In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Sierra EV are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Endurance doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Sierra EV has standard Enhanced Automatic Emergency Braking, which use forward mounted sensors to warn the driver of a possible collision ahead. If the driver doesn’t react and the system determines a collision is imminent, it automatically applies the brakes at full-force in order to reduce the force of the crash or avoid it altogether. The Endurance doesn't offer collision warning or crash mitigation brakes.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Sierra EV has standard Reverse Automatic Braking that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Endurance doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The Sierra EV’s lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. The Endurance doesn’t offer a lane departure warning system.
The Sierra EV has a standard HD Surround Vision to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Endurance only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Sierra EV’s standard Rear Cross Traffic Alert uses sensors in the rear to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side and Rear Cross Traffic Braking automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. The Endurance doesn’t offer a rear cross-path warning system.
The Sierra EV’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 Endurance doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
The Sierra EV has standard OnStar®, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to get turn-by-turn driving directions, remotely unlock your doors if you lock your keys in, help track down your vehicle if it’s stolen or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The Endurance doesn’t offer a GPS response system, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.
Both the Sierra EV and the Endurance have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding and rearview cameras.
The GMC Sierra EV weighs 2350 pounds more than the Lordstown Endurance. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.