GM teases Hummer’s “crab mode” with cryptic tweets
A number of General Motors employees all posted the same tweet today, a graphic of a stylized crab overlaid with the Hummer EV logo. The accompanying text (“Real revolutionaries forge their own direction”) and the two hashtags (#IWorkForGM and #GMCHummerEV) aren’t too revealing; the really interesting tidbit seems to be the photo.
After COVID-19-delayed the electric Hummer’s planned May reveal, GMC has released information on the upcoming 2022 EV in dribs and drabs. In July, we saw a profile of the SUV and learned that a pickup or SUT was also coming. That was when we first heard about “crab mode.” We still don’t know what that entails, but we guess that it’s a zero turning-radius function enabled by independent wheel motors that can rotate opposites sides of the Hummer EV in opposite directions.
GMC must feel this maneuverability is worth celebrating, because “crab mode” is the only mode that has warranted its own tweet-storm and the only one that has its own logo. The company has previously teased an “adrenaline mode” for the Hummer EV, and we wouldn’t be surprised if that feature got the same kind of social media buzz, although it would definitely pose more of a graphic design challenge.
There may be more clues in the crab’s design, since it uses a hexagon in the center to divide the carapace into three segments. It may just be a design decision—or it could hint at an aspect of the Hummer EV’s construction. We wouldn’t have been surprised if the crab’s eyes had alluded to the promised “ultra-vision” cameras, but the arthropod appears eyeless.
There were no new photos of the actual Hummer EV, just glimpses of the grille and a single interior photo showing off the open-air views made possible by the modular sky panels.
GMC promised that we’d get a full reveal of the Hummer EV this fall, and there’s still 100 days left before winter. Expect to see at least a couple of additional small releases before then, when we’ll hopefully get to see the Crab Mode put to use.
