Motor Authority Says GMC Hummer EV is “King of the Off-Road Hill”

The automotive media is full of stories about the shortcomings of the well-hyped Tesla Cybertruck, and aside from complaints about design and build quality issues, there have been plenty of videos showing that the stainless steel origami leviathan is not particularly good off the road. This may lead some to think that the Hummer EV models may have the same deficiencies. However, after a press drive of the Hummer EV SUV in Moab, Utah, Motor Authority reports the Hummer is, in fact, extraordinarily good in the wild. This post by GMC of Rochester reports on their findings. 

They start their review with a caveat: “If not for its width and weight, the 2024 GMC Hummer EV SUV would be the most off-road-capable passenger vehicle direct from the factory on sale today. It climbs more assuredly than a stock Wrangler Rubicon or Bronco Raptor, it negotiates obstacles more easily and more safely than a Rivian R1S”

The Hummer EV SUV is, indeed, a large vehicle. Its 86.5-inch width makes it almost a half-foot wider than a Yukon XL and wide enough to require front and rear rooftop lights. There is no denying that its 170 kWh battery makes it a heavy thing. At over 9,000 pounds, the original 6,600-pound Hummer seems lightweight in comparison. Fortunately, much of that weight is low on the vehicle, and while the Hummer EV SUV’s many off-road features do not make the size and weight disappear, it certainly mitigates them. 

One of the most unique aspects of off-roading in the Hummer EV SUV is the silence. As expressed by Motor Authority: “The silence of off-roading an EV envelops you in the natural world instead of estranging you from it as in a combustion vehicle, a conqueror vanquishing its natural foe. The gasp of the air suspension, the caw of a hawk, the hum of the HVAC, the whisper of a breeze, the squish of rocks under the Goodyear Wrangler 305/70R18 35-inch mud-terrain tires, the sun-baked earth pushing back—that’s all there was, until the end.”

As it is, the SUV has an advantage for this kind of action over the Hummer EV Pickup, with an 8.9-inch shorter wheelbase, 20 fewer inches in overall length, and less weight. Both breakover and departure angles are better than those of the truck.

The Extreme Off-Road package was widely praised and considered well worth the $9,995 if you plan on off-roading, which is much of what this vehicle is designed to do. Included in the package are:

• 18″ LT305/70R18 Goodyear® Wrangler Territory® MT tires
• 18″ Black aluminum wheels with machined accents
• Four additional skid plates (including front differential, battery, and rear differential)
• Electronically locking front and rear differential with Heavy-Duty Ball Spline Half Shafts
• Forward and Rearward underbody cameras
• Rear D-Ring Recovery Hook
• Rocker Protectors with Assist Steps

The forward and rearward-looking underbody cameras combined with the surround-view camera give you 17 views around the vehicle, mitigating the vehicle’s size in terms of spotting obstructions and planning vehicle placement. The ability to see what is directly before the front and rear axles is particularly useful in this context. The second feature to mitigate size is the rear steering. The author never required the CrabWalk features but found the rear wheels, with up to 10 degrees of turning, able to work their way around obstructions. 

The drive modes were also helpful, particularly as adjusting electrics can be more precisely calibrated than adjustment of mechanical systems. The Off-Road mode is calibrated for high-speed off-pavement running, while Terrain mode is what you want for the slow-crawling required at Moab. It raises the ground clearance from 10.1 to 11.9 inches and modulates throttle input for more precise modulation, among other things. The author describes his activity: “I preferred moving the gear shifter from D to L for the max regenerative braking. This enabled me to brake with my left foot and throttle with my right both up and down slopes to keep the wheels moving but not allow the SUV to move too much. Just leaving it in L, where under 5 mph the mode uses all friction braking, resulted in the kind of jerkiness that might have made me go off the throttle entirely and lose momentum. There’s so much going on at all four corners, but all I had to do was point and go, really. It made me a better off-roader, and it all felt seamless, almost natural.”

He also reported that he had little worry about the Hummer EV SUV’s range: “Off-roading for seven hours over a 16-mile trail with an elevation change of more than 2,500 feet, and driving about 85 miles there and back, never once amounted to range anxiety. I had 124 miles of range remaining from the 295-mile start.”

It all shows that the Hummer EV SUV is the real deal when it comes to off-roading and that there is truly no other production vehicle like it. The model tested was a 3X with the Extreme Off-Road Package with an as-tested MSRP of $116,690. That is certainly not pocket change, but for anyone looking for the best on and off-road capability electrons have to offer, visit GMC of Rochester, test drive the Hummer EV SUV, and see what the future of on and off-roading is all about.