4 Innovations in the 2019 Chevy Silverado

The Chevy introduced the next generation Silverado last week and it comes with some interesting innovations.

Composite leaf springs

The 2019 Silverado will include a second-stage composite (Principle 40 – Composite Materials) leaf spring for a smoother ride that adjusts better to changes in load.

Power tailgate

The vehicle boats a pickup-truck first, a powered tailgate that can be raised and lowered from the key fob. This system has force sensors (Principle 23 – Feedback) that reverse the motor if resistance is detected (such as pinched fingers) or if there is an object resting on the tailgate.

Blind-spot monitoring

Ford has included blind-spot monitoring in its trucks for some time now. GM is finally adding it to the Silverado, but unlike the Ford system, GM is not integrating them into the taillights (Principle 1 – Segmentation). This is to spare the owner the expense of replacing this expensive system in the event that a taillight gets smashed.

Footsteps

GM integrated (Principle 5 – Merging) cut outs for footsteps into the rear bumper of its trucks in their last generation. This year they’ve made them larger (Principle 35 – Parameter Change) to better fit work boots.