(WWJ) Take your thoughts back to the last time gas prices were this high, and the days of the "Great Recession" that followed, when the "Electric Avenue" at the auto show pointed to a future of funky looking, underpowered electric vehicles.
GMC's Hummer is meant to make you forget about that concept of the future.
The future – today's vehicle market – turned out to be more about SUVs, pickups, power and off-roading. Throw in electrification, and GMC has created what may be the most audacious electric vehicle ever produced.
It has 1,000 horsepower, three-second 0-60 times, extreme rock crawling – all in a luxury package.
Like the Corvette, this is a vehicle meant more to be admired by those who will never experience one, and teach the world that electric vehicles can be fun.
What's more fun than driving up a mountain in the desert?
GM brought me to the area around Phoenix to learn more about the Hummer, drive it on and off-road, and get a feel of what electric vehicles can be.
My test vehicle, an "Edition One" Hummer EV, is the first version, with a price of $112,595. You can't even buy one of these – they sold out in 10 minutes.
Later editions will have stickers ranging from $80-100,000.
This vehicle barely broke a sweat on a one-hour climb from the Nevada desert floor to a more than 2,000-foot summit.
We laughed at ruts, crawled over rocks, climbed steep, dirty inclines and banged into more than a few branches. The vehicle wore dirt on its white exterior like a badge of courage.
While most buyers won't do this, it's important that a vehicle like this can perform. We're in a world where image is everything, and if GM wants to sell a lot of EV's – and that is the plan – they need to convince a lot of people there's a reason to buy that has nothing to do with being green.
That's why there's a "Watts to Freedom" mode with extreme acceleration. It's why something that's not likely to be a work truck has GM's very flexible "Multi Pro Tailgate." It's why the interior is pure rugged luxury, and looks nothing like any product General Motors has ever made.
And doesn't every off-road driver need a great Bose audio system, with a 13.4 inch diagonal infotainment screen?
The Hummer is meant to make you a great off-roader, even if you aren't, with switchable modes, depending on the kind of terrain you are encountering. The same 1,000 horsepower that lets you peel out, also gives you quiet power to easily ascend rocks.
Something else that helps on the trail is four-wheel steering, which gives the huge Hummer the steering radius of a tiny Chevy Sonic. In "crab walk" mode, the vehicle will move diagonally.
And who doesn't need every camera view possible, including a couple under the vehicle to look at the obstacles you may be driving over?
Personally, I kept the screen split with a 360-degree view to see what's around me, and a front camera to give me a better look ahead for those times when all I was seeing was blue sky in my windshield.
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You get up to 329 miles of range, but very aggressive driving will cut into that. Still,we drove nearly an hour to base camp, off-roaded for four hours, and drove back, and still had nearly 200 miles of range left.
With 800-volt DC fast charging capabilities, the Hummer has some of the fastest charging times available.
On-road, the Hummer has the relative quiet of an EV. I say relative as the vehicle's characteristics don't lend themselves to the quiet of a luxury vehicle. But, there is nothing lumbering about it. The latest version of Super Cruise also allows for automatic lane changes, which takes some getting used to.
We got to see the only actual prototype of the Hummer SUV that's coming out next year. It's hand-built at a cost of $4.5 million, so we were asked to look, not touch. I actually liked the proportions of the SUV better, and I'm told it will have even better off-road abilities.
GMC has 67,000 reservations for its two Hummer products. They also surveyed those buyers, and 70% are new to EV's, 75% new to the GMC brand.
About 80% say they plan to use the vehicle for "outdoor activities," ranging from towing to going off-road and 30% expect to do these activities monthly.
I'm seeing the Hummer EV like GM's answer to the Mercedes G Class or high-end Range Rovers – lots of capability – but, for many buyers, more about "the look."
The Hummer EV is the first of a new series of GM EVs, and they are certainly starting out on a high note.
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