[Auto] The Hummer EV SUV Is Not for the Rational

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It is absurd that GMC only offers one shocking color for the Hummer EV: Afterburner Tintcoat, an eye-searing tangerine. Ordering GMC’s self-proclaimed “supertruck” in rental-car silver would be akin to whitewashing Saint Basil’s Cathedral. This design is at its best when screaming for attention. Obviously, when faced with a lineup of Hummers to test, I asked for the bright orange one, cranked up some ‘80s rock, and made sure all eyes would be on me.

It’s a good thing I started there, because grabbing attention turned out to be the Hummer’s greatest strength—on pavement, at least. GMC tossed me the keys in Grand Junction, Colorado, and told me to get to Moab, Utah an hour and a half away. As you might expect of a bright orange T-topped SUV, it's not oozing practicality. The Hummer was “please speak up” noisy at highway speed, courtesy of enormous all-terrain tires and a flat windshield. Steering feel is numb and heavy, and especially vague on-center. The steering wheel is barely adjustable, the synthetic leather seats are neither easy to wipe down nor luxurious, and the interior simultaneously comes off as gaudy and cheap. It doesn’t feel like a six-figure truck.

From an engineering standpoint, it’s no standout, either. Despite an estimated 170 kilowatt-hours capacity battery pack—GMC hasn’t released exact kWh stats—the tri-motor 3X trim with the Extreme Off-Road Package is rated by the EPA at just 298 miles of range and 53 combined MPGe. Back-of-the-envelope math works out to 1.76 miles/kWh. The Hummer EV is one of the least-efficient electric vehicles on the road. It doesn’t even get to claim top dog in output as a tradeoff either, as its combined 830 horsepower is bested by the Rivian R1S Quad-Motor’s 835 HP. The Hummer's 0-60 time of 3.5 seconds is handily defeated by the Cybertruck Beast’s 2.6-second dash to 60 too. Be assured that 3.5 seconds is still plenty fast in a truck this size. On hard merges, the front end thrusts skyward with such ferocity it feels like the SUV could take off with enough runway. Luckily, you won’t be flying skyward, as the Hummer weighs somewhere between 8,000 and 9,000 pounds, a number that vividly comes to life when you jam the brakes at highway speeds. This mass got exhausting to manhandle on the way to Moab, but luckily GM’s superb Super Cruise level 2 automation comes standard.

https://www.motor1.com/reviews/718986/hummer-ev-suv-in-moab/