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| Fig. 1: Hummer H2 (Source: Wikipedia Commons) |
The world of cars has always been stuck in a process of constant change. Designs, speed, gas mileage, space, and affordability, all factors which are considered in the latest and greatest designs. But one of the greatest issues that car manufacturers have been focusing on now more than ever is environmental impact. It is not an uncommon site to see cities like Los Angeles blanketed in thick smog, and much of the public's blame for the greenhouse gas emissions is on the transportation sector (despite the fact that there are a number of other large contributors). So, under tremendous pressure by both the public and the United States government, car companies have released a large number of hybrid and electric vehicles over the last few decades. From the Toyota Prius to the Tesla Model 3, the market for these cars has been expanding. But one model of transportation has been left out for some time: the pickup truck. Developing a suitable, electric alternative for the pickup truck has been a major agenda for car manufacturers. One of the most recent players to the game is the brand new GMC Hummer EV. But what is fact and what is just good advertising is an important distinction when evaluating something branded "the worlds first all-electric supertruck."
The irony of having the first truck that General Motors releases be a hummer is fairly obvious. There has been a long standing stigma about the Hummer as being a monstrous, gas-guzzling, impractical vehicle. In reality, the Hummer, shown in Fig. 1, gets around the same miles per gallon as similar models, like the Chevrolet Yukon or Suburban, which are still very popular today. But that did not stop the brand from being discontinued after only 89 months. [1] Its resurgence as an all-electric truck raises a lot of questions. One pressing issue is the range of the truck, or how far it can get on a full battery. The original line of hummers were extremely heavy, around 6700 pounds. [2] This is about the same as the GMC Denali, which is the largest model pickup truck that GMC makes. The issue with the Hummer EV is that it will have an electric engine, which is heavier than a normal gas engine. This gives it the potential for being heavier than the original Hummer. The potential weight of the Hummer EV and the fact that it will be using an electric engine greatly reduces its range. What is even more interesting is that this truck is a year out from launch, but has had no evidence of being tested by either GMC or a third party. This is very abnormal for a car that is a year out from public release, meaning that there is likely not even a working model out yet, despite how convincing the commercials are. But even if the "supertruck" were to have a range of 350 miles on a full battery that is advertised on tis website, this still does not compare with it's gas-using cousins. The 2021 GMC Sierra, which has been tested, has a range of 480-620 miles on a full tank (this is dependent on which model you buy). [3] Regardless of model, the Sierra can go at least more than a hundred miles further than the Hummer EV, based on its proposed range. And considering that these tested numbers for the Sierra are less than what is posted on GMC's website, it can be assumed that the Hummer EV's range will be less than 350 miles.
This truck is a year out from being released, so there are still many questions left unanswered. Although it offers a wide variety of high tech features, they are distractions from the fact that this truck isn't able to go the distance of a similar sized truck. But this issue isn't isolated to the world of pickup trucks. Semi trucks are also facing the same dilemma of range versus environmental sustainability. The electric semi truck model proposed by Tesla only allowed drivers to go 600 miles with a small payload capacity before having to recharge, which is far below the distance a gas or diesel truck can go before refueling. [4] Another major issue for both electric pickups and semis is charging stations. In the case of the Hummer EV, there are a variety of off-road features available, but in order to even use them, there must be a charging station within reach. These are hard to come by in areas not near wealthy populations. While the Hummer EV is a big step in the right direction of getting more electric cars on the roads, the smaller distance that it can travel highlights how electric cars and the batteries they run on are still in their infancy, especially in the case of trucks. That being said, this vehicle should be a motivating factor for other companies to further innovation and competition.
© Zack LaGrange. The author warrants that the work is the author's own and that Stanford University provided no input other than typesetting and referencing guidelines. The author grants permission to copy, distribute and display this work in unaltered form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only. All other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the author.
[1] M. K. Luedicke, "Driving a Deeply Rooted Brand: Cultural Marketing Lessons Learned From GM's Hummer Advertising," in Marketing Management: A Cultural Perspective, 2nd Ed., ed. by L. M. Visconti, L. Peñaloza, and N. Toulouse (Routledge, 2020).
[2] C. Jensen, "Tested: 2003 Hummer H2," Car and Driver (August 2002).
[3] C. Trotter, "2021 GMC Sierra Review 1500 Review," U.S. News and World Report, 30 Oct 20.
[4] S. Sripad and V. Viswanathan, "Performance Metrics Required of Next-Generation Batteries to Make a Practical Electric Semi Truck," ACS Energy Lett. 2, 1669 (2017).
