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The Hummer is coming back as an electric vehicle

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Re: The Hummer is coming back as an electric vehicle

#51

Post by dsfyu404ed »

newnewpdro wrote: post #46
olivermarks wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://youtu.be/OumQxxO8v1M You wouldn't need huge battery life for a 15 minute performance, so shaving off battery weight might just work. What most people go to see is airborne jumps rather than crushing things hence need for low weight.

IIRC the rubber tires weigh 1000+lbs each, I wonder if the tires could be implemented differently using lightweight materials shifting their weight budget into hubmotor+battery.

Tires are consumable so you're unlikely to see monster truck teams adopt anything too exotic for cost reasons unless there's a huge performance improvement to go with it.

Re: The Hummer is coming back as an electric vehicle

#52

Post by LinuxBender »

castratikron wrote: post #7

Potential military application? The Hummer originally came from the battlefield after all.

It's based on the H2 and the H1 geared hub axles would need to be heavily modified to handle electric motors. The H1 was full of defects. I replaced the pitman and idler arm 3 times, ball joints twice, engine once (paid for by AMG), starter once. I had not snapped the geared hub axle, but I know someone that did as they did more off-roading than I. They are designed to break early on purpose to protect the geared hubs. There is also not much room for batteries in the H1. It is designed to be low profile while having a lot of ground clearance at the same time. You would have to use up a bit of the cargo space which defeats the purpose in my opinion. Someone may mention that with electric motors, there is enough torque to not need geared hubs, but that isn't why they were implemented. It was to get the differential away from the ground for more ground clearance.

Re: The Hummer is coming back as an electric vehicle

#53

Post by daxfohl »

bluGill wrote: post #49
daxfohl wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But my impression was that the only reason to have a hummer was the whole "I'm whatever enough to be above social responsibility" appeal. So if they make it socially responsible then that takes away their entire market. I've never been in the market for a hummer so maybe I'm missing something. That said, an electric hummer could be a perfect fit for the hummer stretch limo market. Though idk if that market is big eno…

Are we talking about the mil-spec hummer which was admired by people who spent a lot of time off road, or the H2 which was just another truck (not useless off road, but no better than any other truck) which never actually went off road.

H2 is mainly what I was thinking.

Re: The Hummer is coming back as an electric vehicle

#54

Post by tfandango »

MisterTea wrote: post #43
unlinked_dll wrote: post #8

Still waiting on a sub 30k electric sedan that doesn't look like a turd

... and isn't full of tablet computers with half finished software that needs constant updating, miles of wire, self driving snake oil, and other electronic wizz bang nonsense. I just want a car. Not an IT experiment.

One which can be repaired without expensive trips to the dealership to use proprietary tools.

Re: The Hummer is coming back as an electric vehicle

#55

Post by dsfyu404ed »

peteretep wrote: post #25
kiddico wrote: post #4

I can't think of a brand that would be a harder sell for the sort of people that want an EV right now. In my mind it screams "big for the sake of big", not efficient or environmentally friendly...

Seems like people who want a Hummer that can do Ludicrous Mode would be a good market.

Building a vehicle that checks two sets of boxes like this (family SUV with an EV carbon footprint and performance) has worked out very, very well for FCA and their 4dr Jeep. A lot of people who didn't go into the dealer looking for a Wrangler bought them because they managed to check so many requirement boxes at once. I think GM may be hoping to do the same.

Husband wants a Model 3, wife wants 4Runner (or vise versa, point is that they want totally different things), joint bank account wants absolutely nothing to do with either. GM swoops in to save the day by checking the snazzy EV and the practical SUV sets of boxes at the same time at a typical GM price point.

Re: The Hummer is coming back as an electric vehicle

#56

Post by olivermarks »

bluGill wrote: post #48
olivermarks wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That would be my concern. It's only a matter of time before battery recharge trucks roam the streets and rescue people from offroad power failures. Cheaper than loading an EV on the back of a diesel flatbed to be taken to a recharge station, which I often see in California.

In general I expect serious off roaders will carry a generator - they often do anyway for their campsite. Of course we are talking altitude which changes things.

A generator to recharge an ev battery needs a lot more power than a camping generator can generate. You'd need a huge unit hence my parent comment.

Re: The Hummer is coming back as an electric vehicle

#57

Post by bluGill »

olivermarks wrote: post #56
bluGill wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In general I expect serious off roaders will carry a generator - they often do anyway for their campsite. Of course we are talking altitude which changes things.

A generator to recharge an ev battery needs a lot more power than a camping generator can generate. You'd need a huge unit hence my parent comment.

No, it just charges slower. You do of course need a charger that doesn't draw as much power. Enough gas to run a camping generator overnight will get you half a charge and that should get you back to civilization. If this is your normal use case a conventional engine is by far better - but for the average camper this is done so rarely lugging around a generator only when needed makes sense.

Re: The Hummer is coming back as an electric vehicle

#58

Post by nordsieck »

salty_biscuits wrote: post #41
nordsieck wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Airdropping battery packs would appear to be safer than gas right? This is the most absurd statement I've read on HN in the past week. Just take 20 seconds and think about the logistics of a 60+ ton tank in the middle of nowhere doing a battery swap.

If (and it is a big if) electric power had an advantage, surely they would just have a support vehicle with a big generator that they could recharge from.

> If (and it is a big if) electric power had an advantage, surely they would just have a support vehicle with a big generator that they could recharge from.

On the actual power generation side, electric might have an advantage. But the range and recharging story is just too awkward to make sense. I'm not saying never: if battery power density jumped up 10x, they might be able to make it work. Just not right now.

1. Armored vehicles can have enormous gas tanks. The Abrams has a 500 gallon gas tank. If needed, it's pretty easy to double the size of the tank by strapping 10 5-gallon gas cans to the size of the vehicle. I just don't see how current battery technology could hope to compete with that.

2. The vehicle that refuels front line troops is the HEMTT. It carries 2500 gallons of petroleum and can fuel 2 vehicles at a time, maybe 5-10 times faster than a gas station.

That means that these vehicles can drive up to the front lines, fuel up vehicles and leave quickly so that they're less of a target and the front line vehicles can get back to doing what they need to do quickly.

In your generator scenario, you still need the fuel trucks, but there's an additional truck that has to sit there, charging vehicles for a long time.

I just don't see it working.

Re: The Hummer is coming back as an electric vehicle

#59

Post by daxfohl »

beamatronic wrote: post #6
kiddico wrote: post #4

I can't think of a brand that would be a harder sell for the sort of people that want an EV right now. In my mind it screams "big for the sake of big", not efficient or environmentally friendly...

I think this strategy is aimed at the people who think they do not want an Ev under any circumstances

They lost the market in 2000 by canceling their ev program. Now they want to get back into it by marketing only to the people who would never buy one? Sounds like GM needs a new marketing department.

Re: The Hummer is coming back as an electric vehicle

#60

Post by beamatronic »

daxfohl wrote: post #59
beamatronic wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this strategy is aimed at the people who think they do not want an Ev under any circumstances

They lost the market in 2000 by canceling their ev program. Now they want to get back into it by marketing only to the people who would never buy one? Sounds like GM needs a new marketing department.

Maybe it’s a subtle apology.
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