The Hummer EV is a ridiculous motor vehicle. It weighs 4,110kg, which is the same as nine Caterham 170Rs and means, if you could buy one in the UK, you'd need an HGV licence to drive it. This $110k Edition 1 model has three motors - two at the back, one at the front - producing a total of 986bhp and 1,200lb ft of torque, enough for a 0-62mph sprint in three seconds flat. That's basically as quick as a Ferrari 296 GTB, despite having the aerodynamics of a shopping centre. It has a claimed range of 329 miles, which is impressive, but only because it has a 205kWh battery - the same as six Honda es. It drains the planet's resources like a sugar-crazed toddler slurping on a milkshake, and in the process upends the electric car's core justification - being in some way beneficial to the environment.
As I approach it for the first time, it's crammed into an underground car park like an elephant in a bungalow and my hatchet is sharpened and ready. This is a grotesque mutilation of functionality, I tell myself, a modern caricature of a defunct military vehicle that was designed to patrol war zones, not chichi boulevards and Instagram profiles. The original Humvee's freakish 71.6-inch track width was so it could follow comfortably in the footprints of a tank, the Hummer EV's track width is two inches wider still... for no discernible reason. This is lunacy.
Denne historien er fra May 2023-utgaven av Top Gear.
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Denne historien er fra May 2023-utgaven av Top Gear.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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RECORD SCRATCH
Renault wants to break EV efficiency world records, to do so it's taking lessons from the past...
HAPPY HARDCORE
The stripped 'n' ripped trackday special is now a staple in our supercar diet. But is the refreshed 911 GT3 still the boss, or does Maser's new GT2 Stradale deliver a knockout punch? Jethro drives them both...
LEVEL UP
IT'S THE SAME RITUAL. FLY TO SPAIN, DIVIDE YOUR DAY BETWEEN ROAD AND TRACK AND TRY TO GET TO KNOW A TRACK FOCUSED CAR THAT PROMISES SO MUCH. ONLY THIS TIME IT FEELS VERY, VERY DIFFERENT.
The world's fastest wheelbarrow
It's about time the humble garden barrow had a page in the motorsport history books, thought Dylan Phillips...
MARTIAN INVASION
Following the Lamborghini Sterrato and Porsche 911 Dakar, the trend for go anywhere supercars continues... but this takes things to a whole new level
SLIPPERY SLOPE
The British ski team needed a ride to Kitzbühel... we had just the car for the job
EPIC FAIL
\"Bigger than the internet.\" Such was the (reported) prediction of venture capitalist John Doerr when the Segway - the original self balancing, electric, two wheeled scooter - first whirred silently onto the scene at the turn of the millennium.
MYTH BUSTER
\"WE'RE BEING FORCED TO BUY A CERTAIN KIND OF CAR\"
PADDY POWER!
Is carbon neutral e-fuel the silver bullet petrolheads are praying for? We speak to ex F1 engineer Paddy Lowe, who's leading the charge
A 1,000hp turbocharged burnout machine
Thomas Hatcher's Chevrolet Trailblazer SS is a family SUV with a difference
