The Chevrolet Silverado 1500 has received a boost in payload, but in a couple of added benefits to General Motors Specialty Vehicles (GMSV), this update now makes it exempt from federal emissions regulations and sidesteps another new regulatory requirement.

Priced at $135,990 before on-road costs for the LTZ Premium and $147,490 plus on-roads for the ZR2, the Silverado 1500 is $1000 more expensive than before.

“The MY26i updates for Silverado 1500 reflect customer preferences and feedback in this market," said a GMSV spokesperson, when asked what drove this update to the full-size pickup.

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"The Chevrolet Silverado 1500, and GMSV’s vehicle portfolio offered for sale in Australia, meet all relevant local regulatory requirements.”

As part of the ‘2026i’ update, as GMSV is calling it, it has higher payload and gross vehicle mass (GVM) figures that push it into the NB1 category for Medium Goods Vehicles, also home to light-duty trucks used by, for example, moving companies.

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GVM is up from 3300kg to 3505kg, just above the 3500kg cutoff for the NVES. Payload is now 942kg for the LTZ Premium and 922kg for the ZR2, up from 748kg and 713kg previously.

While the change to the Silverado 1500’s GVM exempts it from being counted under the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES), the Australian Government is currently accepting submissions for comment on a proposal to include vehicles with a GVM of between 3501kg and 3855kg in the NVES from July 1, 2027.

The move from NA (Light Goods Vehicle) categorisation to NB1 categorisation – following a similar move for the rival Ram 1500 last year – also means the Silverado 1500 doesn't need to meet Australian Design Rule 98/01 (Advanced Emergency Braking for Passenger Vehicles and Light Goods Vehicles), even though it has an autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system with pedestrian detection.

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All light vehicles on sale in Australia after August 1, 2026 must meet this regulation, including the rival NA-classified Ford F-150, which requires vehicles' AEB systems to detect and brake for pedestrians. Under ADR 98/01, all newly introduced vehicles since August 1, 2024 have been required to meet this standard.

There have been other changes made to the Silverado 1500 for this intermediate model-year upgrade.

The LTZ Premium features revised suspension. It’s still branded as ‘off-road suspension’, but has ditched the Z71 nomenclature, while the twin-tube dampers are no longer Rancho-branded items.

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The ZR2 sticks with its suspension hardware, which includes Multimatic DSSV dampers.

All Silverado 1500s now feature black Chevrolet lettering on the tailgate, with the LTZ ditching much of its extraneous chrome – its front ‘bow tie’ badge and Z71 fender badges are now finished in black.

The Silverado 1500 is powered by a naturally aspirated 6.2-litre petrol V8 engine producing 313kW of power and 624Nm of torque, mated with a 10-speed automatic transmission and four-wheel drive.

The LTZ Premium has an automatic locking rear differential, while the ZR2 adds a front electronic diff lock and boasts a higher ride height.

The Silverado 1500 and its larger Silverado HD sibling are the last full-size pickups in Australia to offer V8 power, though Ram Trucks Australia has said it's keen to reintroduce a V8 option as the brand has in the US.

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