The first impression:
This car sucks in looks – no other car is bigger and coarser than the Hummer.
A Mercedes G-Class, on the other hand, looks filigree and dainty.
That's what the manufacturer says:
Showing what's possible - this is how Tim Crewe, Director of E-Strategy at GM, describes the task of the Hummer EV.
It is one of the first GM models on the so-called Ultium platform.
It is as important for the Americans as the MEB modular electrical system is for the VW Group.
“What we learned here flows into many other electric models,” says Crewe.
Some of these are coming soon.
GM boss Mary Barra has announced more than two dozen electric vehicles for all brands and markets.
General Motors is sure to attract attention with the colossus, but it is only of limited use as a role model.
Just because a dinosaur is suddenly electrified doesn't make it a modern car.
And just because batteries are installed instead of a tank, the trumm is not sustainable.
In fact, the Hummer is also an answer to electric flatbed trucks such as the lifestyle truck Rivian R1T, the potential mass model Ford F-150 Lightning and the repeatedly postponed Tesla Cybertruck.
"We're turning everything on its head that the industry has previously thought about the pick-up," says Duncan Aldred, boss of the GM subsidiary GMC.
GMC chief engineer Al Oppenheiser is proud and a bit cocky: The Hummer sets new standards in driving experience and maneuverability.
»We wanted to build nothing less than the most capable off-road pickup truck you can buy from the factory.«
Here's what struck us:
From the outside, the GMC Hummer is a scary and utterly pointless car.
However, once you get in, everything looks completely different.
You feel as invincible as the Terminator and with a tap of your foot you can turn the world upside down.
Because that's all it takes to throw the three-ton colossus towards the horizon.
A good 1000 hp and around 1600 Nm of torque catapult the car to 100 km/h in less than three seconds. That is super sports car level.
And you experience the whole thing without any warning, without any noise.
This is extremely impressive, especially high above the asphalt.
When the Hummer leaves the asphalt behind, things get even more spectacular.
Where other high-revving SUVs struggle in mud or up inclines, it rolls stoically through the Rockies.
The highlight is the crab walk: With the all-wheel steering turning in parallel and without a mechanical connection between the axles, the Hummer pushes its way diagonally through the terrain like a crustacean on the beach.
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The interior shows that GMC is the commercial vehicle brand in the GM empire: plastic everywhere.
But the driver looks at two modern, huge screens.
When maneuvering or off-road, they show the car from every imaginable perspective – half a dozen cameras make it possible.
A lens is even integrated in the underbody.
There's a separate washing facility for them.
You have to know that:
The Hummer started its career as a military vehicle - just like the Willy's Jeep as the ancestor of the Wrangler or the Mercedes G-Class.
After the High-Mobility-Multipurpose-Wheeled-Vehicle (HMMWV or colloquially: Humvee) became a regular feature on the evening news during the Gulf War in the early 1990s, stars and self-promoters also became interested in the indestructible army vehicle and turned it into a civilian vehicle second career - above all Arnold Schwarzenegger.
GM founded the Hummer brand for this purpose, which now has up to three different car series.
Until the brand was discontinued in 2010.
So now the Hummer is celebrating its comeback as an EV and in the USA the car dinosaur has been sold out for months.
Serial number 001 was sold at auction for $2.5 million.
As a used car, the Hummer EV fetches up to three times the new price at auctions.
It is currently around 110,000 dollars for the "First Edition", which also includes the tested car.
Later, GMC wants to slim down the Hummer a bit, so that the price for models with less power and smaller batteries will drop below $80,000.
An off-road vehicle with a closed body is also in preparation.
The First Edition comes with three electric motors.
They get their power from two battery packs that are stacked one on top of the other in the floor of the car.
The storage tanks together weigh 900 kilograms and offer a net capacity of around 210 kWh.
That's enough for 520 kilometers according to the US standard.
For comparison: The Mercedes EQS sedan easily manages this distance with a memory that is about half as large.
If the batteries in the Hummer are not enough for you, you might want to purchase a special trailer from the accessories catalogue: a fuel cell is installed on it as a mobile power station.
This produces so much electrical energy from hydrogen that the batteries are fully charged again overnight.
This works much faster at a charging station: Because the charging capacity can be increased to up to 350 kW for a short time,
Will this monster also be on German roads?
There are no official statements on export opportunities.
On the other hand, General Motors is currently completely repositioning itself in Europe and is aiming for a comeback as a modern mobility company.
We won't forget that:
The self-mockery of the GM marketing people.
In order to accelerate the Hummer like a super sports car, the driver must first select "WTF mode".
WTF?
It's that crude English abbreviation that could be translated politely as "What the hell" and somehow suits the whole car.
Officially, however, the letters stand for »Watts to Freedom«.
No, that's clear.
Thomas Geiger is a freelance author and was supported in his research by GMC Hummer. Reporting is independent of this.
