After staging a high-profile debut of the new Hummer SUV over the weekend, GMC officials offered a deep-dive look at the new battery-electric vehicle on Monday.
While the all-electric utility vehicle has much in common with the Hummer pickup unveiled last autumn, it also has a number of key differences, starting with a 9-inch shorter wheelbase and a downsized battery pack, officials said. The 2024 GMC Hummer SUV EV also was designed to be even more nimble in off-road settings than the big pickup.
The SUV “offers an exceptional balance of on-road performance and off-road capability, enhanced by a unique structure that allows for our signature open-air experience,” said Al Oppenheiser, chief engineer on both the Hummer pickup and SUV programs. “New features debuting on the SUV reinforce its role as a tactical tool in almost any situation.”
Unique features
Some of those features are shared with the Hummer pickup, others will debut on the SUV. Among the more notable technologies are:
- An all-wheel-steering system that lets the rear wheels turn up to 10 degrees, something that enhances higher-speed turns, as well as the Hummer’s nimbleness both off-road and in tight urban settings. It helps trim the SUV’s turning radius to just 35.4 feet, a full 10 feet tighter than Ford’s Mustang Mach-E;
- Advanced Super Cruise, the latest version of the semi-autonomous system first rolled out by the Cadillac brand. It will now allow hands-free lane changes, as well as hands-free driving, on about 200,000 miles of limited-access roadways in the U.S. and Canada;
- An onboard, 120-volt, 3 kilowatt generator that can be used to charge tools, appliance, even another electric vehicle that has run low on power;
- Satellite-rendered trail mapping will let motorists follow pre-mapped trails in places like Moab, Utah, just like they would with conventional navi maps. But the system also provides information about battery usage along the way and helps determine if there’ll be enough power left to make it to nearest charging station when done.
The mapping information will be displayed on a large screen atop the center console. The system will use displays created in a partnership with Perception, a creative development company that has worked on the creation of the cinematic Marvel Universe.
Lunar landscape
When starting up the GMC Hummer EV SUV a motorist will be greeted by a brief video meant to look like sunrise on the lunar landscape. The moonscape theme is carried over throughout the vehicle, including the rubberized floor of the cargo bed which is etched with a topographical map of the Sea of Tranquility. That’s where the first manned moon mission landed over a half-century ago.
The protected cargo compartment is one of the differences between the Hummer SUV and pickup. The GMC product development team worked to maximize storage space by adding various nooks, as well as a hidden compartment beneath the cargo bed. Meanwhile, the full-size spare was moved to the outside of the SUV’s tailgate. The power tailgate itself opens barn door style and it can be operated from the keyfob or a button in the cabin.
The cabin itself takes a more subtle, monochromatic approach than the brash interior of the pickup, noted designer Tara Ellis, during a Monday media webinar.
Shorter and more nimble
The entire vehicle echoes the layout and look of the pickup with similar, subtle tweaks. For one thing, it features a wheelbase 9 inches shorter than the pickup. Along with a shorter rear overhang and a ground clearance of up to 16 inches, that allows for some serious rock crawling, with a breakover angle of around 34 degrees. The SUV can ford water of up to 32 inches deep.
The shorter package did limit the size of the Hummer SUV’s battery pack to 20 individual modules, down from 24 with the pickup. (A base version of the ute will offer just 16 modules when it debuts in calendar-year 2024.)
That still permits about 300 miles per charge, depending upon road and weather conditions and driving behavior, GMC officials said. The system can gain an extra 100 miles of range using an 800-volt, 350-kilowatt public fast charger in just over 10 minutes.
Other tech-oriented features on the GMC Hummer EV SUV will include reconfigurable control buttons that will change function as needed. These include both buttons on the infotainment screen and hard buttons lined up below the display.
Leave your key at home
As with other EVs, both Hummer models will be able to be driven in One-Pedal mode. That offers much more aggressive energy regeneration during braking and coasting — or when driving off-road. As a result, a driver only
needs to ease up on the throttle, rather than lift off and hit the brakes, in many situations.
The Hummer SUV also can be operated using a smartphone app, allowing a driver to leave their keyfob behind.
As with the Hummer pickup, the SUV will be offered in either two- or three-motor configurations. The ute will produce a maximum 830 horsepower and 11,500 pound-feet of torque. That’s short of the pickup’s 1,000 hp, acknowledged Oppenheiser, but still enough to launch the big SUV from 0-60 in 3.5 seconds using the optional “Watts to Freedom” mode.
A driving mode for every situation
As with many modern vehicles, a driver will be able to choose from a variety of different modes depending upon road conditions and driver behavior. Each will regulate a variety of vehicle settings, including throttle response, damping, steering input and the four-wheel-steer system.
At launch, GMC expects to have a wide range of options and aftermarket features available, including an “infinity roof” that, said Oppenheiser, “effectively turns it into a convertible.
The at-launch Edition 1 will go for $110,595 — before adding in delivery fees — when it reaches showrooms early in 2023. That special version will offer virtually every option available for the Hummer EV SUV, including the “Extreme Off-Road Package.” Regular versions will then range from $79,995 to $99,995 before options, taxes and delivery fees.
Two Hummer models
The pickup will be the first of the new Hummer models to market, reaching U.S. showrooms by autumn. But expect the SUV to be the real draw, said Duncan Aldred, general manager of the GMC brand.
“We do expect the SUV to be the dominant seller,” he said during the webinar and Q&A session. But the automaker will have flexibility to balance production to meet whatever the eventual public demand.
