The GMC Hummer EV concepts shown in GM’s new HUMMER X design study may be the smaller, smarter Hummer EV the brand should have built first.
The GMC HUMMER EV is many things. Subtle is not one of them.
It is huge, heavy, expensive, and hilariously inefficient by EV standards. It is also a wildly capable halo vehicle that proved GM could take one of the least politically correct nameplates in automotive history and bring it back as a battery-powered off-road monster.
But here is the problem: halo vehicles are great for headlines. They are not always great for volume.
That is why GMC’s new HUMMER X concepts are so interesting. GM just opened its new Advanced Design Pasadena Studio in California, and to mark the occasion, it showed off a pair of GMC HUMMER X concepts in pickup and SUV form.
GMC is clear that these concepts are not headed to production. But they point to something HUMMER desperately needs: a smaller, more focused, and more usable EV with actual selling power.
The current HUMMER EV is too much for most buyers
The GMC HUMMER EV is not subtle transportation. Depending on the version, GMC says the SUV starts at $97,200, with GM-estimated range topping out around 319 miles for the 2026 SUV 2X. Add the Extreme Off-Road Package, and the range drops below 300 miles on some versions.
That is before getting into the sheer size, weight, and real-world pricing of the models shoppers are most likely to want.
None of this is surprising. HUMMER has always been about excess. The issue is that excess limits the audience.
A giant EV that costs close to or above six figures may be cool, but it is not an easy daily-driver decision for a lot of shoppers. That is where a smaller HUMMER starts to make a lot more sense.
The HUMMER X concept hits a better size class
The big story with the HUMMER X concepts is not just the styling. It is the size.
GMC describes these as midsize EV concepts, which immediately puts them closer to the heart of the off-road lifestyle market. There are plenty of buyers who want capability, attitude, and a bold design, but do not necessarily want a vehicle that feels like it needs its own ZIP code.
A smaller HUMMER EV could land closer to Jeep Wrangler, Ford Bronco, Toyota 4Runner, and Rivian R1T territory, not massive electric moon rover territory.
Much like the H3 and H3T that sold from 2005 to 2010, the X concepts could give GMC a better shot at selling HUMMER as a real off-road product, not just an electric halo vehicle.
Smaller could mean more efficient, and more sellable
The current HUMMER EV’s biggest problem is baked into the formula: it is huge.
Huge means heavy. Heavy means it needs a giant battery. A giant battery helps range, but it also hurts efficiency, cost, and charging realities. In my opinion, all GM EVs are cartoonishly heavy versus rivals, and the current HUMMER EV is the epitome of that issue.
A midsize HUMMER EV could change that equation.
It would not have to be cheap. It would not have to be boring. It could still be boxy, visually audacious, and loaded with off-road hardware. But if GMC could make it smaller, lighter, and less expensive than the current HUMMER EV, it could suddenly appeal to a much larger group of buyers.
That is where the selling power comes in.
By the numbers: GMC HUMMER X concept specs
GMC shared real dimensions and off-road figures for both HUMMER X concepts, and they help explain why this idea matters.
GMC HUMMER X SUV concept
- Length: 188.3 inches
- Width: 80 inches
- Height: 72.9 inches
- Wheelbase: 116 inches
- Approach angle: 44 degrees
- Departure angle: 46 degrees
- Breakover angle: 30.9 degrees
- Ground clearance: 13.2 inches
- Tires: 37-inch Goodyear tires
- Wheels: 18-inch aluminum wheels
GMC HUMMER X pickup concept
- Length: 207.3 inches
- Width: 80 inches
- Height: 73 inches
- Wheelbase: 130.7 inches
- Approach angle: 41.5 degrees
- Departure angle: 29.7 degrees
- Breakover angle: 24.9 degrees
- Ground clearance: 12.5 inches
- Tires: 35-inch Goodyear tires
- Wheels: 22-inch aluminum wheels
Other notable figure
- Flex Fab percentage: 57%
GMC says Flex Fab is a flexible fabrication process that could allow for faster, small-batch, on-demand production. Think of it as a concept-level look at how GM could build more customizable vehicles without relying as heavily on traditional stamping tools.
The big takeaway: These are still HUMMER concepts, but they are not cartoonishly oversized in the same way the current production HUMMER EV can feel. The SUV concept is about the size of a modern midsize SUV, and the pickup concept is shorter than many full-size crew-cab trucks.
That could make a future HUMMER EV easier to park, easier to package, easier to price, and most importantly, easier to sell.
HUMMER already has the brand image
Here is the good news for GMC: HUMMER still means something.
It means tough. It means bold. It means overbuilt. It means a little ridiculous, in a way people either love or hate.
That is valuable. The challenge is turning that image into a product people can buy in more meaningful numbers.
The current HUMMER EV proves GM can make an electric HUMMER. The HUMMER X concept hints at how GM could make a more marketable one.
A smaller HUMMER EV could give GMC a real off-road EV play
GMC already has expensive electric trucks covered with the HUMMER EV and Sierra EV. What it does not have is a smaller electric off-roader that could tap into the same lifestyle space as Wrangler, Bronco, and 4Runner.
That is why the HUMMER X concept is so interesting.
A midsize HUMMER EV pickup or SUV could give GMC something with real identity in the off-road market. It could be premium, but not absurd. Capable, but not comically oversized. Electric, but not defined only by shock value.
That sounds like a much stronger business case, and could have kept GM from its current EV production issues.
Bottom line
GMC says the HUMMER X pickup and SUV concepts are not production vehicles. Fine.
But they should be.
The current HUMMER EV did its job by getting attention and proving the HUMMER name could come back as an EV. The next step should be making a HUMMER EV that more people could actually see themselves owning.
A smaller, more efficient, and more attainable HUMMER EV could be exactly what GMC needs.
Because the HUMMER EV we have now is a spectacle.
The HUMMER X concept looks more like a sales strategy.
The post GMC Just Showed the HUMMER EV it Probably Should Have Built First appeared first on Pickup Truck +SUV Talk.
