If you’ve ever had a shopping trolley that enjoys travelling at 45 degrees instead of in a straight line, you’ll know how it feels to drive the new Hummer EV in Crab Mode.
This mode is one of many new ways an electric powertrain frees up thinking and allows driving without playing to the rules of combustion engines and their mechanical packages.
The National was in Detroit at GM’s top secret proving ground to try several new electric vehicles coming our way, and the priority was to jump behind the wheel of the all-new Hummer EV, which is sure to lock out the order books when it goes on sale early next year. There are no price indications for the UAE market yet, but it starts at $111,000 in the US.
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Crab Mode uses its four-wheel steering to let the car move sideways and drive diagonally at low speed. It’s ideal for clearing large rocks or obstacles in tight ravines where the front wheels may clear, but you risk a rear wheel puncture.
It takes a while for the brain to accept what’s going on, but is a brilliant use of all-wheel steering that lets you steer the rear wheels by up to 10 degrees and 1.6 degrees for every 1 degree of front steer angle. This cuts its turning circle by two metres, making it easier to manoeuvre than most front-wheel-drive hatchbacks.
The Hummer is the first vehicle to use GM’s all-new 24-module Ultium battery architecture, which also underpins the upcoming Cadillac Lyriq and powers one motor in the front and two in the rear. It consists of two layers of vertical cell modules to offer a 24-pack unit giving 530 kilometres of range and weighing a not-inconsiderable 600 kilograms. To offset the weight, it delivers 1,000bhp and a ridiculous 15,600Nm of torque.
GM says it will reach 100 kilometres per hour in 3.1 seconds, which we don’t doubt after our own tests with three people on board and on loose gravel cut the timing beacon in 4.9 seconds.
The Hummer uses 800-volt electrical architecture with 350-kilowatt fast-charging capability, which will add 160km of range in 10 minutes. For buyers who don't have DC fast-charging stations, the car can also charge on regular public terminals or at home via a provided adapter, although charging times are significantly slower.
The interior is deliberately utilitarian in look and feel to play off the Hummer’s tough heritage.
For the price you could be forgiven for thinking it’s not as luxurious as you’d expect, but then the same could be said of competitors Ineos Grenadier and Jeep Gladiator.
Although it’s a full-sized four-door, the Hummer EV features a removable T-roof that brings back memories of some of GM’s muscle-car coupes such as the Pontiac TransAm of the 1970s. When in place, the transparent panels look like a normal panoramic glass sunroof, but removing them gives the truck a convertible vibe that’s also similar to the Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator.
The dash layout is a mix of rugged off-road Jeep style and new-age Tesla with a large 13.4-inch centre display on the mostly white-on-black fascia that features amusing moon-themed graphics throughout. Given GM’s history as a vehicle partner to Nasa, supplying Corvettes to the Apollo 11 Moon-landing crew and the Apollo 15’s electric Moon rover, it’s hardly surprising.
The driver also has a 12.3-inch display that houses Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, a Wi-Fi hot spot and GM's OnStar telematics system.
For a vehicle this size, it felt like a nimble midsized off-roader and even ― dare I say it ― sporty, where the rear steering allows you to hang the tail out on loose surfaces, but comes back into line with ease. The instant torque and its WTF (Watts-To-Freedom) performance mode quite simply redefine the parameters of off-road vehicle acceleration.
We didn’t get the chance to take it on a sealed road, so motorway-speed road and wind noise remain a question mark given its T-top, giant 35-inch all-terrain Goodyear tyres and large side mirrors, but off-road, it was an eye-opener.
The Hummer is the first vehicle from GM’s ambitious $35 billion investment to sell a million EVs annually by 2025 by releasing more than 30 new EVs in that time. The big SUV opened GM’s Factory ZERO, Hamtramck-Detroit Assembly Centre, after a $2.2bn makeover to build all-electric trucks that will include the Silverado and Sierra Denali EVs
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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Director: Dexter Fletcher
Starring: Taron Egerton, Richard Madden, Jamie Bell
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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AS IT STANDS IN POOL A
1. Japan - Played 3, Won 3, Points 14
2. Ireland - Played 3, Won 2, Lost 1, Points 11
3. Scotland - Played 2, Won 1, Lost 1, Points 5
Remaining fixtures
Scotland v Russia – Wednesday, 11.15am
Ireland v Samoa – Saturday, 2.45pm
Japan v Scotland – Sunday, 2.45pm
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Fifa Club World Cup quarter-final
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Guadalajara 2 (Zaldivar 03’, Pulido 90')
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'Saand Ki Aankh'
Produced by: Reliance Entertainment with Chalk and Cheese Films
Director: Tushar Hiranandani
Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Bhumi Pednekar, Prakash Jha, Vineet Singh
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
U19 World Cup in South Africa
Group A: India, Japan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka
Group B: Australia, England, Nigeria, West Indies
Group C: Bangladesh, Pakistan, Scotland, Zimbabwe
Group D: Afghanistan, Canada, South Africa, UAE
UAE fixtures
Saturday, January 18, v Canada
Wednesday, January 22, v Afghanistan
Saturday, January 25, v South Africa
UAE squad
Aryan Lakra (captain), Vriitya Aravind, Deshan Chethyia, Mohammed Farazuddin, Jonathan Figy, Osama Hassan, Karthik Meiyappan, Rishabh Mukherjee, Ali Naseer, Wasi Shah, Alishan Sharafu, Sanchit Sharma, Kai Smith, Akasha Tahir, Ansh Tandon
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Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
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Final
UAE v Hong Kong
TV:
Live on OSN Cricket HD. Coverage starts at 5.30am
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Directed by: Jeethu Joseph
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Rating: 4 stars
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Director: Lee Isaac Chung
Starring: Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos
Rating: 2.5/5
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The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
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- Cherish Cafe Dubai, Dubai Investment Park, are giving away free coffees all day.
- La Terrace, Four Points by Sheraton Bur Dubai, are serving their first 50 guests one coffee and four bite-sized cakes
- Wild & The Moon will be giving away a free espresso with every purchase on International Coffee Day
- Orange Wheels welcome parents are to sit, relax and enjoy goodies at ‘Café O’ along with a free coffee
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
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Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
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Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
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Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
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RESULTS
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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