The verdict: It’s as big, bold and brash as the original Hummers — but features technology and abilities that even those off-roaders couldn’t come close to matching.
Versus the competition: The only thing out there that comes close in price and mission (so far) is the Rivian R1T, but it’s much smaller, much more luxurious and far less in-your-face.
There’s going to be a lot of noise about the new 2023 GMC Hummer EV pickup. People are likely going to say it’s too big, heavy and inefficient or that it’s too over-the-top and outrageously engineered. Those people are missing the point of what the new Hummer EV actually is — GM’s technology showcase for its next generation of electric drive systems and technologies that will soon form the basis of nearly everything the company makes, from compact commuter crossovers to full-size SUVs and beyond. The GMC Hummer EV is GM’s moonshot, its chance to grab the world’s attention with an act so incredible, so jaw-droppingly crazy that you can’t help but stop and take notice of what’s been done. That’s what the new Hummer is — all of GM’s brand-new electric technology that could have been crammed into a super-expensive Cadillac sedan or a two-person Chevrolet sports car, but nobody really pays attention to those anymore. Instead, the company took its latest toys and rolled them into the thing it does better than just about anyone: a full-size, off-road-capable, nuts-beyond-words pickup truck. And in this moonshot mission, the company has pulled off an extraordinary win.
All the Goods in One Package
The big reason for the GMC Hummer EV’s existence (and yes, it’s a GMC, not a Hummer; the brand itself isn’t returning) is to show off the Ultium system — GM’s next-generation EV system. It comprises a new kind of modular lithium-ion battery pack that can charge at 800 volts, new drive motors and controllers, and new chassis platforms to house it all. The secret is that all of it is modular and scalable. At the top end, you’ve got this monster truck with three electric motors (one front, two rear); a huge two-layer, 24-module lithium-ion battery with 212.7 kilowatt-hours (usable) that can add 100 miles of range in as little as 12 minutes (depending on the DC fast charger you’re using); four-wheel steering; and a dedicated clean-sheet design platform made specifically for truck applications like this. However, the same system will be scaled down to be used in things like the upcoming Cadillac Lyriq SUV, with a 12-module, 100-kWh battery and rear-wheel drive.
But we’re here to talk about the Hummer EV, and taken as a stand-alone model, the new GMC is absolutely bonkers — in a good way. It starts with the styling, which is immediately recognizable as a Hummer, almost as if the brand hadn’t actually been killed off in 2009 as part of GM’s bankruptcy during the Great Recession. It’s a purposeful off-road look, and it’s as functional as it is dramatic — the approach angle is excellent, and the chamfers that cut out of the front bumper help with mounting obstacles out on a trail. It has an undeniable presence on the road as well, taking up what feels like most of its lane and turning heads left and right. It even drew some chest-thumping challenges from a bubba in a brodozer F-150 during my test drive. I couldn’t tell if he was upset that an electric pickup was physically bigger than his gas-powered one or if he was envious that my near-silent rock crawler could positively smoke his rumbling rig in a stoplight drag race.
All About Maneuverability
There’s one aspect of driving the Hummer EV that will leave you gobsmacked, and it’s not the one you think it will be. Yes, it can do 0-60 mph in an estimated 3 seconds flat when you’ve engaged a special acceleration mode called “Watts to Freedom” (WTF mode, get it?). I can attest that “Watts to Freedom!” is not what I exclaimed when trying this eyeball-flattening acceleration test in a closed-off parking lot in Phoenix, Ariz., recently. The unbelievable acceleration is just stunning — no vehicle that weighs this much (reportedly more than 9,000 pounds) should be this quick. Yes, it’s speed-limited to 106 mph, but you’re not likely to ever want to go that fast in it anyway given its sheer, massive bulk and the roar from the dedicated off-road tires reverberating around the cabin at highway speeds.
No, the mind-melting acceleration is not what’s really surprising about the Hummer EV; it’s how maneuverable and remarkably agile it is thanks to its four-wheel steering. Imagine guiding a full-size pickup around a tight off-road course, but the back end swings around whenever you turn the wheel, creating a much tighter turning circle. Or negotiating a narrow downtown street full of cars parked on either side. Or a crowded Costco parking lot. All of these scenarios are turned into an absolute breeze by the Hummer EV thanks to rear-wheel steering that operates up to 10 degrees of movement, creating an agility on- or off-road that I wish could be had in other full-size trucks and SUVs. The Ford Bronco tries to simulate this in off-road conditions by selectively braking a wheel during turns on loose surfaces, but it can’t do it in a paved parking lot where you’re likely to need that tight maneuvering ability as much as out on a trail. The Hummer EV can and does, and you’ve never experienced anything like it in anything short of a Mercedes-Benz S-Class.
One thing the Hummer EV does that no other vehicle on the planet does is CrabWalk. This is a setting, operated by a push of a dedicated button, that makes all four wheels steer in the same direction, allowing the truck to slide diagonally around an object. The effect is extraordinary, and it makes for some fun on-road showing off, but its usefulness off-road is still a bit in question. A full day of driving a trail through the Arizona countryside didn’t present me with an opportunity to actually need to engage the CrabWalk feature, but I suppose it’s fun to have the ability to do so should one need it. I sense that it might have more usefulness in turning heads at a local Cars & Coffee event than actually providing a useful feature off-road, but frankly, this isn’t a bad thing.
On-Road Tolerability, Off-Road Skillz
I’ll not call the Hummer EV’s on-road manners civilized but merely tolerable. It’s noticeably big-truck heavy, which is disguised somewhat by its prodigious torque and agile low-speed maneuverability, but its steering feel is largely big-truck numb, due again in large part to the chonky off-road tires it wears. Those same tires also set up a good roar in the cabin at highway speeds, something that isn’t helped by the Hummer EV Edition 1’s standard “infinity roof,” a removable four-panel transparent roof that provides no sound deadening at all and lets all the sunlight through, despite being heavily tinted an unusual blue color. While it might have been fun to remove all four panels and enjoy the sounds of nature, ridiculously dusty conditions prevented us from trying this feature out — I will give props to GMC for a design that lets you store the removed panels in the Hummer’s frunk, letting you enjoy an open-air motoring experience while still bringing the top along with you, something the Jeep Wrangler still doesn’t allow for (but the four-door Ford Bronco does).
Out on the street, driving the Hummer EV isn’t so different from driving any large pickup. Acceleration is impressive, braking performance is, too, and the truck is so heavy that hefty sidewinds on the highway don’t perturb it in the slightest. It rides well, with the combination of tall-sidewall tires and an adjustable air suspension providing a smooth, well-damped ride. Add in that rather surprising road noise, and you have an experience not unlike that of driving any dedicated off-road heavy-duty pickup.
Get into the dirt, however, and the Hummer EV only continues to impress. There are two electronic modes dedicated to dirt driving — Off-Road and Terrain. Off-Road is the higher-speed setting, meant for quick passes through dry washes, loose gravel terrain and general shenanigans that require different wheel-slip allowances. It also sets up a special noise from the truck tied to acceleration, a kind of mild, fake engine noise, which is actually a useful audible cue to help you remember that you’re in Off-Road mode. The other off-road setting is Terrain mode, which is more of a rock-crawling, low-speed mode; it changes features like throttle application and rear steering rate. This gives the Hummer EV even more incredible maneuverability in the dirt, whipping around tight turns and obstacles with simply astonishing agility. In a vehicle with a smaller footprint, like the upcoming Hummer EV SUV with its 7-inch shorter wheelbase, this feature is going to be a stunning off-road game changer.
This was my first experience driving an electric off-road vehicle, and I’m now very much sold on the idea. The super-fine control allowed by the combination of carefully controlled electric motors and the addition of well-modulated friction brakes makes for an exceptionally confident experience. There’s no torque converter lag as you try to modulate throttle in uphill or downhill situations, and there’s no variable engine braking either. If you want more hill descent control, shift the transmission selector from Drive to Low, and the additional regenerative braking makes that happen (it works on-road, too, for one-pedal driving). It’s simple, effective and impressive.
A Cabin That’s Over-the-Top Yet Not Quite Enough
As well as the exterior and hardware of the Hummer EV works, the cabin is perhaps less successful. On the positive side, you have the graphics of the 13.4-inch center-console touchscreen and the 12.3-inch driver information gauge cluster display, which are unlike anything I’ve ever seen in an automobile. The graphics have been developed by video game maker Epic Games using their Unreal Engine architecture, and as a result, you have displays that look like they’re straight out of a sci-fi game. While they do have a teeny bit of lag sometimes, the look and feel of the displays, from the Off-Road mode information to the animations displayed when switching between modes, make everyone grin. The gauge cluster is reconfigurable to one of several different styles, but the rectangular display is obscured to a large degree by the round steering wheel you have to look through to see it. This is an increasingly common problem with vehicles presenting squared-off displays behind round steering wheels (See the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ford Mustang Mach E, for example). It’s a trend that the latest Chevrolet Corvette and other models have avoided — but at the cost of a non-round steering wheel that at first seems weird but then becomes a no-brainer as you use it. Still, what you can see of the gauge display is awesome and is something I hope GM adopts for more vehicles down the road.
The Hummer EV’s cabin also succeeds in its space and comfort. A truck this big should have a lot of interior room, and it does, both up front and in back. The seats are big and well-bolstered but still all-day comfortable. Outward visibility is mixed: To the sides and rear, it’s acceptable thanks in part to the GMC’s big mirrors. But to the front, that squat Hummer-style windshield can be a problem at stoplights. You’ll be ducking down to see them, just like in a Wrangler or Bronco, thanks to that gun-slit-style bunker view out the front. Visibility on trails is not a problem, however, with the Edition 1’s multiple cameras. Eighteen different camera views are possible, including several views under the truck and an underbody camera that even has its own washer nozzle to rinse away any dust or mud.
Where the Hummer’s cabin tends to fall down is in materials quality. This is a very expensive truck, nearly $112,000 for this sold-out Edition 1 trim, but the interior materials do not live up to that price tag. We know that GM can do a stellar interior (witness the latest Cadillac Escalade for that), but despite the neat designs and industrial-chic look of the Hummer EV’s interior, there’s an unacceptably high level of hard-plastic and vinyl trim throughout that makes one grimace. It becomes abundantly clear that the price of this model covers all the tech goodies, not opulence or luxury.
Awesome in Every Sense of the Word
Cabin materials aside, the new 2023 GMC Hummer EV is awesome in just about every sense of the word. Its on-road acceleration will leave you stunned. Its tight turning circles and incredible on- and off-road agility are unlike anything else being made today. The styling details, like LED headlights that flash in sequence as the truck is plugged into a charger, are little surprise-and-delight features that run through the entire experience of driving the truck. Yes, it’s heavy. No, it’s not the most efficient EV on the market. No, it can’t tow as much as most light-duty pickups, with a capacity of just 7,500 pounds. None of that matters with this truck — it’s meant to be an eye-opener, a shot across the bow of every other automaker planning an electric truck, and a statement that says, “Look what I can do!”
I’d say the Hummer EV’s mission to get me to notice GM’s new tech is a smashing success. I’m now far more curious about the upcoming Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra EVs than I was before, having been given a sample of the technology that’s going to trickle down into those upcoming trucks in the next few years. Until then, the Hummer EV remains the most awesome off-road electric vehicle out there.
Keyword: 2023 GMC Hummer EV Pickup Review: Awesome in Nearly Every Way