GMC and EarthCruiser Preview Electric Overlanding Future With a Prepped Hummer

While the idea of overlanding is popular enough that people sometimes fake it—tell us again how many times you’ve used that roof tent!—this real form of camping carries appeal because it involves, well, your vehicle. Outfitted properly, an overlander can service nearly every need one has while far away from civilization, from shelter, cooking, and other “business,” these modified trucks and SUVs can really make getting away from it all a very real and easy possibility—they’re roaming campsites. And, just as new vehicles generally are going electric, soon, too, will overlanding vehicles, and GMC and EarthCruiser would like to offer a peek into that all-electric overlanding future with a specially upgraded Hummer EV pickup.

Look, unlikely though it may seem now—unless you’re in for some rather brief expeditions or your wilderness includes charging stations, a gas- or diesel-fed rig is likely to get you much farther off the beaten path—there may come a time when electrified off-roaders join the overlanding fray. And what better way to show off that possibility than the wild-looking Hummer, as touched by EarthCruiser Overland Vehicles?

Details are sparse on the Hummer EV Overlander, which for now is a concept but will appear for real later this summer, but EarthCruiser is a well-known builder of overland specialty vehicles. This is the same team behind the Isuzu NPR-based cabover vehicle from where it earned its name, but also creates truck-based overlanders like the F-350- and Ram 3500-based Terranova. Both of these vehicles are essentially homes on wheels, with each one featuring a pop-up top, sink, hidden toilet, and more. Power comes from a 12-volt, 400-ah battery that’s charged using low-profile, flexible solar panels and feeds into a 3-kW inverter for AC power.

This won’t be EarthCruiser’s first foray into EV overlanding, either. They already have begun development of lightweight, slide-in campers designed to specifically work with all-electric trucks. EarthCruiser launched this program in January and the GMC Hummer EV looks to be one of the first to demonstrate this innovative camper system. It’s also means that whatever the Hummer EV overlander gets can most likely be adapted to the mechanically related Sierra Denali EV and even the Chevrolet Silverado EV, albeit with some minor changes between the two bed styles.

From the looks of the teaser image, the roof shown is definitely taller than the standard Hummer EV’s, and extends from over the cabin to all the way back over the bed. We’d expect this to be a version of their pop-up roofs found in the Earthcruiser and Terranova overlanders. This roof will have a full array of solar panels for charging its “house” batteries and will integrate a side-mounted cargo system. Messing with the image, we get more details like the “Hummer EV + EarthCruiser” logo on those packs and the optional set of bronze beadlock capable wheels from the EV3X and Edition 1 are employed here.

Unfortunately, that’s all we can get out of this image and we’re not getting more from GMC or EarthCruiser until it’s set to launch later this year. But consider us excited to see what comes of it—the Hummer EV might be a uniquely huge and somewhat unwieldy off-roader, but it can tackle some gnarly terrain and in certain configurations is wickedly quick. Who wouldn’t want the quickest campsite around?

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