The Hummer used to be a symbol of cars that had ridiculously low fuel economies, but it has since been discontinued. GM hasn’t given up on the brand, however. Inspired by popular EVs like Teslas, GM is reviving the Hummer as an electric truck. This new Hummer EV even has high tech features that may rival Tesla’s gear. 

A look at the GMC Hummer EV’s new crab mode

According to Car and Driver, GMC recently released a teaser about the Hummer EV. This teaser mainly focused on a piece of technology that the Hummer EV has that few, if any other competitors have. GMC is calling it crab mode, and it’s a reference to how crabs walk. 

As Car and Driver explained, this piece of technology is possible thanks to the Hummer EV’s rear-wheel steering. When crab mode is activated, all four of the Hummer EV’s wheels can turn themselves to face the same direction, and the result is that the Hummer EV can start moving sideways diagonally. This feature was built to improve the Hummer EV’s maneuverability off-roads, but Car and Driver said that it could be useful on solid pavement, too.

The potential of the GMC Hummer EV’s crab mode

Crab mode opens up a lot of possibilities when it comes to what a truck can do. There are probably a lot of situations off-road where crab mode would be pretty useful. However, as Car and Driver wrote, crab mode could also be useful in urban or suburban environments. 

In particular, parallel parking is a technique that not everyone is great at performing. In some cases, crab mode could be a useful way to easily parallel park at a spot and without too much hassle. That said, since there’s not a lot of information available about crab mode, all anyone can do right now is speculate about it until GMC reveals more information later this year. 

For example, in GMC’s teaser video, the Hummer EV wasn’t shown moving sideways at a perfectly straight angle. Instead, the wheels only turned a certain amount, which caused the Hummer EV to move diagonally instead of in a straight line. Probably, the Hummer EV’s wheels can’t turn themselves too far in either direction and as a result, crab mode may not be too useful in a city. But again, there’s not a lot of information to go on.

What else is known about the GMC Hummer EV

While crab mode is a cool new feature, it’s not the only thing that the Hummer EV has going for it. After all, it’s an electric truck, and it needs some powerful motors to get the job done. Right now, Car and Driver said that the Hummer EV will have about 1,000 hp and 11,500 lb-ft of torque, and that it can go about 400-miles on a single charge. 

There are options for one, two, or three motors, and thanks to them, the Hummer EV is also speedy for its size, as it can go from 0 to 60 MPH in 3 seconds, according to Car and Driver. In terms of its payload capacity, Car and Driver wrote that it should be able to tow between 7,500-pounds to 11,000-pounds, and it should be able to hold between 1,500-pounds to 3,500-pounds of stuff in its truck bed.

The Hummer EV is also estimated to start at about $70,000, and as a result, it should be loaded with features that are worthy of that price. Unless GMC’s plans change again, the Hummer EV should be unveiled on October 20th. Car and Driver also expects GMC to start delivering Hummer EVs in fall 2021.