Everything You Need To Know About the All-New Hummer EV
Hummer is back—but it’s certainly not the gas guzzler you remember. Because the all-new 2022 Hummer EV is completely electric.
Revealed Tuesday evening during a livestream, the new Hummer EV pickup has 1,000 hp, will hit 60 mph in the 3 second range, and travel up to 350 miles on a charge. Those are impressive numbers considering Tesla’s highly anticipated Cybertruck promises a 250-mile range and a 0-60 mph time of around 4.5 seconds.
It’s been a decade since the name HUMMER—known for big trucks and bad fuel economy—has been splashed across an SUV chrome grill, but the name Hummer also meant serious off-road capability and durability.
The story of the Hummer is unlike any SUV ever made, and its electrified future could be equally atypical.
The Battery Buildup
When GM pulled the plug on Hummer a decade ago, electric mobility was only a dream. Even the best EVs at the time couldn’t deliver 100 miles on a charge, they were small (the EPA certified the 2010 Nissan Leaf’s electric range at just 73 miles), and even with its advanced 435-pound, 16 kWh lithium-ion battery pack on board, the Chevy Volt could only travel about 35 miles on a charge before the gas engine kicked-in. An electric full-size pickup truck with supercar acceleration, serious off-road capability, and driving range equal to a gas truck? That was pure fantasy.
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But things have changed.
“Energy density and power density are the two key parameters you can measure whether it be on a battery, motor, drive unit or power electronics,” Tim Grewe, director of global battery cell engineering and strategy for GM, told Popular Mechanics. “And those two parameters have jumped on all those components from ten years ago until now. Energy density has gone through the roof.”
And it’s what makes a vehicle like the new electric Hummer even possible. Today there are at least a half dozen large pickups with electric powertrains in development, like Tesla, Rivian, Ford, Bollinger and of course the new GMC Hummer EV. Just as the energy density of these new packs will allow driving ranges that rival their gas-powered siblings, the cost to build those packs have also dropped.
A report from the Rocky Mountain Institute reveals that battery prices have fallen from around $1200/kWh in 2010 to less than $200/kWh today. Energy research and consultancy firm Woods Mackenzie says that by 2024, energy research automakers will hit the $100/kWh threshold, which would bring the cost of building EVs on par with gas vehicles.
“At full scale production, we’re well below that, says Grewe. “It’s happening faster than anyone forecasted and I don’t know where the bottom of the cost curve is...I’m working on battery cells to drop that cost further and further down.”
The new Ultium packs are unlike any that GM has used in the past. In addition to the nickel, manganese, and cobalt coating on the cathodes, these new batteries have an aluminum “doping,” too. The aluminum, Grewe says, makes that cathode structure more durable so it doesn’t degrade with a denser pack of lithium-ion. These packs use less of the expensive Cobalt material than typical packs today—which will help keep prices low.
There are 24 battery cell modules packed into the Hummer. The modules utilize what GM calls “pouch-like” cells that can be stacked and arranged vertically or horizontally within the pack to allow the optimum layout for each vehicle platform. The liquid-cooled (and warmed) packs use a unique wireless battery management system.
Every one of the modules is self-contained, according to Grewe, and can communicate with the rest of the control system. The battery rides under the floor of the passenger cabin and is integrated into the vehicle’s structure. The launch versions of this truck, known as Edition One, will have the largest battery pack—we’re guessing between 150-200 kWh.
GM estimates the pack will give the Hummer EV a maximum range of around 350 miles on a charge—and the truck is capable of handling ultra-fast 350kW charging.
“Because we have this large 24 module pack, we operate with 12 modules in parallel. So that’s basically two 400V packs one on top of the other,” Mike Colville, Senior Manager of Complex Feature Integration for the Hummer EV, told Popular Mechanics. “And so, when you pull up to a 350kW charging station, we’ll reconfigure them electrically to 800V.”
That means the Hummer can add 100 miles of range in about ten minutes using one of these chargers. And that level of charging speed will be available once the battery state of charge drops below a certain level. In other words, when you have in the neighborhood of 250 miles of range left and start charging it at 350kW, it won’t charge as quickly as it would if the truck had 50 miles remaining. But those quick charge times are getting very close to the time one would
Hummer Reborn
At $112,594, the Hummer EV Edition 1 is the brand’s flagship. That means it has everything—the most power, the largest battery, the most off-road capability, and every option available—and every one of these first trucks will be painted white. Less expensive and less capable trim levels of the truck will follow, with the least expensive $79,995 EV2 model arriving in the Spring of 2024. GMC is also planning an SUV version of the Hummer EV.
The Hummer EV is a full-size pickup truck with four doors and a 5-foot bed riding on a 135.5-inch wheelbase. The truck has removable roof panels that can be stored in the truck’s front trunk. The rig has a real bulldog-like stance, and part of that comes from the massive track width of 73 inches. That’s about 4 inches wider than a GMC Sierra 1500 4X4.
Unlike any other modern full-size pickup truck, the Hummer will use an independent suspension front and rear—like the original Humvee. But the Hummer EV’s suspension is far more sophisticated with air springs and adaptive dampers. It comes standard with 35-inch tall Goodyear Wrangler All Territory MT tires but can handle even larger 37-inch tires inside those fenders. By all measurements, this truck should be an off-road beast.
At its normal ride height, there’s 10-inches of ground clearance. But in the tallest Extract mode, that number grows to a whopping 15.9 inches. In between, there’s a mid-height (Terrain) for the two off-road modes (one for low speed crawling and another for higher-speed four wheeling) that is two inches taller than the normal height.
In the lower-speed mode, the truck can “lock” front and rear axles for true 4WD. In it’s tallest Extract mode, Hummer EV has an approach angle of 49.7 degrees and a departure angle of 38.4 degrees and a breakover angle of 24 degrees. To put that into perspective, a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon has an approach angle of 44 degrees. And to make sure you don’t wreck those body panels, the Edition 1 trucks all come with rock rails. The Hummer EV can ford 32 inches of water, too.
Hummer will be the first modern production 4X4 to offer four-wheel steering. The system can steer the wheels in phase (like a crab) or steer them in opposite directions by up to 10 degrees—perfect for a tight 4WD trail. And GM says the truck has a very tight 37-foot turning circle. That’s just two feet wider than a two-door Jeep Wrangler and should make the Hummer incredibly nimble on the trail. The truck will automatically limit torque when the steering hits certain angles in low-speed four-wheeling, to ensure the truck’s half-shafts live to finish the trail.
And you’ll be able to see more of that trail in a Hummer EV, thanks to the truck’s Ultravision 360-degree camera system that includes two underbelly cams to help spot obstacles.
Serious WTF Speed
Forget what you think you know about a conventional 4WD system. The Hummer electronics do things old-school 4X4s can only dream about. The Hummer EV’s electric powertrain is unique in the way it sends torque to the ground. Hummer’s e4WD system uses three electric motors—without the need for a low range reduction gearbox. Two of them power the rear wheels at either side.
And there’s no actual mechanical link between them. That allows for real torque vectoring across the axle with complete independent torque control over each rear tire. And Colville says that allowed the team to induce yaw control through the motors to the tires, which should be a boon for handling on such a big truck.
The third motor is up front and it’s combined with a conventional front differential loaded with an electronic selectable locker. And so, unlike every other 4WD truck, there’s no mechanical link front to rear in the driveline. That allowed engineers to pick slightly different axles ratios front and rear to most effectively put power to the ground. The front drive unit has a 13.3:1 fixed gear ratio and the two rear motors use a 10.5:1 ratio.
And speaking of power, GM says the truck has 11,500 lb-ft. of torque. That’s impressive. But the number is measured at the wheels and is not really equivalent to the torque numbers automakers typically quote. Those lower numbers are measured at the engine’s flywheel on a conventional internal combustion truck. We’d guess, considering this EV truck is rated at 1,000 hp, that the comparable torque figure is close to that number.
But regardless of the number, GM says the truck is very quick. It can rocket to 60 mph in a supercar-like 3 seconds (much faster than the original Hummer's sluggish 18-second 0-60). To achieve that acceleration, a Hummer driver will need to put the truck into a special mode called Watts To Freedom, or WTF (get it?).
WTF is like a sport mode of sorts and automatically lowers the truck and primes it for a brutal launch. Colville says the mode allows access to deeper torque reserves and turns up the cooling on the power electronics. He says it also changes the sound character of the powertrain (both naturally and artificially through the speakers) by dialing more bass into the cabin. WTF will even trigger some haptics in the seats for a really immersive experience.
In the tamer Adrenaline mode, the Hummer EV should hit 60 mph in the 4 second range because WTF can drain plenty of juice from the battery pack. So to put more of it back in, the Hummer EV has driver-controlled regenerative braking, which provides the option of one-pedal driving for max regeneration. There’s a custom mode, called My Mode, that Colville say is “a mixing bowl of sorts” and allows the driver to set the truck up exactly as they like.
GM says the Hummer EV is the most upscale and premium vehicle within the GMC brand, so expect the interior to impress. On the inside, there’s a definite lunar theme. The speaker grills show an image of the Sea of Tranquility. And the dead pedal is shaped like a moon boot.
The Hummer EV has a 13.4-inch central screen and another 12.3-inch unit in the gauge cluster. And depending on the vehicle mode, both screens can change and message at the same time. GM has installed unique performance widgets too that represent stuff like a drift gauge, friction circle skid pad, suspension articulation and the torque distributed to each wheel.
“We’ll let you know how you’re doing on your budget so you won’t be anxious," says Colville. “We’ll even get you to the closest charging station to the trail.”
The very first Hummer was a ground-breaking 4X4 in many ways when it first launched onto American roads almost 30 years ago. But it’s a dinosaur compared to the Hummer EV.
This truck pushes electric powertrain tech and 4WD capability in ways that were unimaginable just a few years ago. The Hummer EV hits the road in late 2021, so we’ll have to wait until then to find out if this truck truly sets the benchmark for the future of electric trucks.
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