During Development, The GMC Hummer EV Had So Much Torque It Could Pull Wheelies

There are a lot of interesting anecdotes that can be picked up during a vehicle’s development. Some of them are never shared with the public, while others a fondly told by the men and women who worked on the car. Today’s story comes from GMC with its Hummer EV.

The Drive recently took the gargantuan electric SUV out for a spin with Al Oppenheiser, the chief engineer for the Hummer EV. He shares that the 9,046 pounds (4,103 kg) SUV pulled surprise wheelies during its development phase. Because of that, Oppenheiser and his team had to wind down the power to keep the vehicle in check.

“In the early days when we were just trying to balance the front and rear torque, I got the front end to lift. We had to back off the torque on the front end,” said Oppenheiser. While the idea of pulling wheelies is fun, it is a safety concern, especially when it’s unexpected. The front wheels are up in the air, making steering difficult or impossible. There is also a risk of the vehicle spearing off in a different direction unpredictably, causing an accident.

Mind you, Oppenheiser says the production Hummer EV can do the same trick with a proper tune. Of course, anything that happens after that is beyond the manufacturer’s hands. But as it is, it has been noted that some testers felt overwhelmed by the truck’s pulling power in Watts to Freedom (WTF) mode. In that setting, GMC says the electric SUV can hurl itself from 0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 km/h) in just three seconds.

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To recap, the 2022 GMC Hummer EV is available with three powertrain options and four trim levels. These are the Edition 1, EV3X, EV2X, and EV2. The Edition 1 was sold out an hour after the reservation books were opened. That model has an estimated 1,000 horsepower (746 kilowatts) and about 1,200 pound-feet (1,627 Newton-meters) of torque. The EV3X has around 800 horsepower (597 kilowatts), while the EV2X and EV2 put out 625 horsepower.