HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — It took just ten minutes for GMC to sell out its 1,000-horsepower Hummer EV Edition 1 at $112,595, moments after the zero-emissions super-truck sped across America’s television screens during the opening night of the World Series.

And on Sunday, Huntington Beach was gifted with the truck’s first and only public appearance at the Pacific City mall, where a constant parade of looky-loos gawked and snapped pictures.

“What’s the top speed?” asked a shaggy-haired boy as he wheeled up on his bicycle to get a better look.

That detail is, unfortunately, not something GMC is ready to reveal about the truck, which has already inspired thousands of people to join a wait-list so that they, too, can enjoy its lickety-split, zero-to-60 acceleration time of three seconds and drive diagonally, or even "CrabWalk" — with all four tires turned in the same direction.

“This is the first time people are seeing it,” said GMC spokesperson Shauna Sichi. After its initial reveal in Colorado last Tuesday, GMC diverted the Hummer EV to its prime target market of Southern California for a day before it heads back to General Motors’ Factory Zero in Detroit. “We wanted to show people here what it’s all about.”

At least from afar — the only people who could see the Hummer EV up close and personal at the outdoor, ocean-adjacent shopping mall were invited. Fortunately, Spectrum News 1 was on the guest list to see many of the easter eggs the truck’s designers hid throughout the vehicle.

Automotive moonshot

Just as Neil Armstrong took “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” when he set foot on the moon more than 50 years ago, the Hummer EV is a bold embrace of the future for the 112-year-old Detroit automaker. General Motors’ current bestseller is, like all of the Big Three OEMs, a full-size, gas-powered pickup. So it’s a gambit to venture into the market with the world’s first all-electric super-truck. 

Armstrong’s influence can literally be felt throughout the Hummer EV’s interior, where an imprint of his famed boot print is cast in the stomp pad to the left of the brake and accelerator pedals. A tactile map of the moon’s sea of tranquility, where the Apollo 11 mission landed, is incorporated into the side panels on all four doors.

There’s a NASA type of modularity to the Hummer EV. It incorporates two storage cubbies behind the seat cushions in the rear passenger area. The rear seats also fold up to create additional space. Each of the four “infinity panels” that make up its tinted but otherwise transparent moonroof can be quickly detached and stowed in the truck’s front trunk, or “frunk,” because it doesn’t have an engine.

To infinity and beyond

The moon may not be reachable with four wheels, but Glamis, Moab, and other off-road hot spots certainly are with the Edition 1. Its underbelly battery pack is protected with skid plates, and its underbody is outfitted with cameras that provide forward- and backward-looking views of whatever it happens to be pummeling with its monstrous 35-inch wheels. Even better, the cameras are connected to the windshield wiper fluid and be cleaned without crawling under the vehicle.

It’s the Hummer EV that gets to do the crawling. Equipped with four-wheel steering that allows all of its tires to point in the same direction, it can drive diagonally in a so-called CrabWalk mode, allowing it to scooch around obstacles that would otherwise require a multi-point turn. And when it encounters other obstacles that need to be driven over, rather than around, there’s an “extract mode” that activates its air-ride suspension, allowing it to lift by as much as six inches. 

The future is electric

The Hummer EV subverts the decadent, gas-guzzling image that led to its demise in 2010 after 12 short years on the market as the civilian version of the military-grade M998 Humvee.

Ultimately, there will be four versions of the Hummer EV, ranging in price from $79,995 to $112,595. The first available version is the highest-priced Edition 1 that will go into production in late 2021 and be available in early 2022. The least expensive model won’t be available until the Spring of 2024. With the exception of the sold-out Edition 1, subsequent versions can be reserved with a $100 deposit.

With its battery pack spread like pancake batter along the chassis bottom, the Hummer EV Edition 1 can travel 350 miles per charge. It will also be able to add 100 miles of range in just ten minutes using an 800-volt DC fast charger.

The Hummer’s front end offers a shorthand reading of the truck’s charge status, with a panel of illuminated bars, similar to a battery-level reading on a phone or laptop. Similar to Tesla, the Hummer EV will have a dedicated app that pairs with the car and will also be semi-autonomous. The Hummer EV is the first GMC vehicle to come with Super Cruise — the hands-free driving system that General Motors currently only offers on its Cadillac models.

Hummer keeps on truckin’

For all its high tech, the Hummer is a high-function pickup that imports many of the features that exist on General Motors’ more conventional trucks, including its Swiss army knife of a MultiPro tailgate that can be configured six different ways with the press of a button, and a set of folding panels that turn it into a step or ledge. On the Hummer, the tailgate’s backup light is also shaped like an 'H.'

“Everything about it is just insane,” said Jonathan Silva, one of the many visitors to Pacific City mall Sunday who was so surprised to see the Hummer EV that he just stood at the cordoned barrier, staring. “I saw it in the commercials, but I didn’t think I would see one in-person in I don’t know how long. I couldn’t believe it. I love it. Love it. Wow.”