GMC Hummer EV SUV Review
If any SUV could be a cartoon-ish WWE character brought to four-wheeled life, it would be the hulking GMC Hummer EV SUV. New for 2024, but with the same in-your-face attitude of the Hummer EV pickup, there’s not much the Hummer EV SUV doesn’t do well. Except be subtle.
It’s mini-monster truck tall, exceptionally wide, and tire-meltingly fast. It can tackle obstacles that mountain goats avoid, offers some of the quickest DC fast-charging on the market, and can also tow more than most SUVs.
And the Hummer EV, now sold under the GMC brand, offers an open-air mode that makes it one of the very few plug-in vehicles that could be considered a semi-convertible. Perhaps more accurately, it brings the T-top era into the new millennium, with four removable glass panels that can be easily stored in the large frunk up front, though the removed panels basically zap all available cargo space when stored.
Hummer EV Performance: WTF Mode Makes It Fly
Making all these engineering dichotomies happen is a pricey test-bed of off-road and performance EV technologies, highlighted by the straight-line hooliganism of its Watts to Freedom (WTF) launch mode.
The WTF launch function requires a double tap on the traction control button to engage. Do so and the Hummer hunkers down on its air suspension, rumbles the driver’s seat in warning, and loads up full battery output, which is why GM recommends at least an 80 percent charge for max acceleration. Hold the brake then the accelerator, then it’ll give you your cue when ready.
It’s a bit of a process, but a process that will fling this massive SUV from rest to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds.
It will also fling people around, and fling phones from their hands, as my unbraced wife discovered while trying to film this Hummer’s WTF launch from the rear seat. Both went flying in different directions, as the resulting video captured.
Power and Tech to Spare, at a Price
The WTF mode will unleash all 830 hp the Hummer SUV offers, as well as roughly 1,200 lb-ft of torque. GMC still officially claims that torque is 11,500 lb-ft, but this figure is measured in a different way from all of GM’s other vehicles, which normally cites torque at the driveshaft or motor, not at the wheels.
So, 1,200 lb-ft is a commonly reported figure, with other reported estimates ranging from an even 1,000 to a possible high of 1,400 lb-ft coming from the all-wheel drive, three-motor Hummer EV 3X.
At a full 16.5 feet in length, the Hummer SUV is nearly two feet (20 inches) shorter overall than its EV pickup namesake. That’s notably longer and taller than a Rivian R1S, perhaps its closest current rival, but the Range Rover Sport plug-in hybrid and upcoming electric Mercedes-Benz G-Class are other plug-in offerings that offer big helpings of acceleration and off-road ability that all start just over the $100k mark.
As tested, this particular GMC Hummer SUV 3X came in at $119,410, after adding its nearly $10,000 Extreme Off-Road package, and the Infinity roof with those transparent panels.
If this Hummer lacks anything, it’s a strong value equation, as the interior offers plenty of features, but not the same enveloping sense of artistry or luxury when it comes to colors or material choices as its Benz and Range Rover rivals noted above.
Behind the Wheel of the Hummer EV
On the road, the one of the most amazing aspects of driving this Hummer EV SUV tester for a week was the four-wheel steering that enables the tires to turn at opposing angles to tighten the turning circle. This means the large Hummer can turn around in less space than a subcompact Chevy Sonic, making U-turns and parking lot maneuvers much easier than you’d suspect.
Another party trick is the available “crabwalk” mode, which allows for all four tires to turn in the same direction at low speeds. This allows the Hummer to move along diagonally at low speeds, in forward or reverse. This one seems gimmicky to me, and even in the toughest of off-road spots, of limited value.
The GMC Hummer EV’s sizable 170-kWh battery is smaller than the 212-kWh behemoth in the Hummer pickup, but the SUV’s curb weight of a whopping 8,673 pounds still makes the Hummer’s dynamic abilities both off-road and on-pavement an engineering marvel. The air suspension’s beefy hydraulics are clearly visible behind the Hummer’s massive wheels in all their industrial glory; they are able to raise and lower its body and colossal battery to four different heights, giving the Hummer up to 15.9 inches of ground clearance in full-on Extract mode.
Helpfully for outdoor enthusiasts, that off-road package provides the low-mounted Ultium battery with serious rock protection, with five skid plates, two underbody shields, and rock sliders.
To help avoid such dangers in the first place, the Hummer offers an “UltraVision” system that provides 18 camera angles, including underbody views that can combine to act as a digital spotter. The under-body cameras can even wash themselves clear of debris or dust, and are positioned in a way to help protect them from damage.
Hummer EV Range and Charging
Its large battery helps the Hummer SUV achieve a fairly realistic EPA range prediction of 314 miles – or closer to 298 miles on the chunkier off-road tires equipped on this tester. When overnight charging on a Level 2 charger at home, GMC offers a high-power 80-amp charging station that can charge the Hummer at up to 19.2 kW speeds, which are just below some DC quick chargers out there.
Speaking of quick-charging, we took the Hummer to a Tesla Supercharger within weeks of it being opened up to GM EV owners, enjoying some free but relatively slow (70-80 kW, peaking at 113 kW) charging in the midst of a busy Tesla location using an A2Z EV Typhoon Pro adapter. This Hummer was one of the first non-Tesla vehicles to offer a driver’s side rear charge port, which helps its drivers not take up two spots, thus avoiding fellow EV owner side-eye.
At a CCS station, we briefly saw double those speeds, up to 164 kW, with the Hummer maintaining a strong 119-kW swig of power even as I was about to stop it at a 70 percent state of charge.
Before both DC charging sessions, we activated the pre-conditioning function, finding that the Hummer is one of the few EVs which does this flawlessly. Pre-conditioning warms up the battery when selecting a DC fast charger on the vehicle’s navigation to help achieve as close to its maximum 300-kW charge rate as possible.
There’s also a manual way to turn on preconditioning, if you know where you’re going and don’t want to put the location in the navigation. (Or, if the quick charger is not listed yet on the over-the-air updateable maps.)
Inside the Hummer EV SUV
The interior of the GMC Hummer EV may be more rugged than luxurious, but the playful side of its personality hinted at by WTF mode can also be seen in the many little easter-egg design details in and around the vehicle. Most have to do with an innumerable number of H-patterns: in the taillights, vents, high-mounted brake lights, steering wheel, and actual wheels, among many others.
Plus there are also more whimsical ones: a little tiny Hummer on the base of the windshield, speaker grilles up front patterned to represent the moon’s surface, and a footprint integrated into the Bose speaker only on the driver’s side – a hat tip both to GM’s participation in building the lunar rover, and the Hummer EV as a moonshot jump into a new electric era for the company.
GM EV owners will be pleasantly surprised to see that Apple CarPlay is still on the Hummer’s standard equipment list, as is Android Auto, which GM is phasing out from most of its other EV offerings outside this and the Cadillac Lyriq. Why? Still a mystery, but neither Rivian nor Tesla offer it either.
Other family-friendly features include a large 35.9 cubic feet of cargo room behind the rear seats, or 81.8 with them down. Plus, there’s the large frunk, which brings another 11.3 cubic-feet of storage.
This Hummer can also tow up to 7,500 pounds, which is creeping up on heavy-duty pickup truck territory. Don’t expect similar range as those trucks, however, as the aero profile of the Hummer SUV plus a trailer is…not good.
Conclusion: The Ultimate EV for Making a Statement
In the end, the GMC Hummer SUV is an unashamedly brash player for EV owners looking to make a visual statement, not afraid to flash the flat windscreen’s three small windshield wipers, and wants all extremes in off-road, on-road and EV capabilities.
Whether you’re rocketing down a dragstrip, sun-worshipping in the summer, rock crawling, family hauling, towing, or DC quick charging, the Hummer EV SUV is the maximalist answer to the question of “what’s the ultimate EV SUV?” Indeed, there’s not much this massive electric SUV doesn’t excel at – except subtlety.
