GMC Hummer EV's crab mode teased

General Motors has again hyped the forthcoming GMC Hummer EV’s ‘crab mode’.

It must be a pretty cool feature to get promoted again because the go-anywhere, battery-electric 4x4 off-roader isn’t due to go into production for another 12 months.

Maybe GMC will explain a bit more about it when the Hummer – which will come as both a wagon and ute – is unveiled sometime in the next month or two.

Everything we know so far about the rebirth of Hummer – originally a military vehicle and then intended to become a stand-alone Jeep Wrangler rival until it was canned during the GFC – is here. We also covered off the Hummer’s powertrain plans here.

So the latest ‘crab mode’ tease comes in the form of a crab badge and accompanying tweet: "Real revolutionaries forge their own direction."

Perhaps significantly, the crab has a three-part body, maybe referencing the fact the Hummer can be powered by up to three electric motors producing a combined 745kW and 15,592Nm of torque (this monster figure is thought to be axle rather than e-motor torque).

So what is crab mode? It’s likely an off-road specific future that should allow the Hummer to do tight turns on loose surfaces.

It’s not a world first. For instance, we highlighted the Lexus LX 450d’s turn control function when we tested it in 2018. It locks the inside rear wheel and allows the vehicle to complete a tight circle. It’s even demonstrated in the video review.

More advanced is the forthcoming Rivian R1T. It has a ‘tank turn’, which allows it to spin 360 degrees on the spot thanks to its four hub-mounted motors. Two e-motors on one side of the full-size ute spin forward and the other two spin backward and ta-dah!

At this stage there’s no word from the new General Motors distributor in Australia, GM Specialty Vehicles, if the Hummer is on its list of future models that will come here.