Driving the biggest, least-efficient electric car: The Hummer EV SUV

GMC's Hummers have always been divisive. After getting hold of the rights to a civilian version of the US military vehicle in 1999, the company set about designing new, smaller vehicles to create an entire range. The ungainly H2 and H3 followed, both SUVs playing to the sensibilities of a country grappling with its warlike nature. By 2010, the Hummer brand was dead and laid dormant until someone had the bright idea to revive it for the electric vehicle generation. We drove the pickup version of that new Hummer in 2022, now it's time for the $104,650 Hummer EV SUV.

I'll admit I was worried that the Hummer EV wasn't going to fit in my parking space. This is an extremely large vehicle, one that's classified as a class 3 medium-duty truck—hence the yellow lights atop the roof. In fact, at 196.8 inches (5,000 mm) long, it's actually slightly shorter than the pickup version, although that length doesn't count the big spare tire hanging off the back.

Its 86.5-inch (2,196 mm) width just about fit between the lines, although it was a tight squeeze to try to open a door and climb up into the Hummer if my neighbor was parked as well. And climb up you do—there's 10.2 inches (259 mm) of ground clearance even in the suspension's normal setting, and the overall height is a towering 77.8 inches (1,976 mm). There is an entry mode that drops the car on its air springs by a couple of inches, but only if you remember to engage the feature when you park.

The curb weight is equally excessive at 9,063 lbs (4,119 kg)—at more than four metric tons, you'd need a commercial driver's license to get behind the wheel of a Hummer EV in many other countries. Almost a third of that mass is the ginormous 217.7 kWh battery pack. Such over-provisioning means that despite the high drag coefficient of 0.5 and a frontal area that makes barn doors look skinny, the Hummer EV SUV has an EPA range estimate of 314 miles (503 km) on a single charge. In fact, the actual range indicated by our test car was 358 miles on a full charge, based on GM's own testing. (As a class 3 truck, the Hummer doesn't actually fit into the EPA's tests properly.)

The wheelbase is much shorter than the Hummer pickup's. Credit: Jonathan Gitlin

An AC charge should take about 16.5 hours to fully recharge the pack. GMC doesn't quote a DC fast charging time to 80 percent but says you should be able to add 100 miles (160 km) of range in 10 minutes. Despite a 400 V pack voltage, the battery can switch itself to a series configuration to fast-charge at 800 V. In practice, we were able to add 39 kWh in 13 minutes, with the charger starting off at 296 kW and then dropping to 175 kW, where it held steady until I was ready to disconnect and go home.

As you climb up into the Hummer EV's cabin using the helpful grab handle, take a second to notice the door cards. There's an interesting mix of materials and textures, with a map of part of the moon inscribed into the speaker cover. That moon surface topology theme carries throughout the interior, including the rubber weather mats and even the infotainment backgrounds.

The view from behind the driver's seat is mostly a commanding one as you look ahead. Behind is a different story, thanks to a slot-like rear window and the spare tire, but this problem is ameliorated by the fact that the mirror is one of GM's video camera units, as first seen on the Chevrolet Bolt many years ago. Some people like to complain that the focal point is different for this screen than a reflecting mirror, which is true, but you can also position the video mirror exactly where it's easiest to see without needing to care about line of sight, and it has a wider field of view and auto dimming at night.

When we drove the Hummer truck a couple of years ago, it was in Arizona, where the roads are wide and mostly built recently. That's less true of the District of Columbia, but I still found the SUV quite easy to place on the road, even in tight situations, as long as you take your time. The rear wheel steering helps keep the turning circle manageable, and there's also a crab walk mode, but I'm not sure I ever found a use for that on pavement. The wheelbase is almost 9 inches (228 mm) shorter than the truck's, which also helps here.

With three motors and as much as 830 hp (619 kW), you could try to accelerate the Hummer EV SUV to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds should you believe the occasion warrants that.

At highway speeds, the Hummer EV SUV is also less panic-inducing to drive—SUVs you previously considered oversized become mere minnows alongside you. But the knobbly tires mounted to the 22-inch wheels create so much road noise that you might wonder if there's actually a small internal combustion engine running. The ride in general is not particularly refined, and you feel the T-top panels shake and rattle a little over bumps in the road. And compared to most other electric SUVs, there's quite a lot of body roll when cornering.

While I found the Hummer EV SUV easier to drive in the city than I had feared, there were still plenty of little annoyances. The infotainment system is slow, and Google's voice recognition is not good, requiring three attempts before it understood the words "Electrify America." And the powered rear tailgate door is a clever idea, but it lacks any kind of proximity sensor. So if you back into a parking space with a wall behind it—like at my local Costco, for example—beware that it doesn't dent itself as it tries to open into unavailable space.

But I think the biggest downside to driving the Hummer EV SUV were the looks I got from other people. The disapproving ones I could deal with—it was the thumbs-up reactions that killed me inside each time.

Jonathan M. Gitlin Automotive Editor

Jonathan is the Automotive Editor at Ars Technica. He has a BSc and PhD in Pharmacology. In 2014 he decided to indulge his lifelong passion for the car by leaving the National Human Genome Research Institute and launching Ars Technica's automotive coverage. He lives in Washington, DC.

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