GMC Hummer EV SUV review

When we asked one of the Hummer engineers what was one of the hardest things to achieve on the program, he said "getting it to drive in a straight line". Which hints at just how fiendishly complicated it is to get a three-engined tank like this to behave in any normal way.

The fact that it drives just like a big SUV – only much, much bigger – shows what a thorough job they have done. Our road test route took in San Francisco streets, the Golden Gate Bridge – freeways and sinewy back roads through vineyards.

Sounds tricky…

The only real concern throughout was the SUV’s width – on the bridge, which was clearly built when cars were narrower, it needed a steady hand not to rub wheels with the next lane or the central divider. Likewise trying to thread it down a wiggly country lane without collecting a slice of the scenery required concentration. But everywhere else it was fine. Supercruise made the freeway portion easy.

With a nine-inch shorter wheelbase and four-wheel steering, it steers and handles like a compact SUV. Even with the off-road package-equipped vehicles it is not ponderous or unresponsive, just linear and faithful to the inputs. Again, that sounds simple but must require some serious algorithms.

Is it faster or slower than the HEV pickup?

Despite being a full 170bhp down on power compared with the pickup, the SUV has the same stupid amount of max torque: 11,000ftlb. So, in normal usage, you really do not notice any real difference in performance.

The only place you will see a change is in the 0-60mph dash during a WTF mode launch. The pickup crosses the line in an explosive 3.0 seconds. The SUV takes another half a second to burst through the lights. It’s not going to out-drag a Tesla X, but then an X can’t climb a mountain or ford three-feet deep rivers. The Hummer EV SUV can.

What about charging?

As with all EVs right now, you’re always going to be on the lookout for chargers if you plan on some more major excursions. The SUV can charge at up to 300kW – enough to add around 100 miles in an hour, when available. But equally, thanks to its new onboard Power Station Generator, stranded drivers are going to be happy to see the Hummer. It can not only act as a full-power generator for power tools and more, it can also charge other EVs.