That brought on another round of very critical assessments of the Hummer EV\u2014with some fixating on a point that it\u2019s downright wasteful. The more we know, the easier it\u2019s been for green-car types and EV enthusiasts to demonize this GM\u2019s electric \u201csupertruck,\u201d weighing in at more than 9,000 pounds, as an analog of all that\u2019s wrong with EVs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I am going to consider carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions. But first, with focus drawn back, if you fixate only on the Hummer EV\u2019s weight and waste versus other EVs, you\u2019re missing the point. Here are some arguments for why the Hummer EV actually makes some green sense despite its excess.<\/p>\n
![\"2022](\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/lrg\/gmc_100766438_l.jpg\" "\\"2022")
<\/p>\n2022 GMC Hummer EV<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
It\u2019s always going to be a low-volume model.<\/strong> GM has hinted all along that the GMC Hummer EV isn\u2019t intended to be a mass-market model. It\u2019s the Chevy Silverado EV<\/a> and GMC Sierra EV<\/a> that will arrive in greater volume. And it\u2019s reasonable to assume they\u2019ll be significantly more efficient.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s a \u201cposter car.\u201d<\/strong> Did you have a Ferrari on your bedroom wall? A ZR1? A Raptor? Poster cars are always about excess, and the Hummer EV is no exception. Isn\u2019t it better to aspire to an electric truck?<\/p>\n It appeals to the \u201cbrodozer\u201d crowd.<\/strong> What matters is that the Hummer EV looks even more able than its gas-guzzling predecessors. As such, it\u2019s conducting a ground offensive that\u2019s swaying opinions on EVs for those who might otherwise be the toughest to convince. For those who see the kings of the road as heavy-duty diesel pickups with emissions defeat devices<\/a> that boost performance and smoothness to the detriment of emissions, while \u201crolling coal\u201d along the way, we think the Hummer EV makes the best appeal yet. You won\u2019t find the uppity undertones of a Tesla Cybertruck<\/a> or a Rivian R1T<\/a>; it\u2019s a Hummer.<\/p>\n Nearly every one means one less gasoline truck.<\/strong> It\u2019s not replacing far more efficient electric cars. GMC has made clear that the Hummer EV is aimed at truck enthusiasts<\/a>\u2014including a full line of accessories designed in parallel with the vehicle.\u00a0<\/p>\n 2024 GMC Hummer EV SUV<\/p>\n<\/div>\n So why is the Hummer EV better for the planet than a gasoline truck?<\/strong><\/p>\n First, let\u2019s get past the shock and awe of the numbers. The latest round of certification documents revealed some vital stats about the battery pack\u2014that it weighs 2,923 pounds itself, with a respectable specific energy of 158 watt-hours per kilogram. Further, the double-decker pack has a total battery volume listed at 1,012.5 liters\u2014the space of more than ten of the 26-gallon fuel tanks typical to full-size trucks.\u00a0<\/p>\n To put it another way, the Hummer EV has more than ten times the gross battery capacity of an original Nissan Leaf. And the battery pack alone in the new GMC Hummer EV weighs more than a complete 2022 Toyota Corolla Hybrid sedan.\u00a0<\/p>\n Would you rather be seen in either of those eco-warriors? This is indirectly GM\u2019s whole argument.<\/p>\n 2022 GMC Hummer EV<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In a certification summary document, battery energy capacity is listed at 617 wh, with the pack voltage at 400 volts\u2014suggesting a gross battery capacity of nearly 247 kwh.\u00a0<\/p>\n Usable capacity, based on earlier calculations, is expected to be about 213 kwh. The EPA claims to have put 234.17 kwh of \u201crecharge event energy\u201d into the Hummer EV\u2014a figure that includes any losses at the onboard charger and tends to be about 10% greater than the usable capacity. So it reinforces that GM\u2019s true usable range remains in this ballpark\u2014greater than the \u201cabout 200 kwh\u201d the company originally indicated.\u00a0<\/p>\n Less lifetime CO2 emissions than a gas compact car. Really.<\/strong><\/p>\n Napkin math on the Hummer EV\u2019s suspected carbon footprint versus other EVs looks abysmal. At its EPA range of 329 miles and 213 kwh, it\u2019s getting just over 1.5 miles out of every kwh\u2014roughly a third the efficiency of the Lucid Air Grand Touring\u2019s 4.6 mi\/kwh. Plus it carries around roughly double the precious battery-pack raw materials of other long-range EVs to date.<\/p>\n Electric vehicles are, in the operation sense, as clean as the electricity you plug into. So the Union of Concerned Scientists has long studied the lifetime carbon footprint of EVs compared to internal combustion vehicles, incorporating information about the nation\u2019s power generation mix.\u00a0<\/p>\n 2022 GMC Hummer EV<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Based on the organization\u2019s last update on EV emissions and comparative ICE mpg, David Reichmuth, senior engineer for the UCS Clean Transportation Program, estimated that the Hummer EV has roughly half the efficiency of an average EV in its calculations. Thus, it\u2019s about the equivalent\u2014in a very \u201cgeneral\u201d sense\u2014of a 67-mpg gasoline vehicle in California or a 46-mpg vehicle across the U.S. as a whole.\u00a0<\/p>\n Or, in Michigan, where the Hummer EV is built, it might be the equivalent of about a 27-mpg gasoline vehicle.\u00a0<\/p>\n The F-150 Lightning is far more efficient than the Hummer EV\u2014with up to a 300-mile range from 131 kwh. Last year Reichmuth\u2019s analysis suggested that the Lightning is the equivalent of an 85-mpg gasoline vehicle<\/a> in CO2 footprint, with 70% of the U.S. population in a place in which the electric truck would produce less than half of the GHG emissions than the gasoline version.<\/p>\n Cradle to grave: A cleaner grid counts for a lot<\/strong><\/p>\n That\u2019s just the consumption-and-use side\u2014including power generation and electricity distribution losses. The Hummer EV costs more energy and resources to build, too\u2014especially its battery pack. A 2018 paper<\/a> by the International Council on Clean Transportation, rounded up a range of academic research looking at the effects of battery manufacturing on EV life-cycle greenhouse-gas emissions. It estimates that a 50% larger battery pack will increase the life-cycle CO2 of a vehicle by 18%.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"2024](\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/lrg\/gmc-hummer-ev_100787586_l.jpg\" "\\"2024")
<\/p>\n![\"2022](\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/lrg\/gmc_100766465_l.jpg\" "\\"2022")
<\/p>\n![\"2022](\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/lrg\/2022-gmc-hummer-ev_100797583_l.jpg\" "\\"2022")
<\/p>\n
![\"2022](\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/lrg\/2022-ford-f-150-lightning-pro_100827737_l.jpg\" "\\"2022")
<\/p>\n![\"2024](\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/lrg\/gmc-hummer-ev_100787593_l.jpg\" "\\"2024")
<\/p>\n