We finally know what all of those Hummers were doing near Moab earlier this year. The team was putting the EV through its paces at the legendary off-road playground.
The automaker has released footage of the upcoming electric pickup tackling steep vertical climbs, challenging trails, and more in the national parks outside the Utah town.
GMC says its teams were testing and calibrating things like the Adaptive Air Suspension hardware, Extract Mode, Terrain Mode, One-Pedal Driving control, the e4WD system, the torque distribution, the eLockers, the stability control, the rear-wheel steering, CrabWalk, and more.
In fact, it’s CrabWalk that we know these Hummers for. The electric pickups were caught CrabWalking along the highway near the town in videos privately uploaded to YouTube last month.
See More: Watch 2022 GMC Hummer EVs Crabwalking On The Highway
But GMC was just as focused on other features, like the one-pedal driving. Although the feature is anything but new, GMC is trying to calibrate it specifically for off-roading. Not only with the vehicle regenerate as you slow down, it will also grab some brakes.
Moreover, if you use the feature in Terrain Mode, the Hummer EV automatically calibrates itself for low-speed driving. That should help drivers negotiate steep grades, clamber over rocks, and go down hills confidently.
“One-Pedal Driving offers a great feeling of control by optimizing the regenerative braking, friction braking, and drive motor torque all through the accelerator pedal,” said Aaron Pfau, GMC HUMMER EV lead development engineer. “Drivers will quickly realize the benefits once they try it off-road.”
It’s one of the ways GMC says it’s exploring the advantages of creating a new electric vehicle from whole cloth.
“The GMC HUMMER EV was a blank slate that was filled out by a dedicated team of engineers who are hardcore off-road enthusiasts,” said Pfau. “Features like One-Pedal Driving, Terrain Mode and Extract Mode result in an absolute off-road beast that will take you to new places.”
The GMC Hummer EV will hit the road in production guise this fall.