Woah: Hummer is back with a 1,000hp all-electric ‘supertruck’

By topgear, 22 October 2020

Somewhere in California Arnold Schwarzenegger has just exploded with excitement, because Hummer is BACK (baby). And its new truck is quite the thing.

It’s electric for starters, with GM’s clever new ‘Ultium’ batteries and three e-motors giving an estimated 1,000hp, 15,600Nm of torque and around 560km of range. 0-95km/h takes “approximately three seconds”, while 350kW DC charging can supposedly replenish 160km of charge in just ten minutes.

Billed as “the ultimate off-road EV supertruck”, the Hummer EV comes with 35-inch tyres (though it’s compatible with 37s), adaptive air suspension with something called “Extract Mode” that can lift the body by six-inches and thick steel plating underneath to keep the battery from harm.

A shedload of cameras give up to 18 different views of the ground around (and under) the truck, which GM claims can scale “18-inch verticals”, wade through 2ft of water and quite literally side-step tricky obstacles with a “CrabWalk” feature that points the front and rear wheels in the same direction.

Inside you get a 13.4-inch centre screen and another 12.3-inch display just for the driver. Removable roof panels can be stowed in the Tesla-style “frunk”.

Design-wise, inspiration has clearly been drawn from the old H1 and H2. A little bit of history – AM General’s original Humvee was developed for the US Military, with which it’s been in service since the mid-Eighties.

It started selling a civilian version in 1992, then GM bought the rights to the brand in 1999 and, a couple of years later, launched the H2. Which was rubbish. And a few years after that, the H3, which was even rubbisher. No Hummers have been built since 2010, when the brand was canned as a result of GM’s bankruptcy.

GM is already taking reservations for the Hummer EV. Early cars will be First Edition spec, which will have all the headline tech and cost US$112,595. Production starts late next year. Progressively cheaper models will be introduced, culminating with US$80,000 two-motor Hummer EV2 in spring 2024.

Competition is fierce – with Tesla, Ford, Rivian and others prepping their own electric pick-ups. Which one’s got you most excited?

STORY Tom Harrison

Related Articles