I’ve fallen for the electric Hummer and I hate myself for it
It’s as big and brash as ever, and it’s everything we don’t need, but I still love it
The biggest battery EVer
How does it do this? Well, it crams in an absolutely huge battery pack. Jason Fenske of Engineering Explained —who got a sneak peak at the Hummer EV— was told that the battery is more than 200 kWh in capacity.That’s more than double the size of the averageEVbattery. Given that its 0-60 time and range is on par with Teslas, which have much smaller packs, this is a big hint at how inefficient this thing really is.This is a problem, but we’ll get to that shortly.
The upside is that the Hummer is built onGM’s Ultium platform that’s going to underpin a smorgasbord of EVs. The huge battery pack fitted here could be a Boone for delivery vans and commercial vehicles that benefit from the increased range.
Thankfully, the inside of the vehicle is a significant departure from old Hummers, which somehow always felt a lot smaller than they should have given their exterior dimensions.
The interior is like any other large modern SUV. Luxurious, draped in leather, and with space for five people. Thecar’s interior features dashboard screens that, 20 years ago, would have been acceptable sizes for living room TVs.
Under the hood, it’s also nothing like Hummers of old and that’s obviously why we are here to talk about it, because it’selectric.Depending on the spec level you can get either two or three motors. The cheaper two motor versions have less power and less range, it’s only the $113,000 top specEdition 1that gets three motors to put out 1,000hp.
Because there’s no gas-guzzling motor under the hood, it also has a generousfrunk, which is a nice addition for a pickup as it gives drivers somewhere secure to store valuables instead of leaving them on a truck bed for anyone to pinch.
What’s more, thanks to its motor arrangement, drivers will be provided with heaps of control over how it drives. This means they can force the rear wheels to match speed, simulating the effectof a locking rear differential which is great for towing and off-roading in bad conditions.
There’s also rear-wheel steering which means the Hummer EV will actually be able to navigate tight turns better than its combustion-powered predecessors. And of course, it gets GM’s Super Cruise ADAS tech to take the sting out of long drives with some partial automation.
It’s a Hummer, but it’s electric
So, the new Hummer EV in a nutshell: it’s electric, it’s packed with modern features, it’s not quite as ridiculous as it used to be, and its performance figures make some sport scars look slow. Indeed, there’s a lot to love about it, and there is a truck loving part of me that is veryveryexcited about it. But I also hate that part of myself.
The new Hummer couldn’t be any different from the original civilian Hummer (which is a very good thing) but at the same time, it’s still very mucha Hummerin spirit and that’s very bad.
It’s inefficient and needlessly excessive. This truck isn’t exactly about saving the planet. On its launch website, there’s just one mention of it being zero emission, one! There’s also no mention of recycled materials used in its construction.
The focus is on performance, power, and presence, which it has in spades, but those are just a distraction from the reality that it’s huge, expensive, and will never actually be used in conditions it was designed for.
Amazing truck, mediocre EV
I expect the Hummer to be a very good truck, perhaps one of the best. But as far as EVs go, it can’t be held in high regard, simply because GMC engineers have given it its performance by using a massive battery.
What’s more, it uses pouch cell batteries, not cylindrical cells that are becoming increasingly common. Pouch cell EV batteries have been around for ages, they’re used in the BMW i3 which is getting on for eight years old. Cars of the future need to be intelligently and efficiently designed, should use resources sparingly, and should strive for minimal impact on the world. But the Hummer…? A Hummer will never be those things, EV or not.
Yes, it’s a good thing that it’s powered by electricity and cuts emissions. If GMC can convert even a few hundred old-school truck-loving coal-rolling climate change-deniers who are unable to let go of the past to EVs then it’s a worthy victory.
The main reason the original civilian Hummers, the H1 and H2, were pulled from production 10 years ago is because they drank gasoline like it was booze the night before new lockdown measures, and pumped out emissions like there was no tomorrow. The electric drivetrain of this new one might fix that, but the Hummer EV is still massive. It will be wildly impractical in towns and cities, and screams of unnecessary excess.
The sad reality is that the people that will buy these won’t be buying them for their performance or off-road capability. This car does not demonstrate a collective cultural progression towards a sustainable future, it’s an attempt at remedying our oil loving hangover with electrified Alka-Seltzer.
We just don’t need cars like this.
Even though the new Hummer EV is everything we don’t need right now, I still love it, and I hate myself for that.
SHIFTis brought to you by Polestar. It’s time to accelerate the shift to sustainable mobility. That is why Polestar combines electric driving with cutting-edge design and thrilling performance.Find out how.
Story byMatthew Beedham
Matthew is the editor of SHIFT. He likes electric cars, and other things with wheels, wings, or hulls.Matthew is the editor of SHIFT. He likes electric cars, and other things with wheels, wings, or hulls.
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