-month wait; the Chrysler agency knew just what to do, and did it in minutes.
The GRIZZLY went from GM to Ram too, there Dam nice trucks and have come a long way in a few years. Ram is kicking ass and taking names, peroid !
Another thing. I ordered my Ram around January 14 this year. Special order with some unusual option choices. I had a VIN (not a build number, an actual VIN) eight says later. Promised delivery “the week of February 26”. My salesman handed me the keys on the 18th. Everything worked. No missing chips, no “the dealer will install the parts when available “. I wanted a Chevy, but, my local dealer couldn’t promise a finished truck.
Until they can get touch screens to work with heavy gloves I think most Canadians prefer physical knobs.
Yes and if you live in Florida you want knobs and toggles when its 105 degree’s and you don’t want sweaty fingers all over the touch screen. these young designers that know nothing but a screen. Cadillac has had many many screens go out on this GM JUNK
Now, be fair.
It is not just GM turning out silly things; it is virtually ALL of the manufacturers. NONE of the mass market car companies have anyone on staff who can actually DESIGN an interior, or a dashboard. NONE.
yea but my least favorite is GM’s SUV dash they are now placing in there trucks. Our Yukon has that dash, my wife likes it. Its a car dash . when your towing or backing a trailer you want a NAV / camera screen that sits higher and not having to be looking down.
Several decades back, when Volvo was still just a good, solid, sturdy car, they introduced rotary controls for their heater/AC. They touted the controls as easy to use even with gloves or mittens on in the cold Swedish winters. And, by inferenece, cold NE winters, cold winters in the Rockies and Sierras, etc. The general fashion at that time was slide levers and buttons. The Volvo way was a good idea.
The direction of all touch screens from all manufactures is a standard approach to all basic functions. SAE needs a standard for access of some features so if you rent a car or have multiple vehicles of different manufactures in the household, it can get crazy sometimes trying to navigate through a screen for at least some basic features such as HVAC and radio.
Not going to make much difference when the dealers are going to mark this truck up 30 grand.
When they demand the markup, you have a decision.
1) pay it and be The First Kid on Your Block to have one.
2)
a. Get up from the salesman’s desk.
b. Take the keys to your trade-in off his desk.
c. Turn 180 degrees.
d. Walk out the door.
David, change is coming , Brandon and the word salad queen are running in the ground, Trump said gas will be 5, 6, 7 a gallon, Trump said your Brokerage account would tank , it is 100 % like he said, but hey , No more mean Tweets , right!! America going from high flow to a basic drip.
I have a 2022 GMC Refresh with controlls for heat /AC in both places. the fan up or down switch is a pain to see at times and the small “arrow” cues on the screen require precise aim with your finger . For example- the phone contact list is scrolled thru by holding your finger on the screen on the Up or down arrow. difficult to watch the screen, locate the arrow ,find the contact person AND watch the road. Also holding one finger on the screen.
I am DEFINATELY NOT a fan of the google maps as it uses a lot of the mandatory monthly data plan.
I liked the older (pay one time) GPS that was hard wired. May have to tape my $99.00 Garmin to the screen.
While I am here I would also like to add that I am not a fan of the console mounted electronic gear shift. Lost a lot of useable real estate in the consul area to this. Progress?
I have a Tesla Model 3 and HATE the lack of physical inputs on it for HVAC. And it seems each time they update the layout of the infotainment it gets worse. Takes more time to get through the menus to adjust the temperature and then adjust the fan speed. Its very dangerous as you have to be looking at the screen and trying to press in the right spot. Ive nearly rearended someone bc i was adjusting the hvac and looking down. luckily it has some good ADAS on it.
It’s enough to keep my from buying another Tesla, despite loving how it drives.
Seeing this on the silverado EV is really disappointing as I really wanted it. but wihout physical HVAC switches I am really going to have to think about how well they integrate it and how quick and easy it is to adjust while moving on the highway.
but of course, adding more functions into a screen is a huge cost savings as there are less wires, less parts, less assembling, less designing, less testing, etc etc etc.
Thank you GM Will since it reinforces my post that a standard screen for some functions is needed by the industry. Cost measures usually does not increase safety.
EV silverado Interior is so stupid looking , and there right back to Black Blown plastic interior for 100K
GM Frigging JUNK
I see they also moved the air distribution ducts to go underneath the screen. My new 2022 refreshed has that large screen and still has the A?C vent beside the screen. Since the screen is so wide the A/C vent blows directly at the drivers face and the only way to not sit directly in the airflow is to turn it off. As you try and direct it away from your face,and more over your shoulder you actually close the vent. Brilliant!!
That’s great, but would really like to know when the Silverado EV will be available.