The U.S. Army Buys One Hummer EV as Electric Vehicle Testing Begins

The Hummer EV SUV or Hummer EV Pickup could eventually end up as the basis for the U.S. Army EV.Photo: General Motors

The U.S. Army has chosen the Hummer EV as its testbed for electric vehicles. It was only a matter of time before the U.S. Armed Forces would dabble with the deployment of EVs, but the Army’s interest in the electric Hummer remains in its exploratory phase for now. General Motors subsidiary, GM Defense, said it’ll provide the Army with a Hummer EV for analysis and demonstration.

According to GM Defense, the Army is looking for “a light to heavy duty battery electric vehicle to support reduced reliance on fossil fuels.” I would be remiss to not point out there’s nothing “light” about the Hummer EV, but it’s not like the Army’s motor pool is made up of small, lightweight machines, anyway. The EV that the Army requires will be used in both garrison environments (permanent bases and forts) and operational environments (forward-operating bases and combat zones), meaning that whatever EV the branch selects will sell en masse.

Of course, that massive (read: lucrative) order is pending the results of the analysis, which is kicking off with a much more modest order, per Auto News:

GM spokesperson Sonia Taylor wrote in an email to Automotive News that the military would purchase one Hummer. She said GM Defense is fully aligned with GM’s goal to be fully electric by 2035 and is well positioned to aid the Army’s transition to EVs.

You can bet the General Motors subsidiary is keen on becoming the Army’s defense contractor of choice given the many EVs it’ll take to transition from ICE-powered machines like the AM General HMMWV or GM Defense ISV. The former is the original Humvee; the latter is basically a Chevy Colorado ZR2 used by infantry squads that needed a faster troop carrier in active theater.

The ISV even looks like GM’s desert-running SEMA concept, the Chevy Beast!

Photo: GM Defense

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GM Defense seems to think the Hummer EV Pickup makes a compelling case for the Army. The “all-electric supertruck,” as GMD calls it, has a range of 329 miles, and with full DC fast charging onboard, the Hummer EV will get nearly a third of its max range in 12 minutes. That’s not very long for a 100 mile top-up.

The Hummer EV Pickup makes 1,000 horsepower and 11,500 lb-ft of wheel torque. With that much horsepower, the Hummer EV will sprint from 0-60mph in three seconds despite its size and weight. Hell, the Hummer EV even comes in an olive drab(ish) paint color already.

General Motors has now sunk $35 billion into the development of its EVs, many of which will use the Ultium platform — including the Hummer EV. A U.S. Army defense contract could go a long way in recovering some of those billions.

Photo: General Motors