Range Extended Hummer Travels 50 miles in All-Electric Mode

Here is a heartwarming story, to be sure. I mean, isn't this what all we all want, namely to have our cake and eat it too? The Raser Hummer H3 PHEV has demonstrated its all electric capabilities, meeting design expectations.

So there, you can own a Hummer without the guilt!

From Green Car Congress:

A recent preliminary road test of the Raser Hummer H3E, an H3 converted with a range-extended electric powertrain (earlier post), demonstrated more than 50 miles of all-electric range.

Battery range of this innovative vehicle was more than sufficient to exceed our performance target of 40 miles in all-electric mode. In fact the H3E drove over 50 miles using only approximately 60% of the battery pack. This initial test indicates that the vehicle should easily achieve over 100 miles per gallon in typical local daily driving. The positive results from this test indicate that we can downsize our battery pack, reducing cost and weight of the vehicle, and still achieve the 40 mile all-electric range needed for optimized typical driving.

—Jim Spellman, Raser Vice President of Business Development

The electric Hummer H3E is a plug-in electric vehicle powered by Raser’s proprietary E-REV (extended range electric vehicle) powertrain. Propulsion comes from a 200 kW Raser Symetron traction motor mated to a 4–speed automatic transmission. A 100 kW Rase Symetron generator, driven by a GM Ecotec 2.0L SIDI turbocharged engine provides electrical power. A liquid-cooled, 41 kWh lithium-ion battery pack operates at 700V and provides the energy storage.

The course used for the test included a combination of city and highway driving with an average speed of 45 mph and with speeds up to 60 mph.

It’s important to note that Raser’s electric Hummer H3E can achieve similar results to the Chevy Volt. The main difference is that our electric powertrain can be used in larger vehicles, such as SUVs and trucks. In fact, if we were to employ the method we believe was used recently by GM to estimate city fuel economy for the Volt [earlier post], the electric Hummer H3E could achieve more than 190 mpg in city driving using about 70% of the battery pack.

—Jim Spellman

Raser plans to conduct additional testing to demonstrate the vehicle’s estimated total range of up to 400 miles using the on-board range extender.