Video Comparison Test! Ford F-150 Lightning vs. GMC Hummer EV Pickup

Welcome back to another one of MotorTrend's new comparison test video series, hosted by me, where we'll pitch all sorts of vehicles against one other—if it's interesting or relevant, we're gonna feature 'em here. And what's more interesting or relevant right now than EVs? And when those EVs are the GMC Hummer EV and the Ford F-150 Lightning? Forget about it.

Now, admittedly this particular video comparison test isn't as based in reality as our usual contests. It's more of a what-if scenario. As in, what if the only thing that mattered was fun? Pure, uncut, unadulterated, unfettered-by-reality, muddy fun? The excellent Ford Lightning F-150 Lariat not only won our 2023 MotorTrend Truck of the Year award, but we in fact bought the very truck in our video for a long-term test. On the other side we're looking at the outlandish GMC Hummer EV Pickup. Usually, when we do a truck comparison test, we do work. Not today. We're going to drive these two electric trucks as if we're 17-year-olds on a weeklong joy ride where there's no tomorrow.

A word about prices. Since we named the Lightning our TOTY, its price went up. In fact, if you read our see-saw battle between the Lightning and Rivian R1T, you'll note that value tipped the scales in favor of the Ford, as it undercut the Rivian's price by $7,000—just before the test the R1T's price jumped by $12,000. Well, the price of that same Ford has gone up $10K since then. If you wanted to buy a Lightning Lariat like the one living with us, you'll pay $89,514 now. That's nowhere near cheap, although have you met the $110,295 Hummer EV Pickup? That said, even at that price this electric supertruck starts to look less outrageous against the Ford's sticker. Yes, the $20,000 stack of cash separating them is substantial, but when you break it down over years of financing, they feel more in the same league.

Both trucks are fully electric, of course. The Lightning has front and rear motors that combine to produce 580 horsepower and 775 lb-ft of torque. Not bad at all. The Hummer is as much an exercise in ridiculousness as anything else, and its numbers hew closely to the first part of this sentence. Its three motors—one up front, two in the rear—combine to spit out 1,000 hp and 1,200 lb-ft of torque. Again, ridiculous.

The Lightning's battery is huge, with a capacity of 131 kWh. Like everything else about the Hummer though, its battery is comically more massive at a claimed 212.7 kWh. That's unlike anything else in the industry—it's twice as large as most regular EV battery packs. The Ford's range is rated at 320 miles, whereas the Hummer is good for only a handful more at 329 miles, despite its much bigger battery. That's because the Hummer is much, much heavier (per GMC, its curb weight exempts it from official EPA testing).

Predictably, both trucks are quick. The Lightning Lariat can hit 60 mph in 3.9 seconds, and it takes 12.6 seconds to scoot down the quarter mile. The next-level Hummer is exactly that: 3.0 seconds to 60 mph and 11.7 seconds in the quarter, where it begins to run out of steam. Braking in either is decent but not great. From 60 mph the Lightning needs 132 feet and the Hummer requires 137 feet. The fact remains, however, that the Hummer is nine-tenths of a second quicker than the Ford in the two most popular performance metrics.

We're still trying to decide if Ford is lazy or brilliant. After all, the Lightning looks almost identical to a gas F-150 because it's essentially exactly that: an electrified F-150. People who think Ford is playing four-dimensional chess will argue that producing an electric truck that looks just like a normal truck will lure in truck lovers turned off by this whole battery thing. Detractors (hi, Mom!) will point out that very few consumers are dumb enough to dislike EVs yet foolish enough to buy one because it looks "normal." The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

Unlike the Ford, with the Hummer, well, GMC's design team decided that intimidating and frightening at least half the buying public was the way to go; it's the primary raison d'être for a brand like Hummer, no? Polarization is the point. We love how purposefully cartoonish it looks, but we also understand the haters' point of view. As far as looking like a machine that can conquer any type of terrain, GMC nailed the brief. It's equal parts Hummer H2 and Lamborghini LM002: butch, muscular, and impossible to confuse with anything else.

As for how these trucks drove against each other, which one was actually the wildest, and which one we chose as our favorite in this unorthodox video comparison test? You're gonna have to watch to find out.