The Car Connection Expert Review
Likes
- Absurd power
- Off-road conquering
- Excellent graphics
- Massive battery
- Interior controls
Dislikes
- Absurd size
- Inefficient
- Expensive
- Limited interior space for such a big footprint
- Limited availability
Buying tip
A technological showcase, the 2024 GMC Hummer EV SUV conquers road and trail, for a big price.
What kind of vehicle is the 2024 GMC Hummer EV? What does it compare to?
The 2024 GMC Hummer EV comes in truck or SUV form, and could be considered a lifestyle adventure vehicle such as the Rivian R1T and R1S or an electric work truck such as the Ford F-150 Lightning.
Is the 2024 GMC Hummer EV a good truck/SUV?
In either form, it’s big, it’s inefficient, it’s impractical, but it’s as quick as a supercar, as capable as any terrestrial passenger vehicle, and it shows off the myriad tech possibilities enabled by GM’s Ultium battery propulsion system. It earns a TCC Rating of 7.8 out of 10. (Read more about how we rate cars.)
What's new for the 2024 GMC Hummer EV?
The smaller, squatter SUV lands new for 2024, and looks much more like the gas H2 that was discontinued in the earlier part of the millennium. The larger truck and its 5-foot bed that launched new for 2022 almost lampoons its muse. The broad and blocky theme carries over inside, where GMC leaps into the future with excellent graphics and next level technology.
The SUV uses a smaller but still massive 170-kwh battery pack, stacked in 10-by-10 cell pack modules instead of the 12-by-12 layout of the truck’s 205-kwh battery pack. Expect a range of about 300 miles in the SUV and 330 miles in the truck.
Both models now come with a 19.2-kwh onboard charger for faster 240-volt charging times on all but the base EV2. It also enables vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-load charging.
With three motors that generate up to 1,200 lb-ft of torque and 0-60 mph times in less than 3.5 seconds, and a curb weight of about 9,000 pounds, the Hummer EV is a reckoning force. It can’t overcome physics when it comes to turning and navigating congested urban areas, however, and it’s louder than most other electric vehicles. A standard four-corner air suspension can increase the ground clearance to 15.9 inches or lower it to 6.5 inches, and rear-axle steering enables it to perform tricks such as the Crab Walk that lets it move diagonally. Despite its exceptional off-road prowess, it can still get stuck in the muddiest conditions.
Its breathtaking quickness collides with some real world risks. GMC equips every model with driver-assist tech meant to avoid or mitigate crashes, but its weight and proportions are not friendly to other road users. Standard Super Cruise hands-free driving system gives an assist on most highways.
Despite its size, taller rear passengers might have limited toe and legroom.
How much does the 2024 GMC Hummer EV cost?
Reservations for the loaded 2024 GMC Hummer EV Edition 1 have been closed and the price locked in at $110,595 with the off-road kit but shoppers can get on a waitlist. A similar EV3X with three motors can be ordered now for $104,650, including a $1,995 destination fee, and likely will arrive late this year. It will be followed by a $94,650 EV2X and, likely by 2024, a base EV2 for $84,650.
Where is the 2024 GMC Hummer EV made?
At GM’s first fully dedicated EV plant in the Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly. Factory Zero will also build the Chevrolet Silverado EV and GMC Sierra Denali EV, among others.
2024 GMC Hummer EV Styling
Squat and blocky, the GMC Hummer EV SUV fits the bill better than the longer truck.
Is the Hummer EV a good-looking car?
It is an unequivocally distinct-looking vehicle that will draw eyes for both good and bad reasons.
The Hummer EV SUV new for 2024 is 20 inches shorter in length with a 8.9-inch shorter wheelbase than the Hummer EV truck. From the C-pillar forward, they’re hewn of the same steel block with vertical ends, a smooshed greenhouse, and brawny fenders that bulge over 22-inch wheels. With a windshield so broad and narrow, it requires three small windshield wipers to clear rain. Squat, muscular, and a little goofy, the Hummer EV SUV best looks the part of the Hummer H2 resurrected for the electric age. This American bulldog is worth two points.
The blocky horizontal theme carries over inside. A 13.4-inch touchscreen with a bar of climate toggles and another bar of traction controls steps out from the 12.3-inch instrument cluster. Vertical vents flank the ends, and eight grab handles, with one on each door and one on the pillars, lend a hand. It’s trucklike everywhere, with a clean center console punctuated by a gear shifter and drive mode dial. It’s so overtly functional as to earn another point. It’s an 8.
2024 GMC Hummer EV Performance
Sprinting like a supercar and clambering like a Wrangler, the 2024 GMC Hummer EV aims to do it all.
Its improbable quickness is worth two points here. Curving roads, hard stops, and congested urban arteries pose problems that cost it a point. Once free of the confines of roads, it’s an off-road showcase worthy of another point on our scale. It’s a 7 total, with the EV SUV a bit more balanced than the truck, even if it’s a tad slower.
Is the GMC Hummer EV 4WD?
The Hummer EV Edition 1 and EV3X utilize three permanent magnet synchronous motors for full-time all-wheel drive. A single motor up front and twin rear motors apportion up to 1,200 lb-ft of torque based on individual wheel speed, so it’s much more precise and reactive than the low gear of a 2-speed transfer case. An electronic locker up front and a virtual locker at the rear can lock across each axle, and the front and rear can be locked together.
Five drive modes affect the steering, alter the damping, tweak the traction control settings, and adjust drive noises in the cabin. That last bit can be shut off.
Terrain mode raises the air suspension from a standard ground clearance 10.1 inches up to 11.9 inches. An Extract mode maxes the four-corner air suspension out at 15.9 inches. The Extreme Off-Road package comes with five steel skid plates running from the front bumper to the rear axle for a flat, protected floor. The package includes rock rails and a 17-view camera system with two cameras with built-in washers mounted in the middle of each axle.
In our testing it got out of deep mud without much problem, but even a vehicle as capable as this couldn’t overcome the most sodden conditions on a steep hillside on terrain that was described as mashed potatoes. Still, the SUV climbs off-road better than the truck, thanks in part to a greater breakover angle of 34.4 degrees (32.2 in the truck) and a friendlier departure angle of 49 degrees (38.4 in truck).
An Off-Road mode acts like a Baja mode, dropping the suspension to normal and limiting traction control enough to approximate a Drift mode.
The standard rear-axle steering of up to 10 degrees helps it clear tight corners but also demonstrates the Hummer EVs biggest show-off feature: Crab Walk. Moving in phase with the front wheels, the Hummer EV can scrabble diagonally up and down the banks of a mud pit, a hillside, or a parking lot. At about 180 degrees of steering wheel input, it surpassed the 10-degree threshold of rear-axle steering, so if you keep turning the steering wheel it will actually turn, but not with the same tight turning circle of 35.4 feet if it were in Normal mode.
How fast is the GMC Hummer EV?
The three motors conspire to make 1,000 hp (830 hp in the SUV) and 1,200 lb-ft of torque; employing the Watts to Freedom mode, which lowers the suspension to a ground clearance of about 6.5 inches, the bulldog lifts from 0-60 mph in 3.0 seconds (3.5 in the SUV).
In both cases, the nose lifts, it pins in your seat, and the high seating position and large proportions of the Hummer EV cause a feeling unlike any other vehicle.
Beyond the straights, the rocking turns to rolling. It’s just too tall and heavy.
One pedal drive and regen braking in the Hummer EV
Pending brake size and type disclosure from GMC, the Hummer does as good a job of braking as accelerating, thankfully. The truck pitches forward a bit more than the SUV, but in either case the grab is good.
There are three different ways to engage regenerative braking, which might be two too many. An L setting in the console shifter is the most consistent, but settings in the touchscreen can suit the driver’s taste. The one-pedal paddle on the steering wheel is more difficult to modulate into a stop; it’s best used for those last few feet of travel.
Hummer EV Tow/Haul mode
The Tow/Haul mode monitors lateral G forces, and if it detects a sway event, it adjusts rear axle steering and could apply the brakes to increase the amplitude of yaw, according to GMC. We haven’t towed with either vehicle, but GMC rates the truck with a towing capacity of 7,500 pounds, and a payload of 1,300 pounds. Specs for the SUV were not ready at press time.
2024 GMC Hummer EV Comfort & Quality
Sized like a heavy duty truck, the GMC Hummer EV lacks crew cab space.
The 2024 GMC Hummer EV comes with power front bucket seats that are heated and are plenty comfortable. Rear seat riders aren’t afforded the same level of comfort however, with legroom that feels a bit tighter than most crew cab trucks and footwells narrow enough to stop steel-toed boots. Even with deep storage pockets and wells, the cabin is not as roomy or optimized as other electric vehicles. Its comfy front seats and cargo volume earn it a point each to a 7.
Fold flat the 60/40-split rear seats, and it opens up to 81.8 cubic feet of space. With the seats up, there’s plenty of space for two roll-aboards per every passenger, but that fifth passenger riding in the rear middle might be pinched.
The truck bed is five feet long, but the six-way power tailgate can extend the length to 6-foot-10. Underfloor storage in both helps to stow cords out of the way, and the frunk’s 11.3 cubic feet of space is perfectly sized to fit the detachable spine and four glass roof panels of the Infinity Roof.
Despite being an electric truck, the cinderblock proportions of the Hummer EV create considerable wind noise over 50 mph, and the available 35-inch Goodyear all-terrain tires also create significant road noise. So even though GMC finishes it like a luxury car and a rock-solid build quality, the NVH prevents it from earning another point.
2024 GMC Hummer EV Safety
The 2024 GMC Hummer EV’s massive size poses a risk to other drivers and pedestrians.
How safe is the Hummer EV?
GMC equips the 2024 Hummer EV with driver-assist tech such as blind-spot monitors, active lane control, and automatic emergency braking, but the prodigious weight, block-like shape, and poor outward vision poses an increased risk to all road users. With a heavy duty weight classification, it likely won’t be crash tested by the IIHS and the NHTSA, so we don’t assign it a safety score.
It’s a good thing the 2024 GMC Hummer EV comes with a surround-view camera system, with the option for up to 17 camera angles, as well as a rearview camera mirror, because the squat greenhouse and thick A-pillars further congest the view out front. The view out back is even worse, with a smaller windshield that’s blocked by a standard spare tire attached to the swing gate.
All models come with GM’s excellent Super Cruise hands-free driving system on more than 400,000 miles of mapped limited access highways in the U.S. It was inconsistent on our test drive, but based on other impressions, that was limited to our singular vehicle.
2024 GMC Hummer EV Features
The 2024 GMC Hummer EV showcases GM’s most advanced technology.
The three-motor Hummer EVs available now come loaded with exceptional standard equipment that earns a point, as well as cool options such as the Extreme Off-Road package and Infinity Roof that earn it another point.
A 12.3-inch instrument panel beside a 13.4-inch touchscreen provides video game-like graphics and more settings than could be grasped in a day. Separate climate and drive mode buttons make for a great user interface that we hope transfers to other GM electric vehicles. That makes it an 8 total.
But the Hummer EV has the same 3-year/36,000-mile warranty as other GMC vehicles, with a tire rotation thrown in, so it misses a point here. The battery and propulsion systems have an 8-year/100,000-mile warranty.
Which Hummer EV should I buy?
It’s a question of reservations at this point. GMC hasn’t announced the features for the EV2X or base EV2, but the EV3X comes loaded with wireless phone charging and connectivity, a satellite radio trial, Bose surround sound, heated and cooled seats, a heated steering wheel, power front bucket seats, a power frunk, and a power swing gate.
How much is a fully loaded Hummer EV?
Because prices were locked in for the sold-out Edition 1, last year’s mid-year price increase puts the EV3X SUV at the top with a $106,645 tag. Add the Extreme Off Road kit for $9,995 and the Infinity Roof for $1,495, and it’s above $118,000.
2024 GMC Hummer EV Fuel Economy
The GMC Hummer EV’s massive battery packs make up for its inefficiency with a 300+ mile range.
Is the GMC Hummer EV good on energy?
No. The EPA doesn’t certify its efficiency because it’s rated as a heavy-duty vehicle weighing 8,501 pounds or more. GMC estimates that the Hummer EV truck’s 205-kwh pack delivers a range of 329 miles, while the Hummer EV SUV’s 170-kwh pack returns about 300 miles.
In our testing, we averaged about 1.4 miles per kwh in the smaller SUV and 1.3 miles per kwh in the truck. The Rivian R1T and Ford F-150 Lightning get about 2.4 miles/kwh.
The stacked battery pack mostly runs in parallel but switches to series for 800-volt DC fast-charging. At a station that can pump out 300 kw, the Hummer EV recoups 100 miles or range in about 14 minutes. GM estimates most public DC fast-charges will deliver only 117 kw, however, so plan on 55 minutes to charge from 20-80%.
Vehicle-to-vehicle charging
New for 2024 on both the SUV and truck, a 19.2-kw onboard charger standard on all but the base EV2 enables faster 240-volt charging times, recouping about 30 miles an hour, and taking about eight hours to charge from 20% to full. It requires a 100-amp circuit, however.
GMC's Power Station generator has an available adapter that enables vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) charging at 6 kw to any electric vehicle with a SAE J1772 five-pin connector. A Hummer EV SUV could charge another Hummer EV SUV at a rate of nine miles an hour.
It also has vehicle-to-load (V2L) power generation of 3 kw to power tools, camping equipment, home appliances, an air compressor, or other needs with a 120-volt connection.