Hype for the upcoming GMC Hummer EV Sport Utility Truck (SUT) is growing, spurred on by the recent release of a new teaser video packed with hints of what’s to come. Among the video’s numerous quick shots and editing is a time lapse of a prototype model under construction, which reveals a number of interesting features, including the presence of an integrated cab and bed setup.
Essentially, the rear end of the GMC Hummer EV SUT’s cab will flow into the bed without any breaks in the metal. This sort of design was previously seen on the Chevy Avalanche and Chevy El Camino, as well as several other models from other automakers, including the Honda Ridgeline and even the Subaru Baja.
The GMC Hummer EV SUT will be offered in a single body configuration, namely a four-door crew cab and five-foot bed.
The integrated cab and bed design offers several benefits, the greatest of which is enhanced flexibility with the utilization of a midgate between the bed and cabin. As seen previously on the Chevy Avalanche, this allows the vehicle in question to haul longer items, if desired.
What’s more, the design could enable greater overall body rigidity and lower overall weight (although those benefits do come with a few caveats), plus a cleaner, arguably better-looking appearance.
That said, there are some drawbacks as well. With an integrated cab and bed, the GMC Hummer EV could have a lower overall hauling capacity compared to a separated setup, depending on the materials used. With an integrated setup, heavy loads in back could cause the body to flex, possibly even resulting in doors unexpectedly popping open, or even cracks in the body itself.
As a reminder, the GMC Hummer EV SUT will be built on the GM BT1 platform, and will produce 1,000 horsepower and 11,500 pound-feet of torque in top-trim form thanks to GM’s new Ultium battery technology. Construction will take place next year at the GM Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant in Michigan. Look for a full debut this fall.
Are you a fan of the integrated cab and bed setup? Let us know in the comments, and make sure to subscribe to GM Authority for more GMC Hummer news, GMC news, and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
Comments
See burnout! As I said more surprises to come. It is early and they have not showed all the cards but we have seen some cool cards.
I am getting the feeling GM has thrown a lot of things into the Hummer we did not expect.
I wondered when I saw the rear c pillar if they even considered the Avalanche type cab. Well it appears they gave and even brought it back.
With great battery flat floor it may be even better than the Avalanche.
And you were right, credit where it’s due!
I’ve gotta say, bringing back the famed “midgate” feature from the Avalanche and Hummer H2 SUT is a terrific move, if true. Such a brilliant yet underrated feature back in the 2000’s when it came out. Especially on a truck with a 5 foot bed, you can potentially turn that into a 7 foot bed in about 30 seconds.
That being said, if you watch the teaser video closely, you’ll notice in the prototype shot that, while there is definitely a huge pass-through from the bed into the cab, there looks to be a structural beam running along the bottom of the read window, which concerns me. Remember in the Avalanche, the rear window actually lowered into the cab-bed separator wall, and the entire piece folded flat, leaving a totally open area into the cab from floor to roof. Here, it looks like the seats will still fold flat to extend the bed, but the rear window stays fixed…so more like a folding rear seat feature you’d find in most sedans.
I really hope I’m wrong, because the original fully-open access midgate is far superior. The entire rear of the truck opens into the bed, talk about utility!
Well we never were told why they stopped selling it to start with. But it could have been roll over standards.
They did increase the standards and you have to wonder did this create up issues with the old Avalanche?
They either did not remove the glass or they need that area as support. Glass today is used as a support structure in vehicles to stiffen them up.
The rear window in the Avalanche I thought just snapped out like the old Stingray Corvette. It is not retract or slide it had to be removed and stored.
C8.R,
You’re exactly right, my mistake. It did snap out in the Avalanche, which means that beam and window likely snap out in the Hummer EV SUT too. Great news!
I was thinking of the Hummer H2 SUT midgate…THAT one did have a retracting rear window feature, for convenience.
This teaser look like the old Chevrolet Avalanche…
That’s not a bad thing, especially for a vehicle being billed as a lifestyle truck. Perfectly caters to the target demographic.
Does anyone else think we’ll see “frameless doors” on the Hummer EV?
If you look at the video of the removable roof panels GM put out. The corner of the photo shows no frame around the front door. You just see the header of the wind shield but no door frame.
Look for the mirror on the windshield then to the left in the shot of the stars looking up in the video.
So I am guessing the doors will be frameless or have removable frames,
The front seat is a targa and the back seat I like a T top with a middle support a roof will cover in one or two pieces.
Agree with you both. The doors are almost definitely frameless.
This leads me to believe that the doors are going to be removable, as well. The Ford engineer team did the exact same thing with the new Bronco – they made the doors frameless so you could simply roll the window down into the door, and you had a much smaller piece to take off (when compared to the Wrangler). This also made them stowable in the rear of the 4 Door Bronco.
I think this was the route GMC went: make the doors frameless, so that when you removed them, they could store in the back if desired. For the truck, they’d fit in the bed, and the SUV, in the rear (like the Bronco). I can’t think of any other reason why they’d have no body frame between the doors and removable roof panels. Pretty exciting if true!
The Avalanche was fugly.
I wonder if the rumored electric Silverado will actually be a reborn Avalanche.
I would have been fine with just making the Silverado a EV but rumor has it that it’s a all new truck.
Mr. Lopez;
You write..
“With an integrated setup, heavy loads in back could cause the body to flex, possibly even resulting in doors unexpectedly popping open, or even cracks in the body itself.”
Has this been a problem with the Avalanche, Ridgeline , or Baja?
The Avalanche had the highest torsional stiffness of any GM truck at that time.
The real disaster of unibody trucks was the Ford unibody of 1961-1963. Modern computers have made some engineering challenges easier to solve.
I have never heard of any specific issues with the Avalanche.
I assumed they discontinued it more due to dropping sales and higher cost to make. The crew cabs are cheaper and more profitable,
Either way the Hummer built on the battery Chassis should be very stiff.
The Chevy Avalance (and the Cadillac Escalade EXT) was a excellent truck idea. Even Honda had to copy it to create their Ridgeline. It is great news that the new EV Hummer truck will be using some of the Avalance designs.
Agreed. And I also think that it’s really important to clarify that, although this looks similar to the unibody Honda Ridgeline, it is NOT a unibody truck. It is still body-on-frame, just like the Silverado and Sierra (the BT1 electric platform is heavily based on the T1 truck platform).
If you look back at the Avalanche, the main difference between it and the Silverado 1500 was that the bed and cab were connected; however, it still rode on a ladder frame, as did the Suburban on which it was based. Same will be true for the Hummer twins.
As long as it looks better than the Tesla, I’m happy.😃
Exciting stuff! But what caught my eye are the pictures in the far left on the wall of the over head shot of the Hummer.
Is that the Lyriq?
4th picture down on the wall sure looks like a charge port cutout.
Ur right good eye man
@Nebula, GREAT eye.
In that same image, if you look over to the far right, you can see what really looks like the door to the Hummer, facing away from the camera. It’s frameless.
Also, in the clay shot of the Hummer, on the back wall, you can see the original design of the Hummer EV. Rumor has it that this was made way back in 2018, well before the Cybertruck dropped. This has supposedly been in motion for a while.
Indeed!
To add what I already said in that same image, if you follow 5 pictures down on the right side on that wall you see what looks like the light pipe that was around the charge port of the recent Lyriq teaser.
Now we just need to find the shot of the Celestiq! Hahaha
Why would GM waste the time making an over priced turd that only a few will buy, instead of putting the tech into the truck market the ones that average people can afford. Car company’s will never sell EV tech to the masses unless it is affordable and familiar
Mark the reality is the development cost are very high and a regular everybody truck would take much lore time and volume to pay off the incpvestment.
Now you put this tech in a higher priced truck that even at lower volumes will pay back the investment it will lead to EV trucks that cost the same as an ice truck but it will also make a profit from day one.
It is no different that other tech like anti lock brackets, stability control and touch screens. They all appeared in higher priced vehicles first that cleaned up the investment So cheaper models could offer it as standard in a year or two later.
GM tried to sell the Boltvand Volt but realized ROI was difficult and at 5heir price points there was little money if any made. Some believe each lost money at their price points.
GM messed up on the Bolt and the Volt because they are/were too small and dorky looking. They made very expensive hybrid electric plain compacts. No one wants them. Evidence? Sales are terrible. GM loses money on every car running down the Orion Assembly line all for an electric future dream. Build this experimental expensive stuff for the rich, (TESLA) and you can succeed.
No disagreement.
But at least GM realized the mistake and are correcting it now.
Burnt to be fair no one in the industry thought different. Tesla when big only because they needed the money and discovered it would work.
What a gift you have being able to see the future crystal clear.
gtfo with your groundless claims.
Prove otherwise!
Are development cost High? Yes
Is there much if any profit in a $35k EV, NO!
Is there More money in higher priced models Yes!
Once development cost are realized then things become cheaper. YES!
This formula has been used on most ne advanced features on today’s vehicles. Anti lock brakes, stability control HUD, night vision, touch screens lcd dashes etc. All appeared on more expensive models to recover development cost and filter down to lower priced models as time goes on.
Not my opinion or my groundless claim. It is just how it works.
Sorry, C8.R – that wasn’t directed towards you. That was for @Mark Tye. The commenting system can look goofy here. I should included an @ in my original comment.
Actually, I 100% agree with your reply to me lol
We’re good!
@Geoff, you had me there for a sec too, but then I realized you were talking to Tye. This commenting system is pretty bad lol
I understand that the price will come down but putting in something people recognise right off like a Silverado , gm has had ev tech for awhile now and instead of bringing back a failed name plate producing a vehical that very few will buy instead of putting their already established tech into their proven sales production truck market used in the real world people won’t buy ev of any type. Most truck owners are looking at this like I am ,prove it will work by making it realistic. Look at the Tesla cyber truck it is a turd crazy wide, impractical for ordinary everyday use only people that will buy on are tesla nerds and Jay Leno a everyday working man that uses his truck as a tool won’t . Again had they said we are going with a full electric chev Silverado then intrest would be peaked . Ford is way ahead on EV tech developing an electric F150, and the mach E .
@Mark Tye,
Starting off with the Silverado EV still doesn’t make better sense than the Hummer.
First, the Hummer wasn’t a “failed vehicle,” it was a vehicle that was once very successful, but matured at the worst possible time, when gas was skyrocketing and the entire lineup guzzled it. But also, when you look at EV trucks, the Hummer will be billed as a lifestyle, offroading truck, which perfectly suits where GM is in EV development. In other words, a Silverado would be used far more for towing than the Hummer will, and we know that EV’s are still very poor in the towing range compartment. Why start yourself off on that foot, where everyone will begin to associate the Silverado name with poor towing capacity?
Almost no one will tow with the Hummer twins. That hides the clear deficiency of all EV trucks. Conversely, that high torque and ground clearance afforded by EV powertrains showcase a clear benefit of an EV for offroading, which plays well to the Hummer name. Case closed.
I guess we will see, the difference between the Silverado and the Hummer is the Silverado will sell. No one will buy the Hummer/ Avalanche
I’m afraid the Hummer EV truck is only going to be an Avalanche with the Hummer name. I need an electric truck not a toy.
Avalanche was no toy. It was very useful and it’s structure was the stiffest of any of the GM trucks at the time.
As for the future Hummer it’s going to be a lifestyle truck that will do what’s asked off road and more.
I have very very high hopes for it from what I’ve seen.
Finally someone who get it
I, as an Avalanche owner, love my truck especially the midgate design. It has been a versitile truck where I could haul a 4×8 sheet of drywall / plywood in a closed cabin or a set of adults wanf still have a truck that can fit in my garage. Without this design in the Cybertruck or Rivian then those are toys. I hope the Hummer will have an 11k towing capacity as well. Yes it won’t be equivalent to an F-350 or other work truck, but this will be the truck for me
Yes got to have the back seat fold down for one bed and panels to cover the back bed, just like the Avalanche. Otherwise it’s worthless as a truck. Been waiting for the return of the Avalanche. This could be it if you copy. Need side tool boxes also.
Mr Lopez, perhaps you should research before writing your articles, the Hummer EV is absolutely an integrates body and structure design, AKA unibody… It is absolutely not Body on Frame… Please contact Todd Hubbard at GM to get the low down, there is also not a single part of the Hummer Ev structure shared with any T1 vehicle, not 1 part, cab is different size, bed different, but the entire structure is 1 piece leaving the body shop, therefore your article is completely false…