Full-time four-wheel drive is standard on the Silverado EV. Full-time four-wheel drive gives added traction for safety in all conditions, not just off-road, like the only system available on the Tundra. Four-wheel drive of any type costs extra on the Tundra.
The Silverado EV has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them and moves the vehicle back into its lane. A system to reveal vehicles in the Tundra’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Silverado EV has standard Rear Cross Traffic Alert and Rear Cross Traffic Braking automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. Toyota charges extra for Rear Cross Traffic Alert on the Tundra and its not available on the SR.
The Silverado EV RST’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Tundra doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Silverado EV and the Tundra have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, lane departure warning systems and rearview cameras.
The Chevrolet Silverado EV weighs 2615 to 3705 pounds more than the Toyota Tundra. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.