GMC debuts Hummer EV in First Edition guise

GMC has at long last revealed its new Hummer electric pick-up truck with the self-proclaimed ‘supertruck’ due to be released in 2022, however question marks still hover around the possibility of an Australian introduction.

Revealed overnight in the US, GMC has officially opened its order books for the giant EV which will initially be available Stateside in ‘Edition 1’ form, flaunting a white exterior and unique Lunar Horizon interior.

Visually, the Hummer looks almost exactly as we have come to expect thanks to the prolonged advertising/hype campaign, being big, boxy and bold.

The aforementioned white colour scheme is complemented by a series of black and gold highlights and accents including body cladding, the would-be radiator grille and alloy wheels.

The grille itself follows a piano-key motif with each segment containing one of the letters to spell out ‘Hummer’, all of which are backlit, joining a set of flanking LED headlights to create a full-width light signature.

The front fascia itself is narrow and squinty but the defining feature of the front end is the bulbous front bumper adorned with a chunky skid plate containing two exposed recovery points.

You would be hard-pressed to mistake the Hummer for anything else when looking at it from the side with the bonnet and tub line being on the same plane with the steeply raked cabin seemingly plonked on top in the classic three-box style – save for the sloping integrated sports bars.

The contrasting white, black and gold theme is continued on the interior too with the dash, seats, door veneer and centre console all being two-tone while gold is used for the air vent surrounds, door inserts, infotainment screen surrounds and seat embossing.

In an elegant and clutter-free design, all of the infotainment, climate and drivetrain controls are accessed via the 13.4-inch infotainment screen and two underlining rows of buttons.

Key standard equipment on the Hummer EV includes Super Cruise (semi-autonomous driving) capability, UltraVision with high-definition surround vision, digital key, 35-inch tyres, infinity roof, power rear drop glass and six-function MultiPro tailgate.

Power in the Hummer EV First Edition comes from three separate electric motors which combine to produce a “GM-estimated” 746kW/15,592Nm (1000hp/11,500lb-ft), resulting in an “estimated” 0-100km/h time of “approximately” three seconds – confirmed figures are yet to surface.

As previously reported by GoAuto, those figures would make the new Hummer EV easily the most powerful produced by General Motors.

On a full charge, GMC expects its new truck to be capable of travelling 563km (350 miles) however like the performance figures, an exact battery capacity is yet to be confirmed.

Under the skin, the Hummer EV rides on adaptive air suspension with an industry-first ‘CrabCrawl’ function, allowing the car to move diagonally courtesy of its all-wheel-steering system.

Full underbody guards and rock sliders add an extra level of robustness to the package while the new Extract Mode allows the air suspension to raise the body by up to six inches for added ground clearance when needed.

Priced from $US112,595 ($A159,073) plus on-roads, the First Edition, as the name implies, will be the first version of the Hummer EV to hit the US market, followed in turn by the 3X, 2X and 2 in 2022, 2023 and 2024 respectively, each one getting progressively cheaper.

As for an Australian launch, GMSV is keeping its cards close to its chest but said it is pleased with the amount of global excitement surrounding the new supertruck.

“It is another vehicle in the General Motors line-up that demonstrates our vision of an all-electric future,” a spokesperson told GoAuto.

“We are not making announcements at this stage in relation to global markets outside of North America.”

Given GMSV’s previous emphasis on offering niche vehicles in Australia, the Hummer EV certainly fits the bill as a plausible offering Down Under however it remains to be seen if the big EV will be engineered with right-hand drive compatibility in mind.

Back Stateside, global Buick and GMC vice-president Duncan Aldred was stoked to have finally debuted the new EV and said it defied the traditional perception of what a pick-up truck was and what it was capable of.