Liam White 
The world awaits a major refresh on GM’s T1 half-ton pickup trucks, otherwise known as the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500. As MC&T reported, the 2022 model year refresh was unfortunately delayed because of COVID-19 related setbacks from the past year. However, there’s no pausing production of these breadwinning machines, even with a microchip shortage thrown in the mix for good measure. Nor where there be any gap years. But if it’s a refresh you want, the 2022 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and 2022 GMC Sierra 1500 trucks may not be the ones you want.
As GM-Trucks.com explains, the refreshed Silverado 1500 and Sierra 1500 won’t come at the start of the 2022 model year. Confirmed in a letter sent out to dealers, GM intends to build the 2022 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and 2022 GMC Sierra 1500 trucks on a “shortened” model year and will largely be a “continuation” of what we currently see today. The 2022 Sierra will wear a “Limited” designation, per the dealer memo. It’s likely the 2022 Silverado will be labeled something similar.
Production of the 2022 GMC Sierra Limited and the 2022 Chevrolet Silverado Limited will begin in September 2021, per the report.
2022i Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and 2022i GMC Sierra 1500
The actual refresh of the T1 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 will come later in the 2022 model year, which MC&T understands these major rolling updates to be tentatively categorized as the 2022i model year, for both the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 pickups. As mentioned, blame the COVID-related delays from the past year as the primary reason for this odd product cadence.
The 2022i Chevrolet Silverado and 2022i GMC Sierra will deliver on big exterior changes, as well as major interior updates focusing around the center stack. Larger center screens will be what everybody immediately will notice, while beneath the skin will be GM’s Global B electrical architecture, otherwise known as GM VIP. This system is five times more powerful than what it replaces, and allows for conveniences like sharper digital screen resolutions, quicker processing power, and over the air updates, at the expense of encrypted control modules. This makes traditional tuning practices virtually impossible, as seen with the C8 Corvette.
GMC has publicly teased that the refreshed Sierra will feature a new, updated version of a USDOT Level 3 hands-free driver assist, otherwise known as Super Cruise. For trucks, Super Cruise will be compatible with a trailer hitched up, which is truly some next-level technology. It’s expected that the 2022 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 High Country and LTZ will offer Super Cruise tech alongside the updated GMC Sierra 1500. That said, full details about the Super Cruise upgrade and its towing integration aren’t yet available.
Perhaps the most anticipated element of the 2022i Chevrolet Silverado 1500 is the debut of the ZR2 variant. MC&T was also first to break the story on just what kind of truck this vehicle would be, well before spy photos of the Silverado ZR2 confirmed our initial reports. The 2022i Silverado ZR2 will feature Multimatic DSSV dampers, Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac tires, a V8 engine, 2-inch lift for an improved breakover angle and water fording, and bumper cutouts for improved approach and departure angles. In other words, it will be as if it were a supersized Colorado ZR2.
