Press the right buttons and the Hummer EV’s Extract Mode will lift it above the competition.
GMC is aiming high with the Hummer EV, but his time it’s a little more literal. It sports class-leading ground clearance thanks to a new Extract Mode that gives the Hummer more height than nearly any factory off-roader you can think of.
Cranking Up a Hummer
In Normal mode, the Hummer EV’s optional air suspension offers 10.1 inches of ground clearance. If you select Raised Mode, that climbs to 11.9 inches. The new Extract Mode uses the GMC Hummer EV pickup’s air ride to give clearance that makes those figures look minuscule.
Cranking the suspension to its limits means an extra 4 inches of ground clearance is suddenly available in certain conditions and situations. This gives you a total of 15.9 inches of space under the lowest point to crawl over rocks, ruts, and other obstacles.
Just how much ground clearance is that? Subaru’s Outback Wilderness gives you 9.5 inches, for a start. Jeep’s Wrangler has 10.8 inches. Ram’s dune-jumping TRX offers 11.8 inches, while the Ford Bronco Raptor has 13.1 inches thanks to its 37-inch tires, a figure that matches the F-150 Raptor pickup.
Rivian’s R1T pickup can crank itself up to 14.5 inches, and we thought that was king of the electric vehicle hill. The only factory off-roader that can touch the Hummer’s Extract Mode is the Mercedes-AMG G63 4×4 Squared, a portal-axle-equipped luxury bit of garage jewelry disguised as an off-roader that will likely never see dust, let alone a trail.
Aaron Pfau, GMC Hummer EV lead development engineer said:
“Our goal was to push the boundaries of what an electric vehicle is capable of and to develop real, usable features that will allow customers to take off-roading to the next level. The development of the GMC Hummer EV was a blank slate that was filled out by a dedicated team of engineers who are hardcore off-road enthusiasts. Adding an innovative feature like Extract Mode results in an off-road vehicle that has incredible ground-clearance and capability that will take you to new places.”
Nearly Every Off-Road Metric Improves
With the extra ground clearance, other off-road metrics get better too. Water-fording capability climbs to a waist-height 32 inches, and departure and breakover angles are both greatly improved, though actual suspension travel remains the same.
Extract Mode
GMC Hummer EV Edition 1 trucks will get the special Extract Mode. No word yet whether it will trickle down to other air-suspended versions of the truck. If you’ve already got your Edition 1, don’t fear. The feature will be unlocked for you at no charge with a software update down the road.
GM missed a beat, though. Despite the fancy air suspension and aggressive ruggedness of the Hummer EV, there is one key model it comes up short against. The original Hummer H1 just edges it with a maximum of 16.0 inches of ground clearance. Ooops.
We can’t wait to try it out on our favorite trails — or any trails where big rocks and deep water are present. But getting hold of an Edition 1 — or any GMC Hummer EV — is still a tough task for now.
