GMC Hummer EV SUV vs. Mercedes-Benz G-Class EV: Electric Off-Road Showdown

• There's a lot of power between these two rigs, with both offering more than 800 lb-ft of torque.
• The G 580 is wearing summer tires, which might hurt it quite a bit off road.
• Can the tri-motor Hummer EV SUV keep up with the G 580's quad-motor setup?

The hill climb

We kicked things off in the Hummer, with its air suspension set to an increased ride height that gives the SUV 11.9 inches of ground clearance. We also left the SUV in its most basic off-road mode to see if it'd make it up the hill unassisted. Our test hill was steep, with large ruts and a loose dirt surface. And even though the Hummer has 1,200 lb-ft of torque, putting that power down to the ground can be a challenge due to the lack of grip on this surface.

In its most basic off-road mode, the Hummer got stuck pretty quickly; one wheel came off the ground and another started to spin. So we backed down the hill and put the Hummer in its Terrain setting, which deactivated the stability control allowing the wheels to spin more freely. Changing to Terrain did the trick and the Hummer walked up the hill without issue.

Then it was the G's turn, which was exciting because we haven't put a vehicle on this hill without an all-terrain tire in a long, long time. Like the GMC, the Mercedes also offers a variety of drive modes off-road and we opted for the most basic, as activating Rock Crawl mode would have put the vehicle in its low-range off-road setting by default.

Shockingly, the Mercedes didn't have to touch its other drive modes at all. It simply walked up the hill in its basic setting and we didn't even have to turn off traction control. We could feel the wheels slipping at different points but only for brief moments, as the vehicle would simply shift the power around to keep things moving. And most impressively, this all felt incredibly seamless from behind the wheel; we kept a steady throttle and the G 580 figured out its way up the hill with no drama.

In a big upset, the hill climb test went to the G. Imagine what it could do with proper all-terrain tires.

The ziggurat

The ziggurat steps show how much flexibility a vehicle's chassis has, and gives us a chance to peek at underbody protection, as well.

We tried loading the Hummer onto the steps using various height settings. In its Extract mode, you get the maximum 16 inches of ground clearance, but you lose some suspension flexibility. Still, no matter the ride height, the Hummer got to the same spot atop the second step every time.

Our test vehicle's Extreme Off-Road package meant we had a full underbody skid plate, in addition to front and rear skid protection, and some rock sliders on the sides of the SUV that double as steps. The Mercedes had optional side steps of its own, but they were plastic and not designed to support any real weight. Cool fact, though: The Mercedes has a 1-inch-thick carbon-fiber plate underneath for skid protection.

Even though the G 580 didn't have an air suspension like the Hummer, it was still easy to load onto the ziggurat, thanks to its 9.8 inches of ground clearance. And another big surprise: The Mercedes actually went ever so slightly farther up the steps than the Hummer. Another win for the G.

Getting turn't up

The Hummer EV SUV has a feature called CrabWalk, which takes advantage of the vehicle's 10 degrees of rear-wheel steering angle. It links the steering of the front and rear wheels together, allowing the SUV to move diagonally with all four wheels pointed in the same direction. This system only works at speeds under 20 mph and is meant to help this gigantic thing navigate tight trails, though it's a bit hard to imagine many real-world scenarios where it would be necessary. It's a strange sensation as a driver to turn the wheel and, instead of the nose swinging around, the whole vehicle drifts in that direction.

Is this feature all that helpful? Not really. Is it cool? Crabsolutely.

The G 580's goofy feature is called G-Turn and it takes advantage of the Mercedes' quad-motor setup to allow the SUV to spin around in a circle on the same spot. This only works on level dirt surfaces; the G actually scans the area around it to make sure those conditions are met. Once engaged, you choose the direction you want to spin in via the regenerative braking paddles and the G will do two full revolutions before stopping. It spins pretty fast and kicks up a lot of dust in the process, making this social media bait of the highest order.

Hitting the pipes

Someone dumped a pile of rocks on our usual pipes at the off-road park, but no matter, we put the GMC up to its full ride height and it just rolled over everything without a care in the world. Our test Hummer had underbody cameras that made it easy to watch the rocks pass under the SUV in real time. Things got pretty bouncy in the Hummer, but even so, this was the easiest trek we've ever had over the pipes (and rocks).

The Mercedes has great camera views of its own, which is a new development for this vehicle. There's even a transparent hood view that gives you a great view of exactly where the front wheels are placed.

However, that just meant we could more easily see the G 580 struggle. We couldn't load the G 580 in the front of the pipes at all thanks to a large rock, so we tried to come in from a different angle, and in doing so, accidentally dragged that carbon-fiber skid plate across a huge rock. So we backed the G 580 off, but did leave behind a little carbon fiber on top of the rock pile as a souvenir.

Finally, a victory for the Hummer. But …

Overall winner: Mercedes-Benz G-Class

The reality of our testing showed this: If you're looking for the electric SUV that will get you the farthest off-road, the GMC Hummer EV SUV has the highest level of capability. It will go farther off-road than just about anything. And when it comes to pure range, its 325 miles on the Edmunds EV Range Test also far outperformed the G 580's 266 miles.

But if your plans don't include rock crawling, the G 580 proved to be a champ, and it's the better of the two to drive on the street or down a dirt road. However, you will pay for the privilege: At more than $190,000 as tested, our G 580 cost about $70,000 more than the GMC. That's the price of excellence.