In late 2021, General Motors launched the first of a series of electric vehicles based on a brand-new hardware suite, then known publicly as Ultium and internally as BEV3. Somewhat ironically, that first modern EV was badged as a Hummer, the poster child for gas-guzzling excess in the early 2000s. While it no longer consumed petroleum products, excess was still very much a key component of the Hummer EV, now part of the GMC lineup. 

More than Ever Before

For 2026, the Hummer EV leverages its ability for over-the-air updates to get new functionality without actually requiring any hardware changes. That means it’s still wildly overweight, at about 9,200 pounds for the pickup and a few hundred pounds less for the SUV variant. Despite that heft, the software engineers at GM have seemingly worked some magic to extract more performance and make it more maneuverable off-road. Nearly four years after its debut, we had a chance to experience two of the Hummer EV's biggest changes during a demo ride at GM’s Milford Proving Ground in Michigan. 

King Crab Mode 

Since its launch for the 2022 model year, the Hummer EV has had a four-wheel steering system as standard equipment. Four-wheel steering has been around since the late 1980s, and it typically worked in two modes. At low speeds, the front and rear wheels steered in opposite directions to reduce the turning radius, which allowed a vehicle to maneuver better in tight spots like parking lots. At higher speeds, the wheels all turn in the same direction to improve stability.  

By contrast, the Hummer's four-wheel steering system has a Crab mode, which steers the wheels in the same direction at low speeds, allowing it to move almost sideways to avoid obstacles off-road. This can be useful on some tougher off-road courses for such a wide vehicle (86.7 inches). 

For 2026, GM engineers did some analysis to find the limits of the rear steer hardware's capabilities. Now, when Hummer drivers switch between Normal, Off-Road and Terrain modes, one of the things that changes is how much the rear wheels steer relative to the front wheels. In Normal mode, the rear wheels turn slightly (about 0.3 degrees) in the opposite direction of the front wheels. In Off-Road mode, they turn twice as much. In Terrain mode, they turn four times as much. As you switch modes, you can feel the vehicle's back end moving around a lot more in response to steering wheel inputs. 

When the Hummer launched, the rotary mode selector on the center console had a mode with no function until now. The designers and engineers included it to allow for future functionality. That "mystery mode" is now King Crab mode, which can be engaged on top of any of the existing drive modes. While those modes maintain their existing control strategies, King Crab mode speeds up how quickly the rear wheels turn to match the front ones. The rear wheels can turn up to 10 degrees, but now they reach that angle faster. It's all controlled through updated software and calibrations.  

On a surprisingly tight off-road course, the very wide Hummer had no problem swinging its back end around to clear trees. Ford does something similar on the Bronco with Trail Turn Assist, which locks the brake on the inside rear wheel when you turn. But this is a rather crude method of just dragging the wheel.  

Since King Crab doesn’t require any new hardware, GMC will be pushing out a software update to all current Hummer EV owners to enable it on existing SUVs and pickups. This is the first time General Motors has provided new functionality like this over the air. 

Its Sprint to 60 MPH Is Now 0.2 Seconds Faster 

Apparently, pushing a 9,200-pound electric truck on all-terrain tires to 60 mph in 3 seconds just wasn't quick enough for the Hummer EV engineering team. They felt they could extract a little more acceleration from the three-motor pickup, which is no easy task. 

As with King Crab mode, the engineers analyzed the current Hummer and concluded they could control it a little better without needing to change the hardware. Changes and calibrations to the motor control software make the 2026 Hummer respond more precisely to requests for increases or decreases in torque. They also updated the algorithms that manage the battery temperatures, helping it stay in the ideal range for longer, which improves motor response.  

Similarly, while the dampers still adjust 100 times per second, the control software is able to make finer adjustments. This helps the vehicle stay balanced and the tires can grip better, which helps with handling and stability. All these elements work together so that when the driver engages the Watts-To-Freedom (WTF) mode, the Hummer EV pickup sprints to 60 mph 0.2 seconds faster. 

On the 3-mile-long north-south straightaway at the Milford Proving Ground, the Hummer pulled nearly 0.98 g while accelerating to 60 mph in 2.8 seconds. That’s essentially your own body weight being pushed back into the seat. It also did that repeatedly, including four times on a single lap of the loop (twice in each direction), pinning us back in our seats every time and showing no signs of getting slower even after two full laps. That’s quite impressive for a 9,200-pound truck rolling on 35-inch all-terrain tires with four adults on board.  

Unfortunately, this acceleration boost will only be available on the three-motor pickup with the 24-module battery pack (204 kilowatt-hour) and initially on the new Carbon Fiber special edition model for 2026. Other Hummer pickups will get the upgrade later on. The SUV's shorter wheelbase limits it to the slightly smaller 20-module battery with 170 kWh. The configuration of that battery limits the voltage and current it can produce and caps the SUV to about 830-hp, but it still accelerates to 60 mph in about 3.5 seconds. At this point, there is no plan to push the acceleration update to the older three-motor Hummer EV pickups, although they do have the same hardware.  

Other Changes for 2026

Three new exterior and interior color combinations are available for 2026 models, but the exterior design remains otherwise unchanged. In the cabin, the infotainment system and gauge graphics get updates, but retain the same basic functionality with Android Automotive and Google Automotive Services doing the heavy lifting. 2026 Hummer EVs also get an update in the charging system to enable the vehicle-to-load functionality that other current GM EVs have.  

The bottom line is, for better or worse, the 2026 Hummer EV retains the same basic characteristics it’s had since it launched, but just a bit more than before. The most notable aspect is that GM is taking advantage of over-the-air updates to deliver new capabilities for owners years after they bought the vehicle. That’s a trend that GM has told us will accelerate starting in the second half of 2025, so owners of other GM vehicles can expect their own updates soon. 

2026 Hummer EV: Faster, Smarter, Still Huge

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