The GMC Hummer line is famous for being a noisy, oversized, gas-guzzling, behemoth since its inception in the 1990s. But the newest iteration of the brand that was all but scrapped in 2010 is doing a stellar job silencing many of the harshest criticisms that have been stuck to the brand for the last few decades.
In 2020, when GMC announced that they were introducing the world’s first electric “supertruck” by bringing back the defunct Hummer brand name, it caused quite a stir throughout the automotive industry. However, the GMC Hummer EV is without a doubt the boldest vehicle to come out of the emerging trend of electric trucks.
Let’s be clear, despite the electric motor its DNA is still very much a Hummer. The body is still large and imposing, the lines are still thick, angular, and boxy, and the windshield is perched up high like the cockpit of a spaceship. This isn’t the only nod to US space exploration. The whole car was designed with little homages to the Apollo 15 electric moon rover that GM helped engineer, so it’s not surprising that the truck’s thick, all-purpose tires look well-equipped for a lunar expedition. In addition, the truck sports a generous flatbed and ultra-bright LED headlights that can only be described as Terminator-esque; and for anyone still unable to identify the car, the Hummer name is emblazoned in bold letters on the front of the car.
Despite its hulking size (nearly 9000lbs according to MotorTrend) the Hummer EV is surprisingly agile. The three electric motors (one in front and two in back) propel it from 0-60mph in about three seconds, which for a car this substantial is quite a feat.
The engine, in peak Hummer fashion, brings a whopping 1000 horsepower and 11,500 lb-ft of torque to the table. This is bolstered by a 350-mile battery range, which is on par with the Tesla Model X, and a fast-charging capability that returns 100 miles of range with ten minutes of charging. On top of that, the Hummer EV has a maximum payload weight of 1,300 pounds and a maximum towing capacity of 7,500 pounds. While this may seem small, it’s important to remember that it’s also towing the aforementioned 9000-pound body as well. All of this is powered by GM’s new Ultium battery-pack technology, produced in-house at GM’s new state-of-the-art Factory Zero plant.
The Hummer EV also performs incredibly well as an off-road vehicle. It is said to be incredibly capable, with the ability to take on Moab Stage 4 level terrain. The Hummer EV is equipped with four separate drive modes that change steering feel, suspension, and drive height. The drive modes include two specifically for off-road driving and heavy terrain, one for towing, and one for general road driving. The engineers at GM also outfitted the car with a “Crab Walk” feature, which is essentially a diagonal crawl facilitated by having both the front and back wheels rotate in the same direction which was designed to help the car navigate narrow or difficult terrain that makes turning regularly not accessible.
As for the interior, it is predictably quite spacious with two rows of seats that accommodate plenty of legroom. This is accentuated by a translucent moonroof that doubles as a removable hardtop akin to that of a Jeep Gladiator which can be conveniently stored in the front trunk. In addition, the interior sports a few other Apollo 15 homages, including a space-suit boot-print for the dead pedal and an outline of the Sea of Tranquility on the speaker grilles.
The Hummer EV requires servicing twice a year or around every 7,500 miles driven for routine wheel alignment. However, since it is an electric car it does not require an oil change.
As this is a new release, prices are still hefty. The Hummer is EV is currently priced at $112,595, the Edition 1 trucks are still the only available model. However, more affordable models will be rolled out over the next few years. These consist of a similar tri-motor second edition called the Hummer EV 3X, priced at $99,995 to be released this coming fall, a dual-motor edition called the Hummer EV 2X coming in early 2023 priced at $89,995, and a base model priced at $79,995 that will be released sometime in 2024.
All in all, the Hummer EV is designed to be a go anywhere, do anything kind of truck.
It’s certainly easy to write the car off as a hyper-aggressive pickup truck, because, well, the design language definitely screams it. Meanwhile though, the generous electric motor tells another story.
It shows that there are no rules for what an electric car should look like. The Hummer EV doesn’t try to meet the traditional beauty standards of electric vehicles. It proves that in this rapidly growing electric vehicle movement there is space for the tough guys.
