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The Hummer is coming back as an electric vehicle
- duxup 7y agoThat's pretty amusing. The brand is still recognized...may as well use it and why not try something new?
- tomatotomato37 7y agoConsidering it has both the power figures of a Veyron and a size that requires those roof safety lights, I think it's safe to say the brand will still be keeping with their tradition of absolute trash fuel/power economy.
- brewdad 7y agoI'll take 40 eMPG if if gets the original 9 MPG ICE Hummers off the road.
- Amygaz 7y agoOn one side, yes. On the other side, the biggest problem with this type of vehicle is 12 inches behind the wheel. They should create a special category of license with extra hours of certified training.
- kiddico 7y agoI can't think of a brand that would be a harder sell for the sort of people that want an EV right now. In my mind it screams "big for the sake of big", not efficient or environmentally friendly...
- beamatronic 7y agoI think this strategy is aimed at the people who think they do not want an Ev under any circumstances
- daxfohl 7y agoThey lost the market in 2000 by canceling their ev program. Now they want to get back into it by marketing only to the people who would never buy one? Sounds like GM needs a new marketing department.
- beamatronic 7y agoMaybe it’s a subtle apology.
- peteretep 7y agoSeems like people who want a Hummer that can do Ludicrous Mode would be a good market.
- dsfyu404ed 7y agoBuilding a vehicle that checks two sets of boxes like this (family SUV with an EV carbon footprint and performance) has worked out very, very well for FCA and their 4dr Jeep. A lot of people who didn't go into the dealer looking for a Wrangler bought them because they managed to check so many requirement boxes at once. I think GM may be hoping to do the same. Husband wants a Model 3, wife wants 4Runner (or vise versa, point is that they want totally different things), joint bank account wants absolutely nothing to do with either. GM swoops in to save the day by checking the snazzy EV and the practical SUV sets of boxes at the same time at a typical GM price point.
- Amygaz 7y agoConsidering the number of pickup truck EV and large SUV EV in the plan, I think this exactly what many non-EV people want.
- beamatronic 7y agoBy giving it ridiculous power and making it somewhat cartoonish, I think it will be hugely successful on one condition, they have to keep the price manageable. Especially if they want to compete with the cyber truck.
- daxfohl 7y agoIt also has to be somewhat more energy efficient than an actual hummer, otherwise it's going to go like 50 miles on a full charge. And charging will take three days.
- castratikron 7y agoPotential military application? The Hummer originally came from the battlefield after all.
- nordsieck 7y agoProbably not. 1. Electric vehicles are a terrible fit for military operations 2. The actual HMMWV is a steaming pile of garbage. Not sure why the US Gov would want to buy an expensive version of the same thing 3. The HMMWV was recently replaced by the JLTV - it'll probably be at least 20 years before the next refresh cycle
- villgax 7y agoOn 1, how couldn't silent operation be anything but a boon. Airdropping battery packs would appear to be safer than gas right?
- goatinaboat 7y agoAirdropping battery packs would appear to be safer than gas right? Absolutely not! A lithium battery is fragile and highly flammable. Diesel is much safer to transport.
- nordsieck 7y ago> Airdropping battery packs would appear to be safer than gas right? This is the most absurd statement I've read on HN in the past week. Just take 20 seconds and think about the logistics of a 60+ ton tank in the middle of nowhere doing a battery swap.
- salty_biscuits 7y agoIf (and it is a big if) electric power had an advantage, surely they would just have a support vehicle with a big generator that they could recharge from.
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- unlinked_dll 7y agoStill waiting on a sub 30k electric sedan that doesn't look like a turd
- adolph 7y agoDo you have a better suggestion for passing air easily? It’s foundational to car movement now a days.
- MisterTea 7y ago... and isn't full of tablet computers with half finished software that needs constant updating, miles of wire, self driving snake oil, and other electronic wizz bang nonsense. I just want a car. Not an IT experiment.
- tfandango 7y agoOne which can be repaired without expensive trips to the dealership to use proprietary tools.
- skunkworker 7y agoThis could help at high altitudes where you don’t get enough air for a naturally aspirated engine. I ran into this problem off roading above Ouray and Telluride, CO at about 12,500ft. Though adding forced induction would’ve given me back some power.
- cm2187 7y agoSounds like a good location to run out of battery
- olivermarks 7y agoThat would be my concern. It's only a matter of time before battery recharge trucks roam the streets and rescue people from offroad power failures. Cheaper than loading an EV on the back of a diesel flatbed to be taken to a recharge station, which I often see in California.
- bluGill 7y agoIn general I expect serious off roaders will carry a generator - they often do anyway for their campsite. Of course we are talking altitude which changes things.
- olivermarks 7y agoA generator to recharge an ev battery needs a lot more power than a camping generator can generate. You'd need a huge unit hence my parent comment.
- bluGill 7y agoNo, it just charges slower. You do of course need a charger that doesn't draw as much power. Enough gas to run a camping generator overnight will get you half a charge and that should get you back to civilization. If this is your normal use case a conventional engine is by far better - but for the average camper this is done so rarely lugging around a generator only when needed makes sense.
- okareaman 7y agoDo electric horses dream of autonomous buggies?
- fouc 7y agoWonder how they'll get on with Cybertruck.
- JulianMorrison 7y agoThey will fight each other at monster truck rallies. "Team Cyber" and "Team Hummer" shirts will sell out. Many corn dogs will be eaten.
- newnewpdro 7y agoI would gleefully attend an all-ev monster truck rally.
- olivermarks 7y agoElectric power is well suited to driving the huge wheels of a 4x4 monster truck, great low end torque and wide power band. The problem might be battery weight - monster trucks are basically lightweight space frames with low unsprung weight pushed by a big block V8 engine with a flimsy fiberglass body over the top of it all.
- ollie87 7y agoBattery pack might be better really, you could move the centre of gravity slightly lower than the fuel tank and engine on a ICE version.
- olivermarks 7y agoIt's the weight of the batteries to drive that sort of power compared to ICE that would be the issue, not location. Would be an interesting experiment
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- olivermarks 7y agoGM made a Chevy Silverado platform 'hummer H2' suv, that's what this article refers to, not the milspec Hummer made by AM General. The GM 'consumer' Hummer was basically a pseudo milspec hummer and this new EV version will presumably be a similar marketing effort. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummer_H2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummer_H2
- daxfohl 7y agoWays GM could enter the electric market. Electric Malibu: Totally makes sense Electric Cadillac: Wow, forward thinking! Electric Corvette: Whoa, world changing Electric Hummer: But I. But we. Wait. What?
- jedieaston 7y agoIt solves the biggest problem everyone had with the Hummer: gallons-per-mile. And it competes with the Cybertruck, and they don’t have to worry about a limited amount of space for the batteries. Seems like a good strategy to me, for a first attempt.
- daxfohl 7y agoBut my impression was that the only reason to have a hummer was the whole "I'm whatever enough to be above social responsibility" appeal. So if they make it socially responsible then that takes away their entire market. I've never been in the market for a hummer so maybe I'm missing something. That said, an electric hummer could be a perfect fit for the hummer stretch limo market. Though idk if that market is big enough to warrant its own whole thing.
- anonu 7y agoDidn't Arnold Schwarznegger have a Hummer EV 20 years ago? Californians derided him for driving around in a Hummer - so his response was to rip out the gas engine.
- daxfohl 7y agoEuropean sustainability: ride your bike American sustainability: ev hummer