Test drive: 2022 GMC Hummer EV
The 2022 GMC Hummer EV is the brand's first electric pickup and packed with performance and tech, Fox News Autos Editor Gary Gastelu reports.
GMC's first electric people mover is people-powered … sort of.
The GMC Hummer EV is equipped with a heat pump system. (GMC)
The Hummer EV and all the upcoming vehicles built on the General Motors Ultium electric vehicle platform are equipped with heat pumps that can recapture wasted heat and use it to control the temperature of their drivetrains and cabins.
The Ultium platform uses the heat pump to capture wasted heat energy and feed it back into the temperature control system. (GMC)
Several electric automakers, including Tesla and Polestar, offer similar systems, which reduce the need for electrically-powered resistive heating and can lower the load on a battery to increase a vehicle's driving range between charges.
According to GM, the pumps can capture atmospheric and body heat along with that being produced by the vehicle and feed it back into the system.
The Hummer EV's heat pump can recapture energy from body heat. (GMC)
"Having a ground-up EV architecture gives us the freedom to build in standard features like Ultium’s energy recovery capabilities," Doug Park, GM's vice president in charge of product development "This helps us squeeze more efficiency, performance and overall customer benefit out of our EVs."
In the case of the Hummer EV, the system can be used to optimize the temperature of the drivetrain for the 1,000 hp truck's Watts to Freedom launch mode, which allows it to sprint from a standstill to 60 mph in three seconds.
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The Cadillac Lyriq is the next Ultium vehicle on deck, and it will be followed by Chevrolet's electric Blazer, Equinox and Silverado next year.