A few years ago, the thought of an Hummer that wasn’t powered by an obscenely large internal combustion engine (ICE) would have been the height of stupidity and the ultimate oxymoron. Yet here we stand in 2022 with the GMC subsidiary producing their own EV range which boasts big general numbers and the ability to wheelie the prodigious collection of metal, glass and rubber forward.
The Hummer brand which was discontinued in 2010 has had GMC execs see a potential gap in the market for the formerly famed and commercial version of the military vehicle. The brand started out in commercial life as a road friendly rendition of the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV – of which the Hummer name derives) which employed 6.2-litre V8 diesel or 6.5-llitre V8 turbo diesel that was apt in lugging the sub 6-tonne behemoth along.
With the compelling performance that can be achieved by electric powertrains and the slowly mandated global laws outlawing ICE, the American icon may find eternal rebirth as an EV. Speaking of performance, the figures vary throughout the range of 4 models with the EV2 and EV2X boasting a substantial 466kW which is made to look, simply put, like nothing in comparison to the 746 kW and obscene 15 600 N.m of torque in the fully-loaded Edition 1, attainable through front and rear drive gear ratios.
The insatiable power can propel the 4-tonne truck onto 100km/h in 3 seconds and has sufficient torque to raise both front wheels off the ground when doing so. If this isn’t a scary thought to keep in mind you may just be sadistic. Fortunately chief engineer for Hummer EV Al Oppenheiser stated that the wheelie-inducing “Watts to Freedom” (WTF) acceleration mode has been modified to prevent such depravity. Also, Watts to Freedom is probably the most American thing you will hear when it comes to EV’s for a long time. While he reaffirmed that no such ability is possible off the showroom for, he did mention it could be tuned to do so.
As of yet, it doesn’t look like South Africa will be getting these depraved beasts and that is a good thing considering a wheelieing 4-tonne leviathan that has no momentary steering input would likely bring shudders to other road-users…
Words: Alex Shahini
