2022 GMC Hummer EV Drivers' Notes: We can't stop talking about Crab Walk
The 2022 GMC Hummer EV Pickup defies reason and sense in most ways. It’s a pickup that weighs over 9,000 pounds, but will do the 0-60 mph sprint in around 3.0 seconds. That sounds like something to be afraid of, but it’s also something you want to experience. It’s a feat of engineering to make something so heavy move so quickly, but that’s what the EV revolution has brought upon us.
GMC gets the Hummer up and moving as quickly as it does with three electric motors — one in front and two in the rear — that combine for a nutty 1,000 horsepower and 1,200 pound-feet of torque. All of that power is unleashed in Watts To Freedom (WTF) mode. Your seat starts rumbling; the air suspension lowers you to the ground, and an electrifying soundtrack is played over the speakers to match your throttle applications. Launching this supertruck is an event every single time, but due to its extra-high ride height and off-road chops, sending it down your favorite trail is, too. That is, assuming said trail is wide enough to fit the gargantuan Hummer. Those knobby all-terrain tires keep the Hummer from being even mildly entertaining when you explore the truck’s handling … but who cares.
Our specific tester is an Edition 1 model, which means it comes fully loaded with every option you can imagine. As such, its price is $110,295. For the amount of performance and capability on display here, that number sounds surprisingly right. It’s also befitting the Hummer’s status as a supertruck, wherein you get everything you’d ever want in one go-anywhere do-anything package.
Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore — The Hummer EV is the biggest rock star vehicle I’ve tested in quite some time. Literally. It’s huge and attracts a ton of deserved attention. The Hummer design is spot-on, especially the grille, lights and flared fenders. It looks the part. For $110,000, it should also have some substance, and this Edition 1 delivers Super Cruise, Watts to Freedom and CrabWalk, not to mention GMC’s MultiPro tailgate and the removable Sky Panel roof.
It feels quick, as you would expect something with 1,000 hp to feel, and it’s shockingly maneuverable. I CrabWalked down my street to show off, navigating around things on the diagonal and amusing the neighbors. Just the regular four-wheel-steering function, which functions similar to those offered by various other cars, allows the Hummer to turn easily and confidently. I grabbed about 60 miles of range at a ChargePoint in 20 minutes, so not as quickly as possible, but it was useful. Overall, I enjoyed my time in the Hummer EV, and it feels like a true halo vehicle for GMC.
Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski — Watts to Freedom is absolutely bonkers. I strapped myself into the GMC Hummer EV, used some buttons and switches to put the beastly electric truck into the proper head-throwing mode, stomped on the stop pedal, then the go. I haven’t felt my stomach drop like that in any other vehicle I can remember. It could be its own Cedar Point amusement park ride.
The rest of the truck is, well, also bonkers. But I mean that as a compliment. It’s big, heavy, powerful, and probably just about unstoppable when the going gets tough. I also threw the suspension into its tippiest high point, and there’s ground clearance galore under the flat EV platform. Crab walk mode is gimmicky, true, but it’s also useful. I set up a tight course using sticks I found on the ground, and was able to traverse the makeshift course with a deftness I didn’t expect, thanks to the trick four-wheel steering.
If it weren’t so darn expensive (and sold out for the next few years), I’d crab walk one right into my driveway.
News Editor Joel Stocksdale: There’s no question that Crab Walk is attention getting. It’s weird to see a vehicle of any sort move that way, and it’s even more eerie from the inside. It’s also impressively easy to activate, since you simply have to hold the button for a few moments, and it activates. That being said, I feel like the times that it’s useful are few and far between. And the four-wheel steering that enables it isn’t the most revolutionary. Heck, GM was offering some seriously aggressive rear-wheel steering with the Quadrasteer pickup trucks nearly 20 years ago. I think it’s very cool and is a great party trick, but I don’t think this is going to revolutionize the industry and has somewhat limited practical applications.
Road Test Editor Zac Palmer — There’s been plenty of ink spilled about how the Hummer EV is a no-good bad-for-the-environment electric car, but I tend to fall on the side of … so what? The Hummer is not here to save the world. Instead, it’s here to serve as a technology-advancing supertruck. Just like a supercar maker pushes boundaries of performance with new engine or suspension technology, GMC is pushing the boundaries of what can be done when you throw piles of money at something to produce the wildest off-road vehicle you can. It’s full of epic features like WTF mode, CrabWalk and video game engine-run digital screens. When you drive it around, you feel like you’re driving a cartoon on wheels. There’s simply nothing sensical about it, and that’s OK!
I don’t really mind that it’s horrendously inefficient for an EV. Whoever can afford the six-figure asking price can afford to keep its enormous battery pack charged. The same argument can be made for or against vehicles like a Bentley Flying Spur or Lamborghini Huracan. No, nobody needs this level of performance … but you want it. For its price, there should be no compromises, and when it comes to EVs, the Hummer hits this target as well as anything out there.
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