When I was in high school and learning about cars, the Hummer H2 was the typical example of a vehicle that used a lot of gas. One of the biggest problems with the H2 when it first came out was that it only got about 12 miles per gallon on average. They have remained the same. Even the new GMC Hummer EV, which has an official EPA rate of 53 mpg, is very thirsty—but only for electrons, not hydrocarbons. The Hummer EV SUV and the SUT truck version on the highway get 53 mpg. With the extra mud-terrain tires, the fuel economy for both body styles drops to 50 mpg, which is slightly worse. For example, the “Large” battery on the Rivian R1S Dual Motor is 68 mpg, while the “Extended Range” battery on the Ford F-150 Lightning is 70 mpg. The Lordstown Endurance is the only electric car with a lower grade than 48 mpg from the EPA. Indeed, the page doesn’t always show the natural range of a car. To figure out more, you must measure how much energy the car uses to the 33.7 kWh energy density in a gallon of fuel. Also, it would help if you considered how much battery you lose when you charge and use essential gadgets. It is helpful, but other ways exist to measure how well something works. For EVs, miles per kilowatt hour may be a better way to measure how efficient a car is. Just divide the car’s best driving range by the size of its battery. The EPA says the Hummer EV can go 314 miles on a single charge. To run it, though, you need a substantial 212-kWh battery pack. The Hummer EV only gets 1.48 miles per kWh, based on this. The F-150 Lightning, on the other hand, has a range of 300 miles and a highest battery capacity of 131 kWh, equal to 2.29 miles per kWh. According to the EPA, the form of Rivian R1S Dual Motor with a large battery pack gets 2.27 miles per kWh and has a range of 307 miles. Why does the Hummer EV use so much power? Most of its 9,063-pound weight is made up of weight. About 3,000 of those pounds are just the weight of the battery pack. Its three electric motors have a hard time moving all that weight, which makes it less effective. Autoblog says that GMC raised the starting price of the Hummer EV SUT across the board around the same time the official EPA rating went up. After a price increase of $1,600, the entry-level EV2X now costs $98,845, the EV3X costs $106,945 ($700), and the EV3X Omega Edition costs $150,295 ($300). In support of the Hummer EV, many people don’t care about how efficient a $60,000 SUV is, no matter how it gets around. The Hummer seems to drink a lot of gas when cars like the Rivian R1S offer the same speed and off-road ability while using less gas. Some things don’t change.
