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Volvo: Safety Beyond the Star RatingsThe Hummer Is Completely Electric and Almost Here
Say goodbye gas and hello to electricity with the new Hummer EV pickup truck. Internal combustion may be gone but the in-your-face attitude remains.
The Hummer is Back, But on a Different Team
To the disbelief of environmentalists, the new Hummer will be an all-electric pickup truck. Discontinued in 2010 by corporate parent General Motors (GM), the old Hummer represented fossil fuel burning excess with beefy, bloated SUVs. GM is bringing back the beef but the brash gas-guzzling legacy is gone, replaced with the silence of battery power.
An Actual Supertruck
Branding the new Hummer EV as a “supertruck” is not completely out of line here. Edition 1 models are launching with a tri-motor powertrain making 1,000 horsepower and a manufacturer claimed 11,500 lb-ft of torque. Reservations for this initial trim are full, with delivery to owners scheduled for the fall of this year.
With a price tag starting at $112,595, the Edition 1 comes with eye-popping bells and whistles to burnish the “super” moniker. All that power comes from a proprietary Ultium battery architecture designed in partnership with LG Chem. With 350 kilowatts of juice, the Edition 1 will have 350 miles of driving range. Fast charging capability should allow for 100 miles of range ready in just 10 minutes of charging.
Maniacs, er, drivers can put all that power to the pavement in ludicrous fashion with the “Watts to Freedom” launch feature. It will slingshot this brute to 60 in around 3 seconds, 35” tires be damned. If lower heart rate driving is your thing, GM’s Super Cruise will offer hands-free operation with the ability to change lanes and overtake slower vehicles.
Hummer Looks In a More Capable Form
The new Hummer design is modern while clearly emulating its predecessors. Check out the upright grille and windshield, boxed fender flares and aforementioned size-huge tires. And while it will burn up the pavement, off-road prowess comes standard too.
The four-wheel independent air suspension uses a continuous damping adaptive ride control system to smooth out the washboards while offering plenty of control. Four-wheel steering makes for tighter turns and enables CrabWalk, which lets the new Hummer drive on a diagonal.
Activate Extract mode and the Hummer will rise 6” to clear boulders or ford your local waterway. Rock sliders and a full complement of steel underbody plating, protecting the differential and battery pack, round out the off-road chops. Don’t miss the UltraVision suite of vehicle cameras which include a waterproof, underbody lens to see exactly what you’re about to traverse.
The Hummer EV Interior is Insane
The interior is just as interesting with an Infinity roof made of modular, transparent glass panels. All four of them can be removed and stored in the frunk. Combine that with the stowable front I-bar and power rear glass to open the new Hummer – all the way up. A 12.3” digital gauge cluster and 14.3” central touchscreen work with an industry-first software back end. Fortnite creator Epic Games collaborated with GM to implement their Unreal Engine gaming development platform in the Hummer EV. Which allows for next-generation levels of graphics and user interaction.
Better Get in Line Soon for the Hummer EV
Keep in mind, all this fun stuff comes loaded into the Edition 1 model, which will be the only one available at launch this Fall. Going forward, Hummer will release additional trim levels with ever-decreasing features as well as purchase price. The Hummer EV3X is scheduled for fall of 2022 starting just under $100,000, kicking off a naming convention that will aggravate automotive writers everywhere. The EV2X will be available in 2023 with one less motor and a price tag of $89,995. The Hummer EV2 is currently the final trim on the calendar for spring 2024. Like it’s Sqaured-X stablemate, look for two motors but a lower entry point of $79,995.
Adding more fuel to the electrical fire, GM is kicking off reservations for an SUV version of this new Hummer EV. Tune in on April 3 at 5 PM Eastern time via GMC.com to get the latest on the model.
