The Fast Lane Truck: I Bought a $115000 GMC Hummer EV and It IMMEDIATELY Left Me Stranded!

[michaelluscher]

anyone else notice it has 3 wipers?

Like an MG or a FJ Cruiser

 

[Shel_B]

But who really does that? Is your typical buyer going to do that...probably not. I didn't go over my manual until a week after I bought my new 4runner back in '04 (05 model)....and I'm probably the exception as most will never will.

Also, a lot of vehicles don't come with 'paper' manuals anymore...it is 'online' or embedded in their infotainment unit. What happens if you lose power or the unit craps out?

Your arguments are little more than a red herring. These guys are not your "typical buyer." They are professional reviewers. How can one properly review a vehicle without knowing its intricacies and subtleties? Who is at fault if the information is available and the operator does not take advantage of it?

Allow this example from another area of interest that I have. A food writer was testing a Vitamix mixer. The Vitamix claims that it can produce a hot soup and the manual and instructions say that the machine needs to be run for (I believe) eight minutes to achieve the best result. I should note that I've done this. The reviewer ran the machine for five minutes and then complained that the soup wasn't hot.

The Hummer manual was not, or not only, embedded in the infotainment system. You could see Tommy reading the manual on his phone while trying to sort out the problem. The first driver had a phone. Why didn't he look up the manual to see if there was any info available that could help him?

In my opinion, these guys did a half-assed review and were less than fully prepared. However, I also agree with others here that the Hummer certainly seems to be overly complicated, but I've not read the manual. Maybe doing so would make things less complicated. They may not have caused the problem but it appears that they contributed to the situation.

 

[Chris142]

anyone else notice it has 3 wipers?

So does our Toyota

 

[NISMO_JUNKY]

The drivetrain in an ICE vehicle contains 2,000+ moving parts typically, whereas the drivetrain in an EV contains around 20. A TESLA actualy has 17 moving parts.

Just FYI.

AND the typical ICE vehicle will likely last far longer and be cheaper to keep going long term. At least ICE has long proven itself... battery has been around what a century or so and still like an annoying red headed stepchild. I will say it's hilarious watching this sort of thing unfold day after day. Wait until there are more fires, more wear to roadways due to increased weight, all sorts of 'green fixes' heading your way!

 

[NISMO_JUNKY]

A 5HP B&S in a junior dragster won’t leave you stranded like that 115k GM EV did.

I think by complexity he meant electronic nannies and the total reliance on software programming. Anybody who’s ever written code for extremely complex applications will tell you that the code may appear flawless in lab testing, only to have it fail as soon as it’s “in the wild”. Not the kind of chance I want to take on today’s highways!!

No doubt and those that put so much trust/faith into those systems will ultimately pay the price... well for the lame vehicle AND checking out of this world in an untimely way.

 

[NISMO_JUNKY]

Your arguments are little more than a red herring. These guys are not your "typical buyer." They are professional reviewers. How can one properly review a vehicle without knowing its intricacies and subtleties? Who is at fault if the information is available and the operator does not take advantage of it?


Allow this example from another area of interest that I have. A food writer was testing a Vitamix mixer. The Vitamix claims that it can produce a hot soup and the manual and instructions say that the machine needs to be run for (I believe) eight minutes to achieve the best result. I should note that I've done this. The reviewer ran the machine for five minutes and then complained that the soup wasn't hot.

The Hummer manual was not, or not only, embedded in the infotainment system. You could see Tommy reading the manual on his phone while trying to sort out the problem. The first driver had a phone. Why didn't he look up the manual to see if there was any info available that could help him?

In my opinion, these guys did a half-assed review and were less than fully prepared. However, I also agree with others here that the Hummer certainly seems to be overly complicated, but I've not read the manual. Maybe doing so would make things less complicated.

Professional reviewers is quite hilarious... YouTube whiners looking for clicks is more fitting!

 

[97K15004WD]

This "truck" is really a software device on wheels:

Content above owned by Tribune, please remove if any violates any TOS here.

 

[swampdodo]

Professional reviewers is quite hilarious... YouTube whiners looking for clicks is more fitting!

Agree...professional reviewers...whatever. Some of the times they don't even know common specs on the vehicles they are driving or testing. Example of this...when they tested an older Kia Sorento and Tommy (the young kid?) claim that it had a 'torsion front suspension'. I have that generation of Sorento...it does NOT have a torsion front suspension...it is very much like the 4Runners with coil overs.

 

[64bawagon]

My Silverado 3500 is less than 2 yrs old and I dont drive it frequently, its only an LT but I still get in the truck and forget how some of the stuff works since there not much uniformity between my 9 yr old Cruze and the truck.

 

[jhs914]

The drivetrain in an ICE vehicle contains 2,000+ moving parts typically, whereas the drivetrain in an EV contains around 20. A TESLA actualy has 17 moving parts.

Just FYI.

And this problem had nothing to do with the moving parts. It was a software/design problem. Even after they figured out how to open the hood and disconnect the 12V battery they had to follow the reboot instruction they found on line which were hilarious. Having to open and close each of the four windows in succession, open and close doors. I was expecting them to be told they would have to pat their stomach while turning around 3 times hopping on one foot to get the thing to run.

 

[ecotourist]

Perhaps, before starting on a trip in a brand new vehicle, especially one that is unfamiliar to the operator, a few minutes going through the manual before driving off would have been a good idea.

We had to take a ferry to Vancouver, where traffic is pretty busy, to pick up our Tesla. We were very concerned about how to drive it because Teslas are quite a bit different from ICE cars.

So we watched a couple of videos, read a lot of the on-line manual, and asked quite a few questions before we drove it away.

I have to admit that driving a new car with unfamiliar controls in an unfamiliar location was a pretty stressful event. It took quite a few days to figure most things out. And we still occasionally find something we didn't know about.

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

Did anyone else notice that for $115,000 they can't even attach the cable to the bracket so that when you pull the cable it doesn't get ripped out from under the dash? What a piece of junk.
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It’s still a GM and the workforce has been more disgruntled than usual post 2020. Not shocking

 

[Passport1]

I had the opportunity for several months many years ago to test drive an early variant of the Humvee in a desert environment. The creature comforts were cringe worthy and the ride quality was rough. It did have exceptional off road capability though. It had a diesel engine and I'll bet it is still belongs to a motor pool somewhere and still running.

Overall as a daily driver it is a huge fail. I wouldn't buy one.

 

[Shel_B]

I had the opportunity for several months many years ago to test drive an early variant of the Humvee in a desert environment. The creature comforts were cringe worthy and the ride quality was rough. It did have exceptional off road capability though. It had a diesel engine and I'll bet it is still belongs to a motor pool somewhere and still running.

Overall as a daily driver it is a huge fail. I wouldn't buy one.

View attachment 120084

What you drove has only a passing resemblance to the Hummer being discussed. They are completely different vehicles, and your experience with an early Humvee is minimally, if at all, transferable to the Hummer EV

 

[Owen Lucas]

Someone has to work the bugs out. Won't be me

It will require a team of electrical and software engineers.

I'm starting to have doubts about electrical vehicles:

• I thought they were simpler but the software and electrical issues seem to be more complicated than ICE.
• Battery replacement is going to be prohibitively expensive / total the vehicle.
• Rare earth metals and production costs seem to be skyrocketing and economically more fragile than petroleum. China has a monopoly on over 90% of rare earth elements resulting in uncertainty with production of many BEV components.
• Despite being environmentally friendly and driving around for the past decade, there doesn't seem to be solid solution to recycling batteries when they are no longer recondition-able.
• BEVs apparently explode in floods.
• Tinfoil hat time: When you social credit score is below a certain level, or there is heat wave, or you didn't pay your parking ticket (etc. etc.) some entity will disable your vehicle / charging station because you didn't comply with the system or they have "reasons".

 

[Chris142]

foil hat time: When you social credit score is below a certain level, or there is heat wave, or you didn't pay your parking ticket (etc. etc.) some entity will disable your vehicle / charging station because you didn't comply with the system or they have "reasons".

I think OnStar can do that now. Wouldn't be surprised if they implemented that into all gas cars and trucks soon

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

Under the “Towing a Disabled Vehicle” section in the Owners’s Manual they talk about using the “Car Wash Mode” procedure to get it into Neutral. They never mentioned doing this. If it’s still stuck, this is why tow trucks have tire skates/dollies with them. Not too big of a deal for a tow truck driver.

View attachment 119949

Big deal if you are stuck in the middle of the road without the manual and no help from Onstar. How many people would think to look up the owners manual online (outside of this site)

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

And this problem had nothing to do with the moving parts. It was a software/design problem. Even after they figured out how to open the hood and disconnect the 12V battery they had to follow the reboot instruction they found on line which were hilarious. Having to open and close each of the four windows in succession, open and close doors. I was expecting them to be told they would have to pat their stomach while turning around 3 times hopping on one foot to get the thing to run.

Come on this isn’t an Army physical.

 

[wemay]

Every first production vehicle has farts and this transition period from ICE to EV, as stated in the video, will have even more hiccups. What i don't get is the extreme procedure to bring it back to "life" like singing the Hokey Pokey.

 

[supton]

Battery replacement is going to be prohibitively expensive / total the vehicle.

Until a few months ago, wasn’t concensus here that a transmission failure could do the same? and was reason why to avoid anything with more than 4 speeds?