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During a 2026 GMC Sierra EV Denali Max Range test drive that lasted seven days and hundreds of miles, I got intimately familiar with the truck’s pros and cons (detailed in the review linked above). While I was impressed by its performance and luxury, my favorite feature had nothing to do with the powertrain—it was the MidGate Pro, the fully removable back wall of the cab.
This functionality is available on both the GMC Sierra EV and Chevrolet Silverado EV. The way it works is that the rear glass and back wall of the cab tuck away, allowing you to either carry something really long or just enjoy the breeze from a partially open cockpit.
Some of you might remember that another pair of GM trucks from a few generations ago, the Chevrolet Avalanche and Cadillac Escalade EXT, also had such a feature. I have to admit I never thought much about it when those vehicles were new. But now that it’s back, I’m absolutely thrilled.
An electric truck is particularly well-suited to this feature because the cab and bed form a single contiguous body (with traditional body-on-frame trucks, they’re separate). Plus—no emissions, so no need to worry about monoxide leaking into the cockpit.
GM EV Truck MidGate
Now that you know what a MidGate is, I’ll whip through why GM’s execution is good.
- Super easy, single-person operation: It takes more time to clear whatever junk you might have sitting on the truck’s back seat than it does to snap the MidGate down
- Idiot-proof: There’s a little catch-nub that securely holds the glass as you release it, making it easy to handle
- Self-contained: The seatback has a pocket for the rear glass that becomes enclosed, so you don’t have to leave the glass at home or anything—you can put it out of harm’s way completely
- Downside: tonneau cover from hell: The thing I hated most about the Sierra EV is the hard tonneau cover that goes over the bed. This must be removed to use the MidGate, and it’s very heavy and cumbersome
GM EV Truck MidGate Tour
The best “how to use the MidGate” explainer video is here. This shows exactly how to use the system:
GMC Sierra EV Multipro Midgate. How to control it?
For those of you who want the closest look, I’ll annotate a detail gallery.
Here you can see how and where the MidGate splits.
There’s a clever little hook to tuck rear seatbelts out of the way.
First, you snap the seat bottoms forward. Then the seatbacks fold down from the position in this picture
That indentation is where the rear glass will live.
These two big latches remove the glass. That little nub catches the glass as it drops, and you just push on it to release the glass all the way.
These little tabs will click down to secure the glass.
This latch also holds the glass in place.
These buttons are what knock the rear wall of the cab down.
As you can see here, there’s a practical floor (the hard-shelled floor) but really, you can fit even longer things.
Andrew P. Collins
Real-World Cargo Capacity
Pulled from the review—here are the real-world tape measure distances I got, not spec sheet claims:
- Truck bed length, tailgate closed:
- Truck bed length including tailgate-as-cargo-floor, tailgate down:
- “Practical max length,” midgate open, from the frontmost hard floor to the back of the bed, tailgate closed:
- 95″ (the length of true cargo floor you get by opening the midgate is the same as the tailgate’s length)
- Same, but tailgate down:
- Using all space behind driver’s seat, through midgate, to the end of the bed, tailgate closed:
- Same, but tailgate down:
- Longest thing you could safely carry without really annoying the driver or front passenger or hanging off the edge of the tailgate (item resting on center console):
Would you find the midgate useful?
Automotive journalist since 2013, Andrew primarily coordinates features, sponsored content, and multi-departmental initiatives at The Drive.
