{"id":28069,"date":"2021-10-05T15:26:08","date_gmt":"2021-10-05T19:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=28069"},"modified":"2021-10-05T15:26:08","modified_gmt":"2021-10-05T19:26:08","slug":"first-drive-gmc-hummer-ev-pickup-is-an-elephant-in-tennis-shoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2021\/10\/first-drive-gmc-hummer-ev-pickup-is-an-elephant-in-tennis-shoes","title":{"rendered":"First drive: GMC Hummer EV pickup is an elephant in tennis shoes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Milford<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 The GMC Hummer EV truck is big, bad\u00a0and surprisingly balletic.<\/p>\n

The Detroit News\u00a0got a rare opportunity behind the wheel of the mega-ute at General Motors\u2019 4,000-acre Milford Proving Grounds, where it showed off its bag of tricks. Reborn as an electric vehicle 30 years after it invaded U.S. roads as a military-Humvee-turned-SUV, the upcoming GMC Hummer aims to be the General\u2019s halo for a new generation of electron-powered autos.<\/p>\n

A halo performance pickup? It’s true. The Hummer EV truck, expected to hit dealerships by year’s end, is being produced in the automaker’s\u00a0Factory Zero at Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center<\/a>.\u00a0Overall, GM is investing $35 billion through 2025 in electric and autonomous technologies, and plans to have 30 EVs globally in that time frame.<\/p>\n

Brands have used super cars to showcase their best engineering, but battery size (the Hummer reportedly weighs more than\u00a09,000 pounds) can inhibit sports cars compared with their lighter gas peers. Enter the electric super truck, which doesn\u2019t sweat the added weight \u2014 and even benefits from the battery pack\u2019s location between chassis frame rails to lower the center of gravity for better handling. Armed with three electric motors, 1,000 horsepower and state-of-the-art electronics, the 2022 First Edition model should come with a cape.<\/p>\n

\"With<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

I mashed the accelerator and the Hummer EV\u2019s jaw jutted upward. Then it devoured a gravel and dirt road, evenly distributing torque between its four\u00a035-inch off-road tires. Then this elephant in tennis shoes showed off some circus tricks.<\/p>\n

I rotated the beast in a 37-foot circle \u2014 equivalent to a much smaller Chevy Equinox \u2014 then pitched it through a tight slalom like a sedan.<\/p>\n

Credit all-wheel-steer that can angle rear wheels up to 10 degrees. It’s reminiscent of the Ford Bronco\u2019s Trial Turn Assist, which brakes the inside\u00a0front wheel to achieve similar results. Turn off Traction Control and Hummer will do dirt doughnuts. The maneuverability is assisted by the Hummer’s independent rear suspension \u2014 a novelty\u00a0(the Ford F-150 Lightning EV also has it) among full-size trucks that prefer solid rear axles to maximize towing but sacrifice handling. Hummer’s priorities lie elsewhere.<\/p>\n

If the original military Humvee was armored for battle, Hummer EV is built for the Outback.<\/p>\n

\"In<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Its extreme suspension travel allows the elephant to hike its skirt 16 inches off the ground (from a normal 10.5), as well as provide a ridiculous 50-inch approach angle to manage tough terrain. In Terrain mode, I utilized 18 camera views \u2014 two of them under the truck\u2019s belly \u2014 to pick through a rock pile. From the 13.4-inch console screen, I monitored camera views above, below and beside the Hummer.<\/p>\n

Inevitable slips off rocks were cushioned by the truck\u2019s sturdy frame rails and full underbody armor. Such capability is familiar to other off-road trucks \u2014 Hummer smooths the experience with instant\u00a0electric torque at my right foot.<\/p>\n

The pickups\u2019 signature “CrabWalk\u201d mode can be activated via the console\u2019s rotary dial. The system steers front and rear wheels at parallel angles, allowing me to\u00a0escape sideways \u2014 crab-like \u2014 from tight spots.<\/p>\n

Some of Hummer\u2019s EV compatriots \u2014 think Rivian R1T pickup \u2014 put a motor at each wheel\u00a0to do derring-do like tank turns. Hummer\u2019s engineering team chose the more conventional route of e-motors mounted amidships.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did it for efficiency,\u201d said chief engineer Al Oppenheiser, who knows something about power, having developed the Chevy Camaro. \u201cIt\u2019s easier to move torque between the motors and it\u2019s more affordable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Maximize torque to all three motors in the First Edition\u00a0and you get GM’s \u201cWatts to Freedom\u201d acceleration to 60 mph in just three seconds. That\u2019s on par with my electric Tesla Model 3 Performance, which weighs half\u00a0as much as Hummer.<\/p>\n

The Tesla also, ahem, has less than half of the GMC\u2019s 1,200 pound-feet of torque and 1,000 horsepower.<\/p>\n

Prep Watts to Freedom with two taps of the Traction Control Button. The beast crouches on all fours. The driver\u2019s seat begins to vibrate (\u201cLike a rollercoaster ride,\u201d grins Oppenheiser). The vibration grows stronger. Flatten the throttle pedal on GM\u2019s asphalt oval test track, and the truck explodes forward\u00a0\u2014\u00a060 mph goes by in a blur.<\/p>\n

Hummer\u2019s development speed was nearly as quick.<\/p>\n

Clean-sheet vehicles usually take four years to develop. Hummer EV took just over two, being developed in 117 weeks. Credit modern simulators and computer-assisted design systems \u2014 including a state-of-the-art Driver in the Loop simulator\u00a0in Milford\u2019s Building 144.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

\u201cWe couldn\u2019t have done it without these tools,\u201d lead development engineer Aaron Pfau said. \u201cIt gets us 95% to where we need to be before a model hits the road.\u201d<\/p>\n

That speed to market \u2014 the $112,595 First Edition should make deliveries before year\u2019s end (standard $80,000 models in the first quarter of 2022) \u2014 is guaranteed even with the semiconductor crisis plaguing industry production.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur volume is protected,\u201d Oppenheiser said. \u201cFor chips, seat foam, steel … anything affected by the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Little would seem to affect Hummer on road \u2014 the air suspension smooths the ladder frame even at highway speeds. Like its predecessor, it is intimidating \u2014 its broad shoulders and tall stance reflected in celebrity spokesman LeBron James. Get outta the way when Hummer wants to dunk.<\/p>\n

Unlike its spartan predecessor, the Hummer EV’s interior is a swank game room. Materials are first-rate, seats comfortable, ergonomics well-thought-out. It\u2019s capped off by two huge screens: instrument (12.3 inches) and infotainment (13.4 inches). Both are\u00a0run by Epic Games\u2019 3D Unreal Engine rendering software \u2014 the same Epic Games behind PlayStation graphics and PC game hits like “Fortnite.”<\/p>\n

My time in the pickup was brief and performance-focused. I could have stayed longer, exploring its interior options, big backseat, six-way Multi-Pro tailgate. And then I could have removed the roof panels and spent the night star-gazing.<\/p>\n

The panels can be stored in the frunk (front trunk), where the gas engine used to be. This isn\u2019t your father\u2019s Hummer.<\/p>\n

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Milford\u00a0\u2014 The GMC Hummer EV truck is big, bad\u00a0and surprisingly balletic. The Detroit News\u00a0got a rare opportunity behind the wheel of the mega-ute at General Motors\u2019 4,000-acre Milford Proving Grounds, where it showed off its bag of tricks. Reborn as an electric vehicle 30 years after it invaded U.S. roads as a military-Humvee-turned-SUV, the upcoming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28069"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28069"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28070,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28069\/revisions\/28070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}