The new 2023 GMC Sierra AT4X AEV Edition surprises most of us as it makes its world debut with an aim to be the most off-road capable Sierra pickup truck to date. Most of us expected the new 2023 Chevy Silverado ZR2 Bison (by AEV) to debut next, but GMC takes center stage and goes ahead of its ZR2 cousin. Here is everything you need to know.

GM and American Expedition Vehicles (AEV) have been working together for several years. The first fruit of this partnership was the Chevy Colorado ZR2 Bison off-road pickup truck. The recipe for the new AT4X AEV truck is about the same: take an already super capable factory truck, give it more off-road armor, and further increase its capability.

The all-new Sierra 1500 AT4X is a premium V8-powered off-road truck with specially-tuned Multimatic DSSV shocks and selectable front & rear locking differentials. While the AT4X is already super capable – it does have a couple of shortcomings: a relatively low front chin that does not offer a great approach angle and 32-inch all-terrain tires that are on the smaller side by current standards.

The AEV Edition improves the truck with new front & rear numbers, five very tough boron steel hot-stamped under-body skid plates, unique wheels, and larger 33-inch tires. The front bumper is designed to accept a winch. Boron steel is an alloy that allows the skid plates to be relatively thin (3 millimeters), relatively lightweight, but highly resistant to gouges or dents. According to AEV, these skid plates can take a significant hit from a rock or solid obstacle and just bounce back into their original shape. These AT4X AEV skid plates are designed with strategically placed holes and openings to make them even more lightweight.

The AEV front bumper increases the approach angle to a very respectable 32.5 degrees (which is 27% better than a standard AT4X and also matches the approach angle on a stock Silverado ZR2). The departure and breakover angles are slightly improved as well. The listed ground clearance is increased to 11.2 inches thanks to larger 33-inch Goodyear Wrangler Territory MT tires. Why didn’t GM put 35-inch tires on this AEV Edition truck? We will have to ask them.

Here are the detailed AEV Edition truck specs.

The AEV Edition’s maximum payload and towing capacities remain a respectable 1,290 lbs and 8,700 lbs respectively. This payload rating is equivalent to that of a 2022 Ford F-150 Raptor or a 2022 Ram TRX.

GMC says the Sierra AT4X will go on sale as a later 2023 model year introduction. The actual timing is a bit unclear, but we may see it sometime between the end of 2022 or in early 2023.

Here is my first-drive off-road review of the GMC Sierra AT4X.