New Hummer EV Hits the Road: Large & In Charge

Despite its name sounding like the noise the power lines along the freeway make, the last brand you’d expect to go all-in on EVs is Hummer. With deliveries of the new all-electric supertruck set to begin this month, we’re taking a closer look at this almost comic-book-ready behemoth. 

The end of the year is fast approaching, and here we are with the GMC-sub-brand Hummer EV ready to start making deliveries any day now. Motors hum, electricity hums, but there’s something weird about using the word Hummer and EV in the same sentence: the two feel like magnetic poles constantly repelling one another just due to past baggage. The poster car for 90’s and early 00’s excess was originally killed off during the Great Recession when gas prices skyrocketed and it became a faux pas to be seen near one. Famous Hummer enthusiast Arnold Schwarzenegger even ditched his original H1 for a custom-made electric version of the military-inspired icon. 

The tide has certainly turned, with GM recently reporting that it received about 60,000 preorders in 2021 for the all-electric Hummer. This is something that should be melting our brains like a tangy Havarti cheese in a fondue pot - because we tend to think of Hummer owners as petrol ride or dies. But we also think this could be a good perspective shift for us on what an EV can be.  

This reaction from consumers might have something to do with the performance of the new Hummer, which promises 1,000 horsepower from its three motors, one in the front and two in the back, and will get you from a standing stop to a mile a minute in 3 seconds according to GMC. That’s really quick for a car that weighs, brace yourself, four and a half tons. Compare that with the Tesla Cybertruck, which would require its more expensive tri-motor version to match that kind of acceleration. 

On top of its impressive perofrmance figures, the fact that it still very much looks distinctively like a Hummer with its military-like utilitarianism in the body design and beefy tires, and that it has a claimed range of 330 miles on a single charge, the puzzle pieces begin to fall into place as to why this truck is fast becoming an in-demand item this holiday.  

On the flip side is the price. Starting at $79,000 for the base model, it’s twice the price of a base Cybertruck. The only trim level available at launch is even pricier, coming in at over $110,000. Towing capacity is also a potential handicap - GMC has yet to announce specific figures, but in order to line up toe-to-toe with other EV pickups, it would need to be in the neighborhood of 7,500 pounds. And we’d like to see how much power a 9,000 pound car eats up in real world situations. We’re not electrical engineers but 330 miles seems optimistic if you’re also telling people it can go quick, too.  

All in all, the Hummer EV is fascinating. On the one hand it raises the question of whether we need an EV that weighs as much as a small tank in a time when everyone seems to be going lighter and faster. In our humble opinion, we think the answer is no. Why waste the money and material? 

On the other hand though, this car may be a bridge that brings EV skeptics over to the other side. It’s hard to argue with the numbers that GM is promising. And if that’s really what the Hummer EV ends up being when all is said and done, then we think that’s awesome. Let’s get Kindergarten Cop a Hummer EV! But only if he doesn’t already have one! 

Related: Edison Invented The EV Long Before We All Went "Green"​