The new electric off-roader resurrected from the dead.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the resurection of one famous off-road vehicle brand known as Hummer, made by the manufacturer GMC (General Motor Company). Their new model it’s merged into the new and modern electric world of automotive industry.
Let’s begin first with a long short story in order to understand the past of these big things. Hummer was created in 1992 when AM General that was making the military M998 Humvee, decided to launch the civilian version of it named Hummer H1. General Motors (GM for short) bought the company in 1998 and alongside the H1, they made the Hummer H2 and later Hummer H3 has appeared. The 2008 harsh economic times affected the company and unfortunately in 2010, Hummer was declared defunct. But 10 years later, it’s GMC that revives the off-road manufacturer as their brand new electric model known as GMC Hummer EV.
The production of it began in 2022. For the moment, there’s only one limited edition trim called Edition 1 and all its units are white painted SUT pick-ups with black roof and 18″ bronze painted rims. They contain three motors, one at the front and two at the back, all together developing 1000HP (746kW) and a torque of 11.500lb-ft (15.592Nm). The GMC Hummer can go from 0 to 60mph (0 to 97km/h) in 3.3 seconds and haves a top speed of 106mph (around 171km/h). Obviously we find the all-wheel drive traction and the transmission is a single speed just like most of the electric cars. Under the body of the GMC’s Hummer EV we find skid plates, rock sliders, steel plates and shields around the drive unit and battery pack, representing the full underbody armor which protects the vehicle in off-road enviroments. The chosen suspension for this it’s the adaptive air suspension, and with the control of “Extract Mode” system, the suspension can get higher by adding 6 inches (152,4mm) of ground clearance to it’s 11,9 inches (302,26mm) of standard ground clearance.
Let’s not forget to mention the rear steering of the Edition 1 trim, that helps with the steering and reducing the turning circle and because all the wheels are steering, Hummer it’s provided with a feature under the name of “Crab Walk” meaning that GMC Hummer EV can move diagonally, making a great maneuverability. As for the dimensions, we can see the size of this electric off-roader is big like it’s internal combustion predecessors. Starting with the wheelbase, it is 3.444mm or 135,6 inches, the lenght it’s 5.507mm or 216,8 inches, a width of 2.202mm or 86,7 inches and the height of 2.009mm or 79,1 inches. The rear trunk can carry up to 1.300 lb (589,67 kg) of cargo and the front trunk to 705 lb (319,783 kg). By the way loading a cargo to it’s rear trunk may be difficult because of the height but the solution is a multifunction six-way tailgate that’s also seen on the GMC Sierra making things much easier.
GMC it’s powered by a 24 module battery, 246.8/212.7 kWh (total/usable) lithium-ion made by the South Korean LG Chem. The battery together with the motors makes the General Motor’s architecture named Ultium. They are charged at 350 kW and 800 V plug-in system and the electric range is between. 298 and 381 miles (480 and 613km). It’s estimated that Edition 1 covers 329 miles (529km). In short but sadly, The Hummer EV isn’t battery efficient. Rivals like Ford F-150 Lightning and Rivian R1T can do similar ranges with smaller battery pack.
Now, let’s take a look at its interior. The dashboard comes with 12.3 inch digital instrument cluster, 13.4 inch touchscreen infotainment setup and system with apps for the ouside cameras, energy consumption, off-road, towing, etc. The rooftop it’s removable and the panels can be stored inside the front trunk. Inside, details inspired by the Apollo 11 Moon landing can be found, but the critics complain about the poor quality of the interior despite the price tag of $87.000 that can go up to $110.295 depending on customer’s choices and another issue mentioned is that the cabin isn’t very spacious.
The new GMC Hummer EV comes with interesting good things like good steering agilities and great off-road driving, but sadly comes with bad things too and are quite a few. I already detailed the battery efficiency and the poor quality cut-out materials from the interior. The EV is towing up 7.500 pounds (3.400 kg). That’s a small capacity in comparison to Ford F-150 Lightning’s 10.000 lb (4.535 kg) and Rivian R1T’s 11.000 lb (4.990 kg). Also this SUT come with bad road noise, the brakes are uninspiring and takes a while to put the off-roader to a stop. It weighs 4.7 tons and the American Insurance Institute for Highway Safety had to perform crash test with the models. NTSB or known as National Transportation Safety Board haves their concers that the new Hummer can kill or seriously injure other road users and pedestrians during a collision. Let’s hope these problems will be soved soon as General Motors announced that in 2024 they launch the SUV version of their Hummer EV with smaller dimensions and wheelbase and dual motors, probably cutting on even more weight.
