CARLOS LAGO: Watching the return of the Hummer last year
was, let's face it, really, really cool.
I mean, how could it not be?
It's a full blown super truck in only the way a Hummer could be.
And it's an EV at that, with up to 1,000 horsepower
and estimated 350 miles of range,
and hyper rugged design and functionality.
Seriously, what's not to like about this?
That there will be an SUV version of the Hummer
shouldn't be too surprising, but it's seriously cool
nevertheless.
This video is all about the Hummer EV SUV, that's the name.
And in this video, we're going to talk
about what you can expect from this Hummer and what's the same
and what's different versus the pickup.
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First, let's tackle the headlines.
The Hummer EV SUV is a two-row SUV.
And as tradition demands, has a full size spare
mounted on the back.
It doesn't offer as much range or as much power
or as much acceleration as the truck.
So if you want a Hummer SUV instead of the pickup,
you're going to have to settle for 830 horsepower and a 0
to 60 estimate of three and a half seconds.
That's a real shame, isn't it?
On a more serious note, and much like a truck,
GMC is advertising a ludicrous torque figure, something
like 11,500 pound feet.
But that's a disingenuous number for reasons
we'll go over later.
Just for the time being, don't blindly quote it.
Much of the SUV is similar to the Hummer pickup.
But given how cool that truck is,
I think it's OK if we rehash a few details.
If not, go ahead and scrub through the timeline.
I won't be hurt.
So why does the Hummer SUV have a maximum 830 horsepower
versus the truck's maximum 1,000 horsepower?
Well, the SUV has a shorter wheel base overall.
That's the distance between the front and rear axles.
And consequently, it has a smaller 20 module battery
versus the truck's 24 module battery pack.
That means less power and less range, but just slightly so.
Like the pickup, the Hummer SUV is
available with a three-motor configuration.
That's one motor for the front axle
and two motors for the rear axle, one for each rear wheel.
Lower cost and less powerful versions,
again, like the truck, have just two motors instead.
But let's talk about that three-motor setup some more.
There's no mechanical connection between any
of the motors, which means there's
all kinds of benefits, including the ability to route
power to just one wheel.
The extreme off-road package adds a locking front
differential and a virtual locking rear differential.
Basically means the two electric motors can sink their speeds
and simulate the effects of a traditional limited slip
differential or locking rear differential
without actually needing one.
Now with everything locked up or running at the same speeds,
you effectively get true four wheel drive,
but with the added benefits of having all wheel drive as well.
And there's also no low range either.
You also get the same nifty crab walk mode,
where the rear wheels can turn in phase with the front wheels,
allowing SUV or truck to move diagonally
in what's called a crab walk.
It just looks super cool and might help with maneuvering
in tight areas.
But more importantly, it looks cool.
All that stuff's great for crawling,
but what about going fast?
Let's talk about Watts to Freedom,
which is one of the drive modes for the SUV and the pickup.
Now to be honest, I had a lot of difficulty
trying to figure out what "Watts to Freedom" actually meant.
It was really bugging me until someone pointed out
it's an acronym.
It's WTF mode.
I feel really silly when I realized that was the case.
So WTF mode is where you get full power
and full acceleration and that 0 to 60 performance.
And the same thing goes for the truck.
GMC says there's special graphics in the displays
for WTF, and that the stereo and the seat
literally rumble while the screen says "armed and ready."
It all sounds a bit silly, but hey, this is a Hummer,
so maybe there's a bit of silliness to be expected.
It could all be really fun.
The craziness doesn't stop with WTF mode obviously.
All Hummer SUVs have air suspension
that can raise or lower, giving you
either clearance or aerodynamics or easier access depending
on the need.
The standard right height for the SUV is 10.2 inches.
That's strong, and so are the approach break
over and departure angles.
And that's the clearances you have
when you drive up to an obstacle and over and away from it.
But you remember earlier about the shorter wheelbase
versus the truck and how it affects battery size
and power and all that?
It also means improved exterior clearances
versus the Hummer pickup.
The SUV has a better brake over and departure angle
versus the truck.
On top of that, the air suspension
can raise so that you have 16 inches of ground clearance
in what GMC calls "extract mode."
With the suspension lifted all the way up,
the clearances get crazy big.
They're more than anything I can think of
that you can buy new from a mainstream dealer,
from the Wrangler Rubicon to the Defender
to the G Wagon and all that stuff.
Tell me if you can think of anything else that
has clearances this big.
And if those crazy exterior clearances aren't enough
for you to pass over obstacles, the offer package
also adds 18 exterior cameras, including
two underneath the Hummer with their own washer.
So you can clean them off when they get dirty.
And should that not give you enough viewer clearance
or some combination of the two, you also
get a lot of under-body protection,
should you actually come in contact
with the earth with something that's not a wheel or tire.
On top of that, of course, there's more.
GMC claims 13 inches of suspension travel
front and rear.
And that's a lot.
Just for the sake of comparison, even though it's
a different segment, that's just slightly less
than what you get out of a brand new Ford Raptor.
Back to wheels and tires though, the standard wheels
are 22 inches in diameter.
And they're wrapped with 35-inch Goodyear all terrain tires.
The off road package downsizes the wheels to eighteens,
but you still get 35-inch tires this time of their Goodyear mud
terrain tires.
Alas, this is the downside here.
There is no in-vehicle way to inflate your tires after you've
aired them down so, sorry, devotees
to the original Hummer.
The inside looks just as wild as it does with the pickup.
And there are plenty of Easter eggs,
as well as a massive 13.4-inch center screen and a 12.3-inch
digital gauge cluster.
GMC says that the floor-mounted battery pack is actually
underneath the floor between the front and rear axles.
It provides the stiffness that allows for a removable roof
or removable roof panels.
GMC calls them "sky panels," I call them "T tops,"
but you can remove them and also the bar that
runs fore and aft between the panels on the front.
And all those things can be stored in the front trunk,
because yes, you get that as well.
Looking at the back, the powered swing out tailgate,
when you open that up, you have a four foot wide opening
to load things into the cargo area.
That's big.
And with the second row folded, you
get 82 cubic feet of storage.
For comparison, that's more than what
you get behind the second row of a Chevy Tahoe.
And if you remember there's that additional front trunk storage
that has an additional nine cubic feet.
So plenty of room to put stuff.
How about driving the thing?
Well, that'll have to wait and likely
for a couple of years too.
But GMC sounds to be taking full advantage of the one pedal
driving effect that we really like from EVs, where
we use the regenerative braking capabilities
of the electric motors to do the slowing down for you,
so you can come to a complete stop
without needing to touch the brake pedal.
GMC says that the one pedal driving is adjustable,
and there's a "terrain" mode that
incorporates the mechanical brakes as well
for off road use.
That sounds like it's specifically
tailored for crawling.
On top of that, there's a region on demand system feature
and it sounds like it's a paddle on the steering wheel
that you pull to activate the most regenerative braking you
can get out of the electric motors.
And that sounds very similar to what's
available in the Chevy Volt. Although I
tend to just like the one pedal driving a lot more.
But hey, you get options.
How about range?
The estimate for the most capable Hummer SUV edition one
is above 300 miles.
Adding that off road package drops it to 280 miles,
but the lowest priced version has a range estimate
up 250 miles.
But I think now we should circle back to that 11,500 pound
feet of torque figure.
So what makes it deceiving?
It's actually pretty simple.
That's the torque measured at the wheel
after you multiply it by, in this case, the reduction gear.
If you do the same math with a turbo diesel
GMC Sierra 2500 HD and first year,
you'll actually get a bigger number.
Because that's just not how you measure
torque when you're talking about cars.
So don't trust it.
As for what the actual combined torque
figure is for the electric motors,
either two or three of them depending
on your configuration measured by the way everybody
normally measures torque, GMC hasn't said.
Though if you watch Engineering Explains video on the Hummer EV
reveal, he actually did the math and came up
to what sounds like a really solid estimate
for the torque on the three-motor setup in the truck.
So highly recommend watching that video.
What else is there?
Well, you also get Super Cruise.
And this is GM after all.
And that's GM's hands-free driving system that
works on pre-mapped freeways.
That's a nice plus.
There's also an available power station generator
and that offers 120-volt 3-kilowatt power
from your Hummer so you can use it like a portable generator.
Sounds suspiciously like what Ford offers with the F150 Pro
Power onboard system.
And GM says you can also use the GMC Hummer
EV to charge other EVs.
Lastly, the turning circle on the Hummer EV is 35 feet.
And that's actually less than what
you get out of a Honda CRV.
I don't know, that's pretty cool.
Like the truck, the Hummer SUV EV, Hummer EV SUV,
it's going to take a while to remember,
it's available with a few trim levels,
starting with the priciest and most capable edition 1,
and working down from a 3X, 2X, and lastly, the 2.
If you, like me, really want one, I got some bad news.
This is a 2024 model year vehicle.
So the earliest we'll see it is sometime in 2023.
GMC says early 2023, but it's a while.
Like the truck, again, first out of the gate
is the edition 1 version, which will cost roughly $106,000
before the off road package is added,
that adds another five grand or so.
The lowest priced SUV 2 will come in at around 80 grand,
but that won't be available until spring 2024.
What do you think about it?
Let us know in the comments below.
I think it's really, really rad and I can't
wait to actually drive one.
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