After months of speculation, we now know that GM is bringing Hummer back. Not as its own brand, but a high-end GMC all-electric truck. However, when the news first leaked, details were fairly slim. How much range would the electric Hummer have? How fast would it be? Could it go off-road, like the Bollinger B2? But now, we can begin to answer at least some of those questions. And based on what’s been teased, Tesla, Rivian, and Ford might have reason to worry.

What we know about the electric Hummer’s specs

The electric GMC Hummer truck is going to be powerful. According to The Drive, it’ll be pushing out 1000 hp. GM has not officially revealed how many motors the Hummer will have, but Motor Trend figures it will likely be four, one for each wheel. This would match the arrangement used by the Rivian R1T. However, Rivian’s electric truck only makes 754 hp. And the Bollinger B2’s two electric motors ‘only’ push out 614 hp.

Unfortunately, none of the teaser videos GMC released detail the electric Hummer truck’s range, battery capacity, or even price. However, Motor1 reports the truck will be both on- and off-road-capable. Which, considering it’s a Hummer, is to be expected. But we do know the truck will be fast. Road & Track reports the electric Hummer will go 0-60 in 3 seconds. That ties the R1T’s time and is only 0.1 seconds behind the tri-motor Tesla Cybertruck.

There’s also one more piece of information that’s been revealed: torque output. GMC’s videos claim the electric Hummer truck will produce 11,500 lb-ft of torque. And Autoweek reports that, when it reached to GM, that number was confirmed as accurate. However, much like tug-of-war videos and million-pound trailers, there’s more to it than that.

The electric Hummer doesn’t really make 11,500 lb-ft

R&T, Jalopnik, MT, and Car and Driver all note that this figure isn’t motor torque, but wheel torque. As Jason Fenske of Engineering Explained and R&T have detailed, wheel torque and motor torque aren’t the same thing.

Wheel torque is determined by multiplying motor torque through a vehicle’s gear ratios. This includes the gears in the transmission, the differential’s final drive, and even gear reduction happening in the drive system. Tesla did something similar when it claimed its Roadster made 7400 lb-ft of torque. That was wheel torque, not motor torque.

In reality, Car and Driver mused the electric Hummer might make closer to 1150 lb-ft. MT estimated that, if GMC is using similar gear ratios to Tesla, and four motors, each motor will make roughly 295 lb-ft. This would give a more realistic, if still immense, 1180 lb-ft. That’s more than Rivian or Bollinger provide. Tesla still hasn’t released the Cybertruck’s torque figures.  

What’s still to come

GM might reveal more information about the electric GMC Hummer in its Super Bowl commercial. At least, the commercial might give us a better look at the truck.

Officially, the electric Hummer’s reveal is set for May 20, 2020. Production will follow soon after, but deliveries, Car and Driver reports, won’t start until late 2021.

Nevertheless, Hummer is officially back. And that’s a sentence that’s still crazy to write.

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