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Hummer EV joining spec off-road EV racing
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Joins teams including Sir Lewis Hamilton’s X44
GMC is taking the GMC Hummer EV off-roading in a new electric racing series. It’s just been announced as the latest entry in the Extreme E series, set to start racing in Saudi Arabia this April with four more events taking place over the rest of the year around the world.
Chip Ganassi Racing will be making its first electric racing move with the Hummer EV in a multi-year deal with GM. They’ll be running a 550 hp electric version of the truck that looks a whole lot different than the production version of the truck.
The FIA-sanctioned Extreme E series uses a spec electric SUV chassis, meaning that this will be more Hummer visually than the same thing under the skin. The series also has big names on board already including Lewis Hamilton who founded Team X44 with rally champ Sebastien Loeb and Spanish rally and Dakar vet Cristina Gutiérrez driving for the team. Other factory efforts include the Abt Cupra XE team.
“We feel very proud to welcome GMC and its iconic GMC Hummer EV to the Extreme E family, as it joins forces with our Chip Ganassi Racing team,” said Alejandro Agag, founder and CEO of Extreme E. “Not only will Extreme E be a thrilling motorsport, it will also showcase the performance and benefits of electric vehicles.”
The Extreme E races are set to be held in extremely remote locations, with two-day events using a former Royal Mail ship as a floating paddock to reduce carbon emissions compared with flying the series around. The ship runs on ultra-low-sulfur diesel and will also work as a research vessel, while the off-road vehicles will be charged using clean-generated hydrogen run through fuel cells.
“The new GMC Hummer EV is going to be a game changer in terms of how the world views off-road EV capability, and we couldn’t be more proud to represent GMC in such an innovative new series,” said team owner Chip Ganassi.
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