Vehicle Design Award Given to Chevrolet Silverado Classic Hybrid

Chevrolet Hybrid Silverado gets top honors from Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) as best hybrid. The best hybrid is the newest award at the SEMA show.

"The collaboration between Chevrolet, General Motors and SEMA is very valuable. We gain a lot of accessory ideas and product ideas to give the consumers what they really want. We look closely at what is offered at SEMA, we are encouraged with what's offered and we look at new ideas. That's where the collaboration comes in strong for us," said Dale Sullivan, Regional Sales Marketing Manager, Western Region, General Motors.

Silverado Classic Hybrid, the first full-size production pickup that uses hybrid technology, is the first hybrid in the industry to be recognized as the most accessory friendly vehicle in this year's SEMA show, which was held at Las Vegas. The hybrid version of Silverado was launched last year. It is the first hybrid vehicle of General Motors.

Chevrolet Silverado replacement parts are designed to boost the performance of the hybrid. The vehicle's electric motor serves power accessories only. In addition, the system of vehicle automatically shuts down when the truck brakes below 13 mph. Silverado hybrid uses electric power to restart it.

Parts Chevrolet integrated in the Silverado hybrid are enhanced to achieve the full potential of the pickup. It is equipped with 3 additional 14 V batteries mounted under the rear seats to accumulate auto power. The extra reserves of power for the accessories make the pickup truck well-matched to the building or construction contractor market, since they almost always require AC power when on the job. The vehicle also uses a 5.3 L Vortec 5300 V8 for primary power.

At its inception, Silverado's production was extremely limited. However, in the later part of 2005, the pickup was offered at retail in Alaska, California, Florida, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. Eventually, starting this year, it was made available in all US states.

"Our participating manufacturing members had early access to the Chevrolet Silverado Classic Hybrid and discovered that its proven lineage of design and engineering provides several opportunities for customer personalization," said Carl Sheffer, SEMA vice president, OEM Relations. "Based on feedback from the automakers, we are having a positive impact on the design and marketing of future vehicles."

SEMA, founded in 1963, represents the $34 billion specialty automotive industry of 6,817 member-companies. It provides quality information about the automotive industry including new car technologies, models, and more.