General Motors has been at the forefront of North American automakers in the transition to all-electric vehicles. In addition to their oft-stated goal of only producing electric light-duty vehicles by 2035, they have motored headlong into the EV truck market, with the 2020s seeing electric versions of their Chevy Silverado pickup truck and its cousin the GMC Sierra, as well as the return of the infamous Hummer as a no-holds-barred heavy-duty truck and SUV.
It would be easy to say the Silverado/Sierra EVs are the flagship in GM’s electric truck lineup; since the Silverado was introduced in 1999, it has become Chevy’s best-selling nameplate ever, topping 500,000 units annually since 2014 (with the GMC Sierra adding 200,000+ units). However, I’m here to ask a potentially radical question: is the Hummer EV GM’s real flagship e-truck? Now that the 2024 GMC Hummer EV Pickup and the 2024 Chevy Silverado/GMC Sierra EVs are established on the market, it’s time to put them head to head.
When talking about a flagship product, there are typically three considerations: total sales, how identifiable the product is, and its performance. I’ll tackle each topic before concluding which truck is leading the way into GM’s electric future…
Annual Sales: Which Trucks Are Flying Off the Lots?
The first topic, while important, is also a little tricky. The reason is simple: The GMC Hummer EV Pickup had an 18-month head start. It first went into production in November 2021, while work on the Chevy Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV didn’t begin until May 2023. Furthermore, several factors shifted in that time to affect truck buying, including the new vehicle Consumer Price Index going up by 9%. Therefore, a true apples-to-apples comparison is difficult.
Nevertheless, I’ll try. Using numbers provided by GM Authority, the first nine months where the GMC Hummer EV Pickup and Chevy Silverado EV were widely available spanned October 2023 through June 2024. During that time, the Hummer EV Pickup sold 5,421 units in the US, and the Chevy Silverado EV sold 3,702 units; that’s a 46.4% edge for the Hummer. (Sales numbers for the GMC Sierra EV were not available.) Breaking it down by quarter, in Q4 of 2023, the Hummer EV Pickup outsold the Silverado EV by 10.9% (825 to 744). For Q1 of 2024, that edge surged to 57.1% (1,668 to 1,062) before meeting in the middle for Q2 at 33.3% (2,928 to 2,196).
On the surface, it’s a huge win for Hummer. There are two other details worth noting, though. First, the initial sales for the Silverado EV were way ahead of the Hummer EV Pickup, which sold 777 units in its first nine months, so the extra time the Hummer EV had to build awareness may have been helpful. Second, when the Silverado EV became available in Canada in Q2 of 2024, it outsold the Hummer EV Pickup by nearly 2-to-1 (223 to 126).
Even so, it’s clear the recent buying public is gravitating toward the Hummer EV Pickup. Over the next year or so, as the new model years are released, we’ll learn more about the trends and whether the Hummer keeps its sales crown.
Popularity: Which Trucks Do Consumers Find Appealing?
Of course, sales don’t correlate 100% to brand association. The Chevy Cobalt outsold the Chevy Corvette by a mile every year it was made — but I know which nameplate I connect more to Chevy, and it isn’t the Cobalt. (I don’t know many companies making aftermarket Cobalt mods, either.)
So, how do we determine the popularity of these EV trucks among the public? The best information I can find is a survey conducted by Statista in August 2023. Participants were asked to say whether they found certain EV pickup trucks appealing and whether they would consider buying them. The Chevy Silverado EV and GMC Hummer EV Pickup were among the six models studied; others included the Ford F-150 Lightning and Ram 1500 REV.
When the results came in, 63% of the participants reacted positively to the Chevy Silverado EV. Meanwhile, the GMC Hummer EV Pickup came in at 48%. Granted, this is a limited data sample that can be interpreted in a few ways. It could mean the Hummer EV Pickup has a more niche audience, like the Corvette vs Cobalt comparison, or that the Silverado EV is still piggybacking off the popularity of the gas-powered Silverado 1500. Still, it’s an interesting piece of info, and I’ll be interested to see any future updates.
Competence: Comparing General Motors’ Electric Trucks
Since the first two topics were split, it’s time for a tiebreaker. While a full spec comparison of the Hummer EV Pickup and the Silverado/Sierra EVs would take up an entire other article, a few key points will highlight which should ultimately hold the GM electric truck crown…
Power
The Hummer EV Pickup is as powerful as a truck can be, regardless of its power source. The tri-motor design in the Edition 1 and 3X produces 1,000 hp and 1,200 lb-ft of torque. Even weighing 9,000+ lbs, this truck goes from zero to sixty in three seconds flat, rivaling the best sports cars. A more affordable Hummer EV Pickup 2X is now available with a 570-hp dual motor. The base-level Silverado EV also uses a dual motor good for 510 hp and 615 lb-ft of torque; for the Sierra EV Denali Edition 1 or the Wide-Open Watt mode on the Silverado EV, you get an impressive but still second-best 754 hp and 785 lb-ft of torque that goes from zero to sixty in 4.5 seconds.
Range
The Hummer EV Pickup Edition 1 will go 329 miles, while the 3X trim can travel up to 381 miles on a full charge. The GMC Sierra EV Denali Edition 1 has an estimated range of 400 miles, and the Silverado EV can go between 350 and 500 miles, depending on the configuration. Each truck uses the Ultium 800-volt system, which can add 100 miles of range in 10 minutes at the fastest public charging stations.
Technology
Every Hummer EV Pickup can be purchased with a GMC adaptive air suspension that adds up to six inches of ride height, which is already impressive on the 22-inch wheels. It can tow up to 12,000 lbs in the dual-motor variant and is equipped with a 13.4-inch infotainment screen, a modular removable roof, a 14-speaker Bose audio system, and Super Cruise hands-free driver assistance, as well as the legendary “Crab Walk” rear steering. The Silverado and Sierra EVs also sport the air suspension but with a towing capacity of 10,000 and 9,500 lbs, respectively. Their infotainment screens are a little larger, and the trucks have the same Super Cruise tech; they also get a “frunk” for added storage, a panoramic glass roof, and all-wheel steering.
Which Truck Stands Atop the Electric Hill?
The more I looked at the Hummer EV Pickup and the Silverado/Sierra EVs, the more appropriate it seemed to have mentioned the Corvette and Cobalt comparison: One truck is unapologetically brash, while the other is more practical and all-purpose, serving different audiences in the transition to all-electric.
For my money, though, the Hummer EV Pickup stands as the flagship for General Motors’ electric trucks. The Silverado EV and Sierra EV are essentially electrified versions of the gas-powered models, and while this does give them some added performance, it also makes it harder to think of them as a different vehicle—at least until the gas models are inevitably discontinued. The Hummer, though, is an animal without a leash; even if the Silverado or Sierra EVs pass the Hummer EV Pickup in total sales, it will be hard not to think of the Hummer as the face of GM’s electric trucks.
