It sure seems like cars are getting both quicker and heavier than ever before. At the turn of the millennium, sprinting from zero-to-60 mph in a tick under five seconds was supercar stuff, and anything weighing more than 4,000 pounds was almost comically hefty. Now, you can buy family cars that are both quicker and heavier than both of those benchmarks, machines that make an E39 BMW M5 look both slow and light by comparison. The tip of the spear for this insanity is arguably the bonkers Hummer EV, and it just got even quicker for 2026 by way of a new trim level.
This new quickest Hummer EV is called the Carbon Fiber Edition, which makes itself known by cosmetic touches like black wheels and the questionable decision of putting carbon fiber on the skid plate. Consider that an acknowledgement of the Hummer EV’s real purpose, flexing financial might around expensive shopping districts. However, the Carbon Fiber edition isn’t just cosmetic. Thanks to software tweaks, the tri-motor arrangement from the 3X trim, and a 24-module battery pack, GMC claims the pickup truck variant of this trim can run from zero-to-60 mph in 2.8 seconds. Yep, that’s a two at the beginning of that figure.
For context, Chevrolet rates the Corvette Stingray’s zero-to-60 mph time at 2.9 seconds, which means that this 9,063-pound pickup truck can out-accelerate a base Corvette to freeway speeds. That’s like strapping Saturn V rocket boosters onto the Empire State Building and seeing what’s what. Reckless? Perhaps. Irresponsible? Considering the standard Hummer EV 3X is already eager to light up its front tires from a launch control start and stopping a vehicle that weighs three times as much as a Honda Civic is a herculean task, probably. Awesome? I can’t deny, this is a pretty incredible feat. It’s also undeniably American — excess in its most awe-inspiring form.
However, preposterous speed isn’t the only update to the Hummer EV for 2026. The truck and SUV now get King Crab mode, which uses the four-wheel-steering to turn the rear wheels left and right significantly faster than the front wheels for increased agility at low speeds. If you already own a Hummer EV with four-wheel-steering, don’t worry—King Crab mode will be pushed out to all suitably equipped Hummer EVs later this year, and can be activated on older models by hitting the “Mystery Button” on the drive mode selector.
Other than these two notable changes, updates to the Hummer EV for 2026 are fairly mild. You get two new colors, two new upholstery options, retuned dampers, bidirectional charging, and that’s about it. Still, with a headline figure like zero-to-60 mph in as little as 2.8 seconds, that’s all GMC really needed to do.
In a way, it’s amazing that GMC will just sell the most powerful Hummer EV to anyone. Sure, it’s expensive, but it’s a lot less expensive than a lighter, slower Mercedes-AMG G 63, and controlling this much mass feels like something you’d a special license for. The fact that you don’t need it is part of what makes this truck amazing. With figures like zero-to-60 mph in 2.8 seconds, it feels like GMC nailed the supertruck brief, because this behemoth can now handily beat up on two-wheel-drive Lamborghini Huracans at the drag strip.
Top graphic credit: GMC
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Yay. A heavier and faster battering ram of a vehicle to massacre the rest of us.
I wonder how long until we have a regulated 0-60 speed. Nothing faster than 5 seconds? Maybe geofenced so you can have track days. Instant torque in a vehicle weighing 5 tons… people are going to die.
Silly, but will probably appeal to those who’d be considering buying this thing in the first place. I wish that not having such fast 0-60 times (instead going to adequate 0-60 in the 7-9 second range like an early GTI) actually saved a lot of money (in terms of the buyer’s cost of the EV) but I don’t think it does.
Also, bidirectional charging, sometimes called V2L for Vehicle to Load, which allows using an EV to be used as a power source for a fridge, house, whatever… is available on some other cars too… I think some of the Hyundais and the Ford Lightning off the top of my head.
Hold up – does bi-directional charging mean it can function as a house battery? If the stupid thing would fit in my garage it could almost be practical.
You can’t defeat physics. Can this monster go around the track faster than the best ICE vehicle? Sure it might be an ice truck that is an actual ice truck but can it beat the best ICE vehicle? I doubt it. Of course why you need a sport Hummer is beyond me but requiring a sport truck to make the Hummer a comparison is stupid.
track prowess is less important to a vast majority of Americans. Straight line Stop Light to stoplight speed is generally king in most bench racing circles. Unless of course it just turn left all the time and is no longer a “Stock” Car.
The drunk that lives across the street from me is a GM dealership manager.
One Saturday night, he backed his demo 3/4 ton truck into my parked van’s door.
He did this while watching himself do it on the 12 inch display, with proximity alarms blaring.
His new demo is a this Hummer EV thing. It will punch through my van like a missile.
Buy a salvage expensive vehicle and park it in a risky spot. Maybe a Lambo no motor but insurance.
I hope GM has a limiter on acceleration when the rear counter steer is engaged, or it could violently toss itself on its side with a leg twitch.
Not until they cancel the program
This feels like an escalation that started back with the Original F150 lightning, or maybe even earlier with the Dodge Power Wagon. Like the Ram TRX is 6400lbs and does 0-60 in under 4 seconds and that’s not even electric.
This also reinforces my thought that driver’s licenses need to have more scaling, like 1st year and no additional training, 2 ton limit, 5 years 3 ton limit, 5 years and some training 4 ton limit, etc.
Was the Power Wagon ever fast?
totally depends on the definition. a tradesman with the 6.4 BGE, 4.10 gears that come with the Power wagon package definitely don’t feel slow when you give it the beans, but the reality is the big tires take precious seconds to get rolling and the thing is only a bit over 400HP. so the 0-60 is more than double the TRX.
In theory the pinnacle of HP for most old Power wagons was 1970, and 440 CI. But by todays standards they were slow. They just felt fast due to the noises they made.
Probably meant the Warlock or Little Red Wagon
probably. The Early warlocks were available with a 440. But I think they were kind of lazy big blocks by then. the 77 LRW was kind of an coup as it did not require then crappy design catalytic converters and they pulled the last of the good head designs off of cop cars and stopped retarding ignition and so on. it was a bit like the 73-74 SC 455 in a Pontiac. It made people buying the lazy Malaise era versions think they had something special even though they were very much different.
And of course even a 2wd warlock with a 440 and light short stepside bed was woefully slow compared to most things these days. 70’s even without the cats generally had lots of dumb things going on to try to get better MPG and the results were never very effective.
Once in awhile, humanity will do or make something that pushes the limits and is an absolute triumph of the human spirit:
The Apollo program.
The Concorde.
This same spirit when warped and twisted will also produce things like the double-down from KFC. The ultra-quick Hummer EV is the fake meat version of the double down.
Okay…. but why?
The money needed to facilitate our national greatness is currently being laundered and moved to offshore accounts.
Would you like fries or a biscuit with that Double Down?
This is ‘Murica. Choosing just one of those should never be the answer.
Official truck of Florida Man! Cue up the ad campaign featuring Kid Rock in 3, 2, 1 …
I thought the official truck of Florida Man was a clapped-out Altima missing its trunk lid.
That’s gentrification, buddy!