GM has been trying to convince everyone that it is a technology company now, at least on par with Tesla, which is silly because automakers are some of the oldest tech companies around. But, anyway, with the rollout of the 2024 GMC Hummer EV, GM seems doubly concerned with reminding you how tech it is.
There is, for example, a thing called Power Station that can “jump charge” other EVs. It can also power tools, like the new Ford F-150. There is a feature called Extract Mode, which lifts the car six inches to better clear terrain. There is the “next-generation” of GM’s Super Cruise, its semiautonomous system meant to compete with Tesla Autopilot and which will be able to automatically change lanes on many roads. There is CrabWalk, which turns the rear wheels and allows the car to move diagonally. There is trail mapping with GMC’s app.
Using the fastest charger, Hummer EV owners can charge “up to 100 miles” of range in 10 minutes. There is something called UltraVision, which you can use to view 18 different angles from the Hummer EV pickup, and 17 on the SUV. There is even a camera on the spare tire mount on the SUV Hummer EV.
That looks like this:
The turning circle for the Hummer EV SUV version is 35.4 feet, which GMC says is “smaller than a Mustang Mach-E,” which are fighting words. GMC says that the powertrain can also send all of its power to a single wheel if necessary, depending on the traction requirements. GMC gave the following numbers on climbing and what not:
13 inches of suspension travel, climbing 60 percent grades (forward and reverse), scaling 18-inch verticals and fording water more than 2 feet deep.
GMC also has a lot to share today about its battery system — a “double-stacked Ultium battery” that powers three motors which in turn make up to 830 horsepower and 11,500 ft-lb of torque — which is all well and good, but I fear that if automakers think that consumers give a shit about batteries and electric motors in the same way that they care about engines and transmissions, then GM has another thing coming.
Or maybe the swing and sorta miss that was Tesla’s Battery Day is still fresh in my mind. It is Tesla, in any case, who GM is taking on now, and I would say that excitement for the Hummer EV is not nearly as frothy as it is for the Tesla Cybertruck. Perhaps that is simply because Tesla is Tesla and GM is GM, or maybe it is because we’ve already done Hummer once and it’s hard to get excited about tech improvements on a car you feel like you’ve seen before.
It doesn’t really matter, as the Hummer EV is happening, whether people are willing to pay $100,000 for it or not, whether you think it is hideous or not.
