I like the 2022 Hummer. I also like the Hummers of yesteryears, especially when slapped with aftermarket diesels and other goodies that improve its off-road prowess. A friend of mine likes those so much that he started a company that upgrades retired HMMWVs with all sorts of features and makes them ridiculous off-roading monsters while spewing diesel fumes all over the place. Most of you hate those because of the pollution. But many people also hate the new 2022 Hummer debuted last night because... Well, just because.
There are many, many reasons why everyone should instead love this electrified behemoth, actually, without any good excuses to do otherwise.
After a long, well-deserved hiatus, GM decided to resurrect the “Hummer” brand in a completely non-military derived way: use it for an EV answer to Ford’s Raptor and Ram’s forthcoming Hellcat TRX. Using three electric motors and a 200 kw battery pack, it produces 1,000 hp and a comparably equivalent 1,000 lb-ft of torque (the 11,500 lb-ft number is wheel torque, the 1,000 number is done after doing some back calculations). The “Edition 1" first model run has a 350 mile range, a fast charge system, and will cost over $112,000. That’s a lot of dough, but it is just a little more than the MSRP of a fully-loaded Ram TRX or a loaded Raptor with the inevitable dealership surcharge tacked on. Keep in mind, the 2022 Raptor is rumored to have a variant of the 5.2L V8 under the hood, and will most likely have a price bump that’s sure to reflect the power bump.
Just to clarify: the 2022 Hummer, when released, will be the cleanest, safest, and most nimble full sized truck ON THE PLANET. You read that correctly.
Cleanest: Not only is it an EV, but GM will be building it at their “Factory Zero” complex in the Detroit area. The facility is set to run on 100% renewable energy by 2023, currently has a wildlife sanctuary, and will be installing solar panels in their parking area. This will make the Hummer one of the cleanest-built trucks in the world. It will also use 70% less cobalt in its batteries than past GM EV vehicles, so if buyers are concerned about cobalt mining and having anything to do with the pollution that causes, they shouldn’t be with this whip.
Safest: This rig comes with Cadillac’s Super Cruise system, which enables HANDS-FREE autonomous driving on over 200,000 miles of roads in the US. To clarify, even Tesla’s system does not (isn’t supposed to) allow hands-free cruising. And considering that the vast majority of auto-pedestrian fatalities happen at non-intersections...
...this system makes it safer for pedestrians since the AI system isn’t going to be glancing at the radio instead of on the road. The safety of Super Cruise applies to going 70 mph on the highway, as well.
Most Nimble: Zero to sixty in 3 seconds flat, all wheel drive (GM calls it “e4WD”, but it’s AWD), four wheel steering, the ability to have a grand total of 15.9 inches of ground clearance (10.1" in “Normal” mode), and it’s about as wide as a Raptor with a shorter length. “Crab Walk” mode won’t be mentioned because it’s a weird gimmick. Name one other full-sized truck that can do that (spoiler alert: you can’t).
Even if you despise the looks, hate the size, and the color white makes you nauseous, you should love this truck for advancing green, electric technology to the future masses and making EV trucks less foreign and alien to the market. It has the best safety tech and performance of its peers, all the while introducing the pickup truck target market to their greener, cleaner, electrified futures. It’s the test bed for all electric Suburbans, Tahoes, Escalades, 1/2 ton GM trucks, and on and on until we have to worry more about finding a gas station than finding an available supercharger location. I like clean air. Do you like clean air? Yes? Then this is the future, and you should like what they’re doing.
The Negative Nancy faction of the auto enthusiast/journalism world have been screaming at auto manufacturers to do something about polluting, dangerous-to-pedestrians trucks and SUVs; here, they have the solution to all that they’ve hated, yet they still “bleh” about it. Newsflash: we in Texas don’t necessarily want to drive a car that will fit in a Brooklyn parking spot with room to spare. Many people in the “flyover states” and non-urban areas drive large trucks and SUVs, and there’s not a damn thing that a journalist that thinks $4,100 super small EVs meant for China should be popular here in Texas can say about the matter to change their minds. This vehicle is the compromise between the “everyone should drive a plant-based two seat EV because pollution is bad” and the “high end trucks are all I drive” demographics. Everyone got a little bit of what they wanted, and a little bit of what they didn’t want.
The new Hummer is meant for wealthy people who wanted to buy a Raptor or a TRX anyways. GM gave these folks a fantastic alternative that helps save the environment from cobalt mining, manufacturing, and auto emissions pollution. The least we all can do is stop screaming that the Hummer isn’t the size of a Tesla Model 3 or trying to body shame the buyers. This is how the Electric Revolution gains momentum, and we should encourage it instead of denigrating it.