2007 Hummer H3 Base Sport Utility 4-door 3.7l on 2040-cars

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This modified Hummer hybrid will go to the South Pole on biofuel

One modified Hummer H1, traveling with another vehicle that looks like a modified Hummer H1, will spend six to 10 days driving to the South Pole, two days camping at the Pole, and take another six to 10 days driving back to the coast of Antarctica. Assuming all goes well. That's not guaranteed, since this blue beast really is - fundamentally, at least - a Hummer H1, not just Hummer-like bodywork over non-Hummer internals like you'd find on, say, the Dakar-winning "Mini." The Zero South team has been working on this vehicle for seven years (we checked it out at SEMA in 2008 and in 2010). The frame, suspension, axles, hubs, differentials, and the body are pure 1998 Hummer, the funky bodywork being from an insulated H1 ambulance, the uprated driveline from an armored H1. The original H1 used a 6.5-liter V8, but here that ICE engine has been swapped for a 3.2-liter turbodiesel V6 straight-six that will run on aviation-grade biofuel pulled from two 30-gallon tanks. Called the Hybrid Polar Traverse Vehicles, the serial hybrids use that engine to power a 216-horsepower electric motor that juices up a 24-kWr battery stored in an insulated, five-foot-long battery box between the frame rails. That battery powers two 200-hp electric motors, one at each axle, that will keep the tracks going through the Antarctic December half-light. We aren't sure what the second vehicle is based on, but its internals mirror the Hummer's, it has the exact same specs, and it looks almost the same except it's painted orange. They will pull a modified Airstream trailer called the "Snowstream," and are planning and eight-episode TV series as well as a feature film to document the expedition.

For EV drivers, realities may dampen the electric elation

The Atlantic, a decades-old monthly journal well-regarded for its intelligent essays on international news, American politics and cultural happenings, recently turned its attention to the car world. A piece that ran in The Atlantic in October examined the excesses of the GMC Hummer EV for compromising safety. And now in its latest edition, the magazine ran a compelling story about the challenges of driving an electric vehicle and how those experiences “mythologize the car as the great equalizer.” Titled “The Inconvenient Truth About Electric Vehicles,” the story addresses the economics of EVs, the stresses related to range anxiety, the social effects of owning an electric car — as in, affording one — and the overarching need for places to recharge that car. Basically, author Andrew Moseman says that EV life isn't so rosy: “On the eve of the long-promised electric-vehicle revolution, the myth is due for an update. Americans who take the plunge and buy their first EV will find a lot to love Â… they may also find that electric-vehicle ownership upends notions about driving, cost, and freedom, including how much car your money can buy. "No one spends an extra $5,000 to get a bigger gas tank in a Honda Civic, but with an EV, economic status is suddenly more connected to how much of the world you get to see — and how stressed out or annoyed youÂ’ll feel along the way.” Moseman charts how a basic Ford F-150 Lightning electric truck might start at $55,000, but an extended-range battery, which stretches the distance on a charge from 230 miles to 320, “raises the cost to at least $80,000. The trend holds true with all-electric brands such as Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid, and for many electric offerings from legacy automakers. The bigger battery option can add a four- or five-figure bump to an already accelerating sticker price.” As for the charging issue, the author details his anxiety driving a Telsa in Death Valley, with no charging stations in sight. “For those who never leave the comfort of the city, these concerns sound negligible," he says. "But so many of us want our cars to do everything, go everywhere, ferry us to the boundless life we imagine (or the one weÂ’re promised in car commercials),” he writes. His conclusions may raise some hackles among those of us who value automotive independence — not to mention fun — over practicalities.

GMC shows how the 2022 Hummer could have looked even more futuristic

Excitement filled the room when GMC asked its designers to resurrect the Hummer in April 2019, but a tinge of uneasiness permeated the department after executives locked in an early 2020 unveiling date. Luckily, stylists knew what they wanted early on in the development phase, and preliminary design sketches give us a fascinating look at how they shaped the electric off-roader that ended up making its global debut online in October 2020. Hummer, the brand, unceremoniously shut down in 2010 after General Motors failed to sell it to the Chinese, but its design DNA was so strong that stylists were able to pick up where their predecessors left off. All of the sketches published on Instagram by the official General Motors Design account show a boxy truck with a tall front end, a short windshield, and a generous amount of ground clearance. These styling cues trace their roots to the AM General Humvee that entered production in 1984 and made its combat debut when the United States invaded Panama in 1989. Even the wildest drawings still depict a pickup that's immediately recognizable as a Hummer. Most of the early design sketches wear some variation of the seven-slot grille that characterized Hummer's production models; it's a styling cue that hints at a heritage shared with Jeep under the American Motors Corporation (AMC) umbrella. Oddly, none wear the round headlights seen on the H2, the H3, and the HX concept that nearly became the H4. Was GMC afraid that its Hummer would end up looking too much like a Jeep? And, at least one sketch shows a fold-down windshield, a feature that will not make it to the assembly line. Sketches never reach production without modifications made in the name of packaging and safety concerns, and the Hummer is no exception, but stylists did a good job of reinventing the brand's design language without copying or erasing the past. If the company had stuck around long enough to make a second- and a third-generation H2, odds are it would look a lot like the GMC-branded model that will enter production in a year. GMC remains on track to start 2022 Hummer deliveries in late 2021, though it told Green Car Reports that it still hasn't built a fully functional prototype yet. When it arrives, this outdoorsy pickup will land in a burgeoning segment of the truck market that numerous models (including the Rivian R1T and Ford's electric F-150) will also call home.