Hummer EV vs C8 Corvette: Drag Race, 0-60 and Quarter Mile

This post started in May 2022 as a video of a 1,000 hp electric Hummer lining up against a C8. The video is still here, further down. What the page was missing was the numbers, so this version has them: published test results for both vehicles, why the launch is close, and why the rest of the race is not.

The Corvette wins the quarter mile by about 0.8 seconds

On published numbers the Corvette is ahead at every distance a drag strip measures. MotorTrend’s 2020 Stingray Z51 reached 60 mph in 2.8 seconds and covered the quarter mile in 11.1 seconds at 123.2 mph (CorvetteBlogger has the full MotorTrend figures). Car and Driver’s 2022 Hummer EV Edition 1 pickup reached 60 in 3.3 seconds and ran the quarter in 11.9 seconds at 106 mph (Car and Driver’s instrumented test).

The manufacturers’ own figures say the same thing with a smaller gap at the start. GMC estimated 3.0 seconds to 60 for the Edition 1. Chevrolet rated the 2020 Stingray at 2.9 seconds with the Z51 package and 3.0 seconds without it, and at 11.2 seconds in the quarter mile either way (121 mph with Z51, 123 mph without).

So to 60 mph the gap is a tenth of a second on the factory claims and half a second in the magazine tests. By the end of the quarter mile it is 0.8 seconds and 17 mph. At 106 mph, 0.8 seconds is roughly 120 feet. These are two tests run on different days, so read that as the size of the gap, not a timeslip.

Hummer EV vs C8 Corvette: the numbers side by side

The Corvette figures below belong to the 2020 model year Stingray with Z51. The 2021 and 2022 cars used the same 6.2L LT2. The Hummer figures are for the 2022 Edition 1 pickup, the 1,000 hp launch truck.

Two notes on the weights. Car and Driver listed its own Hummer test truck at 9,640 lbs (4,373 kg), heavier than GM’s 9,063 lb figure. The Corvette’s 3,647 lbs is what a Z51 test car weighed on Car and Driver’s scales. Car and Driver’s Hummer wore a $118,039 sticker.

Two rows carry the whole argument. The Hummer makes about twice the power, 1,000 hp against 495 hp. It also weighs about 2.5 times as much, 9,063 lbs against 3,647 lbs. Every horsepower in the truck has 9.1 lbs to move. Every horsepower in the Corvette has 7.4 lbs.

Why a 9,063 lb truck stays close to 60 mph

A launch is a traction problem before it is a power problem, and the Hummer is built to win the traction part.

• All four tires are driven. The Edition 1 has three motors, one on the front axle and two at the rear. The Corvette sends everything through its two rear tires.
• Electric torque is there from a standstill. The motors are rated at 1,200 lb-ft combined and do not need to build revs first. The Corvette’s 470 lb-ft comes from a V8 that has to be up in its rev range and worked through a clutch.
• While the tires are the limit, weight cancels out. A heavier vehicle presses its tires into the pavement harder and gets more grip, and it needs exactly that much more force to accelerate. With all four wheels driven, the first part of the Hummer’s run is set by how well its tires hook up, not by what it weighs.
• Launch mode sets the truck up for it. Watts to Freedom lowers the air suspension and readies the cooling system before the run.
• The Corvette is good at this too. The engine sits behind the driver and puts its weight on the driven wheels, which is why a 495 hp rear-drive car can reach 60 in 2.8 seconds at all.

That is how a truck this heavy gets within half a second of a C8 to 60. It also matches a real-world result with a Corvette on the other side. Popular Science covered a Speed Phenom test where Austin Everett ran his 2023 Z06 against a 2022 Hummer EV on a cold day. The Hummer led until about 40 mph, and then the Z06 went by. The Z06 reached 60 in 3.4 seconds, the Hummer in 3.8 (Popular Science has the write-up).

Why the Corvette pulls away after 60

Once both vehicles can put all their power down, grip stops mattering and power to weight takes over. That is where 9.1 lbs per horsepower loses to 7.4.

Then the Hummer runs out of speed. In Car and Driver’s test the truck hit its speed limiter 1,008 feet into the run. A quarter mile is 1,320 feet, so it covered the last 312 feet without gaining anything and crossed the line at 106 mph. The Corvette is still accelerating at that point and goes through at 121 to 123 mph.

The shape matters as well. The Hummer is a tall pickup on 35-inch off-road tires, and air resistance climbs with the square of speed, so the truck pays far more for every mph past 60 than a low car does.

A lot of that weight is battery. The Edition 1’s pack alone weighs 2,923 lbs (1,326 kg), according to documents GM filed with the EPA and reported by The Drive. That is about 80 percent of an entire C8 Stingray Z51.

Hummer EV 0-60: 3.0 claimed, 3.3 tested, 4.9 from a roll

The Hummer’s headline number depends on Watts to Freedom, GMC’s name for launch control. You tap the stability control button twice and confirm with a button on the steering wheel. The truck drops on its air suspension and preps its cooling, and then you launch.

GMC’s estimate for the Edition 1 in that mode was 3.0 seconds. Car and Driver measured 3.3 seconds in that mode. The same test recorded 4.9 seconds from 5 to 60 mph, which the magazine called more representative of real-world power delivery. That rolling-start figure is 1.6 seconds longer than the launch-mode run.

The truck has gotten quicker since. For the 2026 model year GMC added a Carbon Fiber Edition pickup and claims 2.8 seconds to 60 for it. That is a tenth ahead of Chevrolet’s 2.9 second figure for the LT2 Stingray. The claim covers 0 to 60 only.

What the newer Corvettes do against a Hummer EV

The 2022 matchup put the base C8 against the top Hummer EV of the day. Every Corvette added to the lineup since then is further ahead.

E-Ray. This is the one that took away the Hummer’s only advantage. It paired the 495 hp LT2 with a 160 hp front motor for 655 hp and all-wheel drive. Chevrolet’s figures were 2.5 seconds to 60 and 10.5 seconds at 130 mph. The E-Ray is discontinued for 2027, and the 721 hp Grand Sport X takes over as the all-wheel-drive hybrid.

ZR1. Rear-drive only, with 1,064 hp and 828 lb-ft from the twin-turbo LT7. Chevrolet’s testing produced 2.3 seconds to 60 and 9.6 seconds at 150 mph. That is more power than the Hummer makes, without the truck’s weight. More on that car in my C8 ZR1 review.

ZR1X. The ZR1’s engine plus a front motor, 1,250 hp, all-wheel drive. Car and Driver recorded 1.8 seconds to 60 and 8.9 seconds at 155 mph, measured with a one-foot rollout on Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R tires (Carscoops has the test details). That is 3.0 seconds ahead of the Hummer Edition 1 over the quarter mile, with a trap speed 49 mph higher. The full breakdown is in my Corvette ZR1X guide.

The video: Brink of Speed runs a Hummer EV against a C8

The video that started this post comes from the Brink of Speed channel on YouTube. The setup is a set of 0 to 60 runs between the host’s own C8 and a friend’s brand new 2022 Hummer EV pickup, the 1,000 hp truck. When I first posted this in May 2022 I listed the Corvette as a 2020 car. That makes it a Stingray, since the Z06 did not arrive until the 2023 model year.

The title asks whether the C8 gets humiliated. I will leave the result of each run to the video. The published numbers above say what to expect: a launch close enough that the Hummer can lead early, as it did against the Z06 until about 40 mph, and a Corvette that is in front by 60 mph when it launches clean.

Frequently asked questions