The 2024 GMC Hummer EV SUV is the zero-emission follow-up to one of the most admired and vilified SUVs of all time. While widely admired by its fans, the original Hummer H1 became the poster child for the profligate use of fossil fuels. The subsequent H2 and H3 models carried the same in-your-face styling but weren’t quite as thirsty at the gas pump. Nevertheless, when General Motors went through bankruptcy and government-supervised reorganization during the Great Recession, the Hummer brand went out the window. Now it is back in an innovative battery-electric vehicle with capabilities pulled from superhero comic books. This is a vehicle that can arrange its wheels to maneuver diagonally. This is a vehicle that can raise itself 6 inches to make its way over boulders. This is a vehicle that can drive itself, hands-off, on more than 200,000 miles of mapped roads. This is a vehicle that can take four kids back and forth to school every day in comfort and safety while producing no carbon emissions at all. Interestingly, this last capability will probably be among the GMC Hummer EV SUV’s most used, but that doesn’t mean the others — and many more of its capabilities — are unimportant.
The GMC Hummer EV SUV is based on the same platform as the GMC Hummer EV Pickup pickup truck. No surprise there. But there are differences. For example, the SUV has a significantly shorter wheelbase, giving it a tighter turning circle and better maneuverability. And its three-motor all-wheel-drive system offers 830 horsepower versus the Hummer EV pickup’s 1,000 hp. General Motors estimates range on a full charge of its 20-module double-stacked Ultium battery pack at “more than 300 miles” versus the 329 miles of the Hummer EV pickup with its 24-module pack.
Given the GMC Hummer EV SUV’s wide list of unique capabilities, it is difficult to identify key competitors. The Audi e-tron and the performance-oriented Audi e-tron S are much more on-road biased. Even the S offers little more than half the horsepower of the GMC. Another cross-shop, at least from the price standpoint, is the Tesla Model X. In its top-level form, it offers more horsepower than the Hummer EV SUV.
