GMC Hummer EV SUV review

It’s the Hummer EV, the all-electric heir to the civilian ‘Humvee’ legacy, one mostly read out loud in a horrible Arnold Schwarzenegger imitation. As the kick-off to GM’s ‘Ultium’ architecture, it crab-walked so that the Cadillac Escalade IQ and the Chevrolet Silverado EV could run.

This is the SUV variant, some 20 inches shorter overall than the absurd but brilliant Hummer EV pickup, with a nine-inch shorter wheelbase, an inch or so less in height and a smaller 20-module battery pack that’s *only* 170kWh in capacity. Slim pickings, huh? You might think that some of the pickup’s abilities have been watered down, but they haven’t really. The changes have expanded the platform’s capabilities, not shrunk them.

There are currently two flavours of Hummer to choose from, starting with the dual-motor 2X AWD (that has between 570 and 635hp) and the 3X that has up to 1,160hp to play with. The differences come down to if you’re using the overeager “Watts to Freedom” mode, a boost setting for which the acronym absolutely came first.

Looking like an outtake from Halo in its Moonshot Green Matte paint, the Edition 1 SUV featured all the tech which debuted on the pickup – crab walk, WTF mode, Supercruise, etc – and adds a new level of off-road ability. Current versions have all this and more, while the sole special package currently on offer is the Carbon Fiber Edition. That adds, well, carbon fiber.

While the pickup surprised us with its goat-like ability to scale improbably steep and rutted terrain, its rear overhang does limit its departure angle on more severe inclines. The SUV solves that by effectively lopping off the rear overhang and tucking the spare onto the rear door. It might not sound like much – until you get stuck. Not even the air suspension’s Extract mode, which lifts the body a full 15+ inches off the ground, is going to get you out of that. So the SUV, with its turning circle not much bigger than a Chevy Bolt’s, is the de facto choice of the Hummer range for off-roading.

Reinforcing that point, the SUV is available with an Extreme – naturally – Off-Road Package which includes 18-inch wheels and 35-inch off-road tyres, underbody armour and rock sliders, front e-lockers and rear virtual lockers plus an array of trail cameras and some heavy duty half shafts. With that lot in place, you are going to be able to get over anything you can’t go around, or through.

But hasn’t the SUV got less range than the pickup? 

Over a standard test cycle, yes. In the most ideal scenario possible, GMC claims the SUV has a max range of 319 miles compared with the ambitious 363 claimed for the pickup. And the SUV can only charge at a max rate of 300kW compared with 350 for the pickup.

In the real world that’s not much more than one or maybe two WTF launches away from being about the same. But you also have to factor in the SUV weighs another 250lb+ over the 9,000lb pickup. So, unless the SUV is significantly more aerodynamic, which it should be with an enclosed rear, range will be at more of a premium than on the open-bed pickup.

Either way you slice it, the topmost numbers will take some, let’s say, nuance to achieve in this hulking off-road party-mobile. In our time with the SUV it mustered about 270-280 miles, even before we dabbled in some ‘WTF’ action. Fair enough; we didn’t expect the Hummer to be the next EV range darling. 

Does being an SUV limit its carrying ability?

If you want to haul a massive quantity of bulky stuff, the pick-up’s 5ft-long bed is always going to win over the SUV’s 81.8cu ft (2,316-liter) rear load area. That said, while there’s no room for a third row back there, the SUV is plenty big enough for five people and their luggage. If you need more than that, just tow it. The SUV can pull up to 7,500lb, so plenty for most people.

The Hummer EV is a big, audacious SUV that has, in a sense, paved the way towards normalizing utility EVs. For all of its spectacle, it can step up to the challenge beset by its forebears as an off-roader, though its sheer heft is the first obstacle it needs to clear before anything else. Having discarded all sensible limits to size, weight and performance – on and off-road – it shouldn’t make any sense. But drive it for a couple of days and you realise being sensible is for other vehicles. The Hummer is about fun.

Yet given the usual caveats – you’ll need easy and regular access to fast charging at home and away, it just won’t fit down narrow streets or into some parking garages – it’s also hugely functional, too. If you order one today, it’ll start at the thick end of $100k+, but don’t let the asking price get in the way of you becoming the talk of the town.