GMC Hummer EV has a cool Canadian connection

GMC’s first electric vehicle, the Hummer EV, is built at General Motors’ new Factory Zero assembly plant in Detroit-Hamtramck, Mich., but it also has a cool Canadian connection.

It was rigorously tested at one of GM’s most remote cold weather facilities in Kapuskasing, Ont., more than 800 kilometres north of Toronto.

“GM is the only manufacturer in North America that owns its own cold-weather proving facility and validates to the extent that we do,” said Josh Walton, operations leader at GM’s Kapuskasing Proving Grounds.

The cold weather test facility, which opened in 1973, spans 272 acres and includes a four-kilometre test track, a 13-vehicle garage, a battery lab, and two vehicle testing lines.

The Hummer EV pickup was put through its paces at the facility last November in the snow and frigid temperatures - minus 25 degrees Celsius at that time. Working around the clock, 24/7, the test cycle lasts 12 weeks, which is equivalent to two years of customer cold weather driving, according to Walton. Dozens of engineers and staff drivers tested everything from the windows, to make sure they roll down in the deep freeze, to the finishes and stitching on the dash, to one of the most important features on the EV, the Hummer’s high voltage Ultium battery.

The 24-module double-stacked battery configuration has an estimated range of up to 529 kilometres. But range can drop quickly in extremely cold temperatures, so this facility is crucial in identifying any issues with the battery before it comes to market.

At the facility, EVs have a different benchmark on the battery systems, compared to their internal combustion engine, or ICE, counterparts.

“You want to see how the battery pack performs,” said Walton. “We have different range valuations that we execute on track. We’ll drive these vehicles at different set temperature ranges, minus 20 or minus 30 [degrees Celsius]. We drive those vehicles in the exact same conditions. It’s a repeatable evaluation to do that range evaluation to normalize and get a good grasp of that battery performance and temperature.”

GM’s new Ultium battery platform performed “very well in cold weather because of the conditioning cycle they’re constantly going through while they’re plugged in,” added Walton.

GM’s Canadian Technical Centre software and infotainment teams in Oshawa and Markham, Ont. also played a vital role in creating and testing the screens and apps for the Hummer’s customer interface. They helped develop some of the semi-autonomous driving technology in the EV such as the Enhanced Lane Keep Assist and Super Cruise with Lane Change on Demand. The technology was tested and validated at the CTC McLaughlin Advanced Technology Track and Ontario Tech University’s ACE Climatic Wind Tunnel in Oshawa, Ont., according to Michelle Burnham, senior product communications manager at General Motors Canada.

GM is aiming to deliver 30 new EVs by 2025 including electric versions of the Chevrolet Silverado, Chevrolet Blazer, and Chevrolet Equinox, which will also be tested in Kapuskasing, Ontario.

The Hummer EV arrives in Canada in December, as a 2023 Edition 1 model followed by the Hummer EV2, EV2x, EV3x. Canadian pricing hasn’t been announced yet, but in the United States the 2022 GMC Hummer EV Edition 1 starts at US$110,295. Future models will begin at US$79,995.