The new Hummer truck is one of the most exciting trucks I’ve reviewed. The juice is a 19.2 kilowatt high voltage charging module. Imagine a pickup truck that weighs 9,640 pounds, is 7 feet wide and can do, zero to 60 mph in 3 seconds. This is with a 24-module ultium battery, that can tow an 8,500 pound trailer with two motors or a 12,000 pound trailer with three motors. While not towing this battery can run for 381 miles. That special 24-module battery is a $10,000 option, and the extreme off-road package is another $10,000, bringing the manufacturer’s suggested retail price to $128,760. Of course it does. But the mile range drops closer to 350 miles with those options. GM in EV terms claims miles per gallon equivalent or MPGe at 58. The Hummer has 35 inch all-terrain tires, front and rear axle lockers and can go anywhere. We buried it in 2 feet of snow going uphill at Bunce School trail near Estes Park, Colo. Look at it this way, millions of dollars cheaper than an Abrams Tank and you can buy it.
Then there is the luxury, this truck has Super Cruise, hands free driving and Bose premium surround sound with 14 speakers. It also boasts Tri-Zone climate control and a 12 power driver’s seat, which is what all trucks should have, plus Air Ride adaptive suspension.
The four top clear roof panels come off like a Jeep or Bronco. Now if you are as old as me, you’ll remember the Hummer has 4-wheel steering with crabwalk. Like the first 4×4 Case tractors, which were made for one-way plows. The first GMC Denali had quadrasteer, which did all that and had a wider Dana rear axle that helped with control on the road. It was the best at towing a trailer. I was sad to see the Quadrasteer get dropped.
Off road you can use one pedal driving in low range. With one pedal, touch the brake to slow down, off the brake pedal and it speeds up to what you set it at. Since the Hummer has regenerative braking, braking charges the battery. But you want to adjust the tension, or you will brake as vigorously as you accelerate with this rocket. Back in the day the military Humvees didn’t have wheel brakes, it was a brake pad on the driveshaft like our old farm trucks emergency brake. It took skill to brake the old Humvee, if you braked hard, it would bounce like a basketball.
GM is the king of cameras and the Hummer proves that adding cameras under the frame. It’s a great feature seeing what you are driving over, holes, racks and how close you are to the edge of the road. There is on a 5 foot bed on these super trucks with sprayed in bedliner.
As soon as I win the lottery, the Hummer X3 Pickup is on the list.
