Hummer EV is powered by three motors making 1,000 bhp of power and 15,500 Nm of torque (Not a typo)
What comes to your mind when you think about the American Military? I bet you’re thinking about a Humvee, aren’t you? Humvee has become synonymous with the US military and for a good reason. Among the slew of military vehicles, Humvee is their most iconic
Lightly armoured Humvee could seat 4 personnel and was designed to trail behind heavily armoured tanks in combat. Humvee was the first vehicle to get portal axles as its differentials were hindering maneuverability by getting stuck on the centre bump in the track that heavy tanks left behind. It also had a circular cut-out in the roof for mounting Turret guns and grenade launchers.
But there was one guy that was so impressed by the Humvee that he convinced General Motors to make a civilian version of it. Hence, Hummer H1 was born and all credit goes to Arnold Schwarzenegger (Not Arnold Shivajinagar, No). GM also launched H2 and H3 in Hummer series and all of them had a reputation of being terrible products in terms of engineering and quality. So, GM had axed the Hummer brand completely, until recently.
Hummer EV
General Motors has resurrected the Hummer name, but in pure EV guise. Hummer EV comes in two form factors, a 5.5m long pickup and a 5m long SUV. Both get either a dual-motor configuration or a triple-motor configuration. The latter makes 1,000 bhp of power and 15,500 Nm of torque. No, no. I’m not crazy. That’s a true figure from General Motors.
While the original Humvee has either a 6.2L V8 diesel, 6.5L V8 turbo-diesel or a 5.7L V8 petrol, the Hummer EV is pure electric. Hummer EV is now chosen by the US Army for demo and testing purposes owing to its long-standing association with the US Military. This step is to see if EVs are a viable option for future military use and Hummer EV is the first choice for this testing. Hummer EV gets a stupidly large 210 kWh battery and has a chunky 4,103 kg kerb weight. Everything about the Hummer EV is grotesque.
Should Indian Military Consider EVs Too?
Long story short, yes. But not for every single purpose. When it comes to powering heavily armoured combat vehicles, diesel is still undisputed. But where EVs might shine in the military is urban maneuverability and high-altitude patrolling that currently is hugely taken up by Maruti Suzuki Gypsy.
We say high-altitude patrolling because the air gets thinner and thinner as we climb up the altitude. An ICE-powered vehicle burns significantly more oxygen than fuel. At high altitudes, oxygen levels go down drastically. EVs don’t need oxygen at all. In high-altitude places where the Indian Army currently patrols like Kashmir, Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh, etc, EVs make a lot of sense.
Right now, Indian Military use Mahindra ASLV, Kalyani M4, Mahindra MPV-I 6X6, Renault Sherpa, Mahindra Marksman, Tata Merlin, Mahindra Meva Straton Plus APC, Tata WhAP, Tata Safari, soon-to-be-replaced Maruti Suzuki Gypsy, and a lot more LSVs and MPVs (Mine Protected Vehicles and not Multi-Purpose Vans).
In India, Tata Motors is the current EV champ and Mahindra is soon covering grounds with 5 new electric SUVs under Born Electric range. Also, both these companies have a long-standing relationship with the Indian Military. Maybe the Indian Government and Armed Forces would also commission EV manufacturers for testing the feasibility of EVs in the Army.
Source: Electric - rushlane.com
