The Hummer is resurrecting as an all-electric pick-up “super truck” on the 20th of next month. To rival the Tesla Cybertruck’s eventual list of party tricks which we’ll see more when it actually begins deliveries, GMC shot first by teasing the Hummer EV’s “crab mode” ahead of its launch.
The “crab mode” is enabled by the Hummer’s rear-wheel steering, which isn’t a new technology by all means and purposes. However, it’s rare that we see it being used in this manner, and from the looks of it, the rear wheels on the upcoming Hummer EV does look like it rotates quite a bit – perhaps more than the all-new Mercedes-Benz S-Class‘s 10-degrees of rotation.
We are struggling a little to find a realistic use case for the “crab mode” though, other than being a neat trick to show off to your friends – which kind of makes sense given the buyer demographics of a Hummer.
Perhaps to make parallel parking a little easier? In any case, wouldn’t it be more useful to have each wheel spin in an individual direction – like the Rivian R1T’s tank turn mode where the car can change direction in place?
Our closest guess would be to help the humongous truck clear certain obstacles on tight off road trails. But the actual usefulness will still hinge on how much the rear wheels can turn – which we’ll find out more in a bout a month.
At launch, the Hummer EV will be offered in both pick-up truck and SUV forms. Several fully-electric powertrain options will be available, with the range-topping variant making up to 1,000 hp and 15,591 Nm (!) of torque. With that much power, GMC says that the Hummer EV will be able to hit 100 km/h from a standstill in just three seconds.
