The Hummer needs no introduction. Initially a military truck (Humvee), it’s loved and hated in equal measure. Jay Leno, through his YouTube channel, took an off-road ride in the pre-production Hummer EV. The 2022 EV Hummer, in an amazing twist of fate, returns with a spec sheet that’ll put a smile not only on its followers faces, but even mother nature.
Al Oppenheiser, Chief Engineer for General Motors, delivered the trucks to Jay Leno for this rare opportunity to take out the diesel-hog turned electric vehicle for a spin.
“Well, I am pretty impressed. You know, one of my favorite sayings is engineers will change the world, and you are one of the guys that’s doing it,” Leno said.
The Hummer EV Makes 1000 Horsepower, 3-Second 0-60
“I mean, you take something like Hummer, which when it first came out, people went crazy, then the environmentalists nuts. So, you found out the problem with the car, it was polluting, you got rid of the pollution, and now you have something that is eco-friendly,” Leno said.
“Just exactly as you said. Everyone remembers Hummer, good or bad. But if you make it an off-road beast, then the people that loved it will really love it, and if you make it zero-emissions, the people that hated it have no excuse not to love it,” Oppenheiser added.
The Hummer EV is a whole new off-roader, it's faster, has more power, and is much quieter. The new pre-production Hummer EV is better than the eco-friendliest gas-powered car.
Discontinued in 2012, the Hummer will make a comeback in 2022 as an all-electric truck, and a sub-brand of GMC. Currently, the GMC Hummer comes with three electric motors that make a whopping 1,000 hp.
The resurrected off-roader can do 0-60 mph in 3 seconds. This is achievable with the truck's Watts to Freedom launch control driving mode feature. The EV Hummer also comes with an Infinity Roof system, and 18 onboard cameras for navigation.
Features Include Torque Vectoring And Crab Walk System
“It’s amazing how effortless it feels. It just makes me laugh. I really don’t have to do anything. I can hop at the back and have a sandwich,” Leno joked.
"One of the things we are really stressing with an electric vehicle that’s an off-road vehicle is how quiet it is,” Oppenheiser added.
The EV Hummer comes with torque vectoring, which allows the vehicle to vary the torque to each half with the electric system. Perhaps the coolest feature on this Hummer is CrabWalk.
The CrabWalk proprietary feature lets the EV Hummer get around rock or tree obstacles. If the EV encounters an impassable object such as a boulder, the Crab Walk feature will engage all four wheels to turn in the same direction up to ten degrees while the vehicle’s body remains straight.