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Transportation

The GMC Hummer EV Could Pop Wheelies Before Engineers Intervened (thedrive.com) 99

Posted by BeauHD from the digitally-developed dept.
New submitter X2b5Ysb8 shares a report from The Drive, written by Peter Holderith: Driving a 2022 GMC Hummer EV prototype back in Oct. 2021 was an eye-opening experience. [...] I did a fair amount of driving and some riding along with the vehicle's chief engineer, Al Oppenheiser. During one of our chats, Oppenheiser shared with me some of the trials and tribulations his engineering team went through while developing the vehicle. This included one unexpected capability that had to be tuned out before the massive truck was delivered to customers: wheelies. After a launch in WTF mode on the steeply banked test track at GM's Milford Proving Grounds, I told Oppenheiser that I was impressed how the truck could spin all four of its tires as it fired off the line like a shot. He went on to explain that was actually a preferred scenario as far as launches go. They used to be even more interesting when the tires came off the ground.

"In the early days when we were just trying to balance the front and rear torque, I got the front end to lift," he told me. As it turns out, so much of the car was developed digitally that, when it came time to do real-world testing, there were a few unexpected quirks. "We had to back off the torque on the front end," he added, just as he prepared the Hummer for another launch. After our final sprint to highway speeds in WTF mode, I clarified with him that the Hummer would indeed do a wheelstand if it was tuned correctly. He reiterated his point, saying "originally" that was the case, and you could theoretically still make it do so "to prove that you can." However, when it comes to the production versions of the hefty 4x4, he made it clear that for "functional safety reasons," that wouldn't be in the Hummer's big bag of tricks. Talking about feeling cheated. So yes, the Hummer EV can do wheelies, just not in stock form.
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The GMC Hummer EV Could Pop Wheelies Before Engineers Intervened More

The GMC Hummer EV Could Pop Wheelies Before Engineers Intervened

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  • Hopefully they catch all of the physics related issues that a 1000 HP top heavy box has. Unfortunately I predict a few missed issues once the average Joe gets their hands on it / post their dare devil videos online...

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by vivian ( 156520 )

      I think having all the batteries in the floor will add a lot of stability and solve most of the stability issues these kinds of vehicles used to have.

      The release of this vehicle is a huge win for everyone - obviously the manufacturer, but also anyone who likes over sized over powered trucks, people who care about the environment, and especially for Elon Musk personally, who set the electrification of the world's auto industry a main goal of starting Tesla - even if it's not necessarily the best thing for Te

      • The release of this vehicle is a huge win for everyone

        Except other people on the streets. I don't want some asshole in a 9,000lb truck that can barely see over the hood doing wheelies at me as I'm riding my bike or walking my kids to school.

  • There's a threshold we've crossed we might've imagined was not a hurdle in the path of the evolution of electric vehicles... a trifling victory, but a victory nonetheless.

  • A mildly modified VW beetle could pop wheelies as well. They were still a POS.
    • Are you posting in WTF mode?

    • A mildly modified VW beetle could pop wheelies as well. They were still a POS.

      No sir. El Vocho was a fine platform and could be modified to do almost anything, from track racing to dune hopping.

      https://www.hemmings.com/stori... [hemmings.com]

    • Right after the transmission was rebuilt on my '74 super beetle, there was a chirping shifting to second and third. Turned out to be the tires cutting loose.

      And I apparently *did* pop the front wheels off the ground from a start. I thought it had just bucked, but those outside said otherwise.

      I had had to gradually adjust how I used the *so* far while the transmission was failing that using it the way I had become accustomed to caused these oddities.

  • seeing a soccer mom on the road in one of these military vehicles.

  • Why didnâ(TM)t they allow it? That would feature would be badass and help them beat the Cybertruck.

    • I'm sure the aftermarket mod that allows wheelies will be available about a week after deliveries commence.

  • Anybody who has watched a few drag races would not be surprised at this. Those cars have plenty of torque too, and ride the razor's edge of delivering as much torque as they can through big, fat grippy rear tires while trying not to lift their front tires off the strip too long, because they'd lose control. Since they're slamming it in a straight line in a controlled environment, they can lose the steering for part of the run because angular momentum and other forces will keep them running straight, but i

    • OTOH in theory they could detect this condition and both torque vectoring and the rear wheel steering if necessary to keep the vehicle going straight

      • On a street vehicle, yes. On a dragster is may or may not be cheating to have an automated system installed, depending on the rules for that particular competition.

  • America is always at the forefront of technology when it comes to wasting energy pointlessly. The electricity to run this brick of a vehicle has to come from somewhere, and right now it ain't from windmills.

    Why anyone who doesn't feel insecure around the crotch area would want to drive something like this, I'll never know.

    • Why anyone who doesn't feel insecure around the crotch area would want to drive something like this, I'll never know.

      Well, you already think of dicks when you see cars, so you're part of the way there. Keep going. You'll never explain it to anyone else's satisfaction but, perhaps you will attain the enlightenment you seek.

  • The market wants power of course, and I suppose that's what the wheelie represents. But from an engineering perspective a wheelie can happen for a bad reason, and for a not-so-good reason. The bad reason is a high center of gravity, which I'm sure contributes to the Hummer being able to wheelie and also to it being able to roll over, especially in cambered off-road situations. The not-so-good reason is sticky tires, which are bad for tire life but also for efficiency. It seems that just like its predece

    • The soft tires are necessary for maximum grip off-road, they need to conform and not destroy their internal structure when aired down. You can't optimize for both off-roading and on-roading in the same vehicle, they are in general diametrically opposed and one compromises the other. Even excessive rigidity will make a vehicle a less capable off-roader, while you want as little flex as possible for on-road handling. The only thing that's a benefit to both really is mass reduction, which is a place that EVs s

  • I'm very glad that they defeated it! That monstrosity is scary and dangerous enough without wheel-stands!
  • This is a disaster waiting to happen, weighing almost 10,000 pounds, mostly silent to pedestrians because it's electric and capable of going 0-60 in 4 seconds.

    • The fine people at GM thought it would be a good revenue producer and also halo car. These are their only real goals; making sustainable vehicles for example is not even in the picture.

      The good news is that it can slow down a lot quicker than any ICEV Hummer because of the regenerative braking. It offers better ABS than any pure-brake ABS implementation because the regen can be shifted many more times per second than the ABS can be modulated.

  • Electric motors develop full torque at zero rpm. So, who cares?

  • So freakin' awesome!

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