These days, drag racing is going through an exciting era, which is fueled by the rise of EVs. As they try to convince customers, many of these battery-powered machines bring insane horsepower ratings to the game. Naturally, this challenges the ICE (internal combustion engine) dominance and sends us looking for popcorn. And we’ll need lots of it for today’s confrontation, which sees the GMC Hummer EV taking on the Lamborghini Urus and the Ram TRX.
Sure, the Ram TRX might have the Lamborghini Urus beaten in the muscle numbers race. But it’s no secret that the desert runner that is the American truck can’t match the pace of the Italian super-SUV when riding on the blacktop (the tables are obviously turned in rough terrain situations, but we digress).
So, in his quest to throw these 4×4 monsters into the drag racing arena, YouTuber Michael Hyssong of the Street Speed 717 channel didn’t need to waste too much time on making plans.
The battery-powered Hummer (1,000+ hp and 1,100 lb-ft/1,491 Nm, single-speed transmission, 9,046 lbs/4103 kg) would first battle the TRX (supercharged 6.2L V8 with 702 hp and 650 lb-ft/ 880 Nm, eight-speed automatic, 6,396 lbs/2,900 kg).
Now, we’ve already seen the otherwise mighty Hellcat-animated Ram losing to the Ford F-150 Lighting, which is more of an “iPhone of trucks” rather than a monster chasing number dominance.
So this one won’t amaze anybody: the TRX is left staring at the tailgate of the Hummer brand revival model. However, this is just half the story and we’ll return to the matter after discussing the battle against the Urus.
The Bull fight
The Urus (twin-turbo 4.0L V8 with 641 hp 627 lb-ft/850 Nm, eight-speed auto, 4,844 lbs/2,197 kg) may not pack the rugged truck form of its LM002 predecessor, but it wasted no time in putting the electric Hummer in its place. The latter put up a spectacular fight, though (e.g., slight front wheelspin at the 3:49 point of the video below).
Then again, the GMC Hummer EV isn’t the quickest production electric truck out there. That label currently belongs to the Rivian R1T (835 hp and 908 lb-ft/1,231 Nm, single-speed transmission, 7,148 lbs/3,288 kg). And while the independent numbers recorded so far would suggest that the Lambo can still take the Rivian, we’d love to actually see the two going head to head.
EV vs. ICE
Now, you’ve seen quite a lot of numbers above. Sure, there are informative and, in all the cases listed here, impressive. However, so many of them can be a bit tedious to follow. In a way, this is representative of the ICE vs EV driving experience, at least from certain car enthusiasts’ perspective.
Sure, these EVs are good at drag racing. And thanks to the instant electric torque, they can be even better in real-world acceleration scenarios, where ICE machines are sometimes at the mercy of their trannies. However, when it comes to generating emotions, the soundtrack and vibrations of the latter easily allow them to take the cake. So the choice is not that easy.
Speaking of which, we’re looking forward to seeing how Dodge may be able to challenge the said EV limitation via the muscle world. Later this year, the carmaker will unveil a functional electric muscle car concept that’s set to become a production reality in 2024. And this might just offer the most engaging driving experience you can get with a plug, at least without having to pay hypercar money for it.
