Hummer EV to Spawn Military Light Reconnaissance Vehicle Prototype
GMC Hummer chassis and electric drivetrain components will be used for the eLRV.
When the GMC Hummer hits dealerships around the United States over the course of the next year, it will be one of the most impressive electric vehicles on the market. In its most powerful iteration, the Hummer EV will offer 1,000 horsepower and 11,500 lb-ft of torque, allowing the 9,000-pound vehicle to blast from a stop to 60 miles per hour in around 3 seconds flat. It will also be able to tow and haul, but we don’t have any official numbers on those capabilities yet.
Making these impressive statistics possible is the combination of the new chassis, electric drivetrain and Ultium batteries. In fact, the underpinnings of the new GMC Hummer are so impressive that the GM Defense division is planning to build a military prototype in 2022, but it won’t just be hardened version of the consumer-grade GMC. According to CNBC, it will use the bones of the Hummer in a new form, with a look that will be unique to the eLRV – or Electric Light Reconnaissance Vehicle.
Hummer-based eLRV
The Electric Light Reconnaissance Vehicle will be based on the GMC Hummer EV, but it is unlikely to look much like the consumer vehicle that we will soon be seeing on the streets around the United States. The eLRV will be built on the same chassis platform as the GMC Hummer and it will use a similar Ultium battery system with electric motors.
“The Army’s very excited about the fact that we’re investing in this,” said GM Defense President Steve duMont to CNBC during an interview at the automaker’s technology campus in Warren, Michigan. “The eLRV, that’s the first purpose built from the ground up, you saw it today, it’s our Hummer EV. Our Hummer EV is what we’re going to base that vehicle on.”
We would imagine that the military vehicle will have every bit as much power as the premium consumer vehicle, but if it is beneficial for the vehicle to have less power and more range for military use, we could see a different motor configuration. In any case, this light electric vehicle will allow members of the military to move quietly, without the sound or heat signature of a combustion engine drivetrain.
The Key Difference
There is no mention of the body of the GMC Hummer EV being used on the eLRV and it would make sense for the military rig to be a whole lot less fancy. The vehicle coming to dealerships has lots of aesthetic plastics and chrome that isnt needed in the battlefield, so while it might be the same general shape, we would expect it to have more hard, flat panels and less curves in every area. We would also expect that the eLRV will have more intense lighting systems like a proper off-road vehicle along with a wheel-and-tire package that can take on gunfire.
Finally, there is no question that the eLRV will have a far more utilitarian interior with vehicle controls, communication system equipment, seats and little else.
GM Defense plans to begin assembling the first eLRV prototypes in 2022 for testing and evaluation by the United States Department of Defense. A total of 10 companies are involved in this project in sometime “mid-decade”, the government will pick two of those companies to produce the next wave of military electric vehicles.
