GMC Hummer EV SUV vs. Fiat 500e: Extreme Opposites

We test a lot of different vehicles here at The Car Guide, and a funny thing happened a couple of weeks ago: two members of our staff simultaneously found themselves driving a pair of EVs that are complete opposites.

One was the Fiat 500e, an Italian city car that’s struggling mightily to attract buyers despite being the cheapest electric vehicle in Canada. The other was the GMC Hummer EV, a monstrous and highly expensive American SUV that is by all definitions larger than life. No customer is ever going to hesitate between the two, of course, but we thought it would be interesting to do a friendly comparison.

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Put the pair side by side and you can see just how big the difference in size is. The 500e is so tiny that its roof barely tops the hood of the Hummer EV. Their specs couldn’t be more different, too.

Sizing Them Up

The Fiat 500e is a small car by North American standards. With a length of just 3.63 metres, it is almost two metres shorter than the Hummer EV SUV (5.52 metres). The same goes for height: the little hatchback is 1.68 metres tall, while the giant truck stands at 2.20 metres.

A look at their batteries reveals an even bigger contrast. The Fiat 500e gets a small 42kWh pack, but the Hummer EV SUV boasts almost five times the capacity at 200 kWh. When it comes to weight, the former tips the scales at just 1,342 kg, which is pretty light for an electric car, while the latter weighs in at just over 4 tons.

As you know, weight is the enemy for electric vehicles—the heavier they get, the shorter they can travel. The 500e offers a range of 227 km, while the Hummer EV is good for just 505 km.

Small, Agile and Fun

We’ve enjoyed driving this Italian subcompact car ever since it landed in Canada earlier this year. Thanks to its diminutive weight, remarkable handling and impressive agility, it's a perfect companion around town. Remember, the 500e was designed to park in Europe's tightest spots, so it has no trouble squeezing between two SUVs in Montreal or Toronto. Also, the decently sized windows provide good lateral and rear visibility.

The cabin proves accommodating up front. The seats are rather comfortable despite lacking lateral support. The dashboard is reminiscent of the original Fiat 500, and as is often the case with Stellantis, designers have managed to incorporate some Easter eggs such as the car's silhouette embossed into the plastic of the door handles (see photo gallery). Speaking of which, we would have preferred conventional handles rather than a door-release button.

The cramped rear seats should be used as a last resort, ideally by kids. The same goes for the trunk, where a few grocery bags quickly eat all the cargo room available (213 litres). It might be fine if you're a young couple, but parents with children will have to make some compromises.

Under the hood, a single electric motor drives the front wheels. With 117 hp and 162 lb-ft of torque, performance is decent at best for everyday use. Fiat’s timid approach in the powertrain department likely has to do with maximizing range. With 0-100 km/h acceleration in 9 seconds, the 500e is no rocket. However, energy consumption can be as low as 15 kWh/100 km in city driving and 17 kWh/100 km on the highway, which is excellent. You can drive just over 200 km on a full charge in ideal weather conditions.

On the highway, we found the Fiat 500e to be less sensitive to crosswinds than its gasoline-powered predecessor. Keep in mind the weather conditions during our test week were fairly good. The story might be different during a snowstorm in the middle of February.

Considering that its primary playground is the city, the 500e handles quite well on suburban and country roads, even the rougher ones. As the days went by, we found it engaging and fun to drive.

Big, Heavy and Mighty

Whereas one must drop into the Fiat 500e, the big and tall GMC Hummer EV SUV requires you to climb up in order to access the cabin. Given its oversized footprint, there’s a ton of space inside, both front and rear. Cargo room is adequate, but frankly, we expected better. The trunk can fit 1,017 litres (or 2,316 litres with the rear seats folded) and the very high cargo floor makes it tough to load heavy or bulky items. If you need to haul more stuff, there’s a 302-litre frunk under the hood.

Sitting so high above the road makes you feel like you rule traffic. The two displays (one for the instruments and another for the infotainment system) are clear and easy to use. The fact that GMC has retained physical controls is also a good thing. And get this: the windshield is so wide that engineers had to install three separate wipers.

Blessed with rear-wheel steering, the Hummer EV SUV is actually more maneuverable around town than its ship-like size would suggest. It does an honourable job of getting around other vehicles, even in tighter spots and parking lots. On the flip side, it's a shame that the glass area on the sides and in the rear is so small, compromising visibility. Fortunately, the available cameras (including the one feeding the digital rear-view mirror) come to the rescue.

Wide Open Watts

Our Hummer EV3X SUV tester was a tri-motor unit with one motor at the front and two at the rear generating an incredible total of 833 horsepower and 1,206 lb-ft of torque. Acceleration is mind-blowing as you can imagine, especially when the aptly named WOW mode (Wide Open Watts) is activated. GM claims a time of 3.5 seconds to go from 0-60 mph (0-97 km/h), which would mean 3.6-3.7 seconds for 0-100 km/h sprints.

We didn’t have the proper equipment to validate these numbers during the week we spent with the big GMC, but make no mistake: this thing can fly. Prancing like a raging bull, the Hummer EV rushes forward like there’s no tomorrow and without a care for the longevity of its four tires. Consider yourself warned.

The CrabWalk feature, which turns the rear wheels in the same direction as the front wheels to enable diagonal moves similar to the beach-crawling creature, is amusing at first but has no real value, except maybe in certain off-road situations. We tried it once and never felt the need for it again the rest of the week.

On the road, the Hummer EV SUV proved fairly quiet and docile. Thanks to its high-profile tires and well-calibrated suspension, nothing is too much trouble. Even the roughest roads in Quebec couldn’t disturb the peace and quiet on board. On the other hand, excessive suspension travel resulted in significant body movements under acceleration and braking—to the point where it almost felt like we were riding a rocking horse, you know? Also, because of the massive weight (over four tons, remember), understeer reared its ugly end anytime we entered a corner with a bit too much speed. Let’s be real, even the best engineering in the world wouldn’t turn this vehicle into a Mazda MX-5.

Buy One Hummer EV… Or Six Fiats?

Like we said earlier, the two vehicles are not at all aimed at the same customers. Their prices provide further evidence. The Fiat 500e is the cheapest electric car on the Canadian market right now, starting at $42,190 (MSRP plus freight and PDI). It is eligible to a $5,000 rebate under the federal government’s iZEV program, as well as provincial incentives where applicable (up to $7,000 in Quebec until Jan. 1, 2025). Sounds like a good deal to us.

As for the GMC Hummer EV3X SUV, which normally retails from $147,224, the one we tested was an Omega Edition finished in Matte Neptune Blue and equipped with the All-Terrain Package that bumped its all-in price to $184,888. Obviously, no incentives are available. If you do the math and factor in taxes, you could buy six units of the Fiat 500e for the price of a single Hummer EV SUV like this one. It wouldn’t be as fun, but you’d make five new friends.