GM Opens Design Studio and Unveils Hummer X1 Concept
General Motors officially opened its new Advanced Design Studio in Pasadena, California, and to showcase the work that will be carried out at this facility, it unveiled the GMC Hummer X1 concept, which consists of a highly configurable electric midsize pickup truck and SUV.
“Every great concept begins with a conviction. Ours was this: the value of getting lost leads us to new discoveries,” said Brian Smith, outgoing director of GM’s Advanced Design Studio in Pasadena.
Born from a collaboration between GM’s Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing functions, as well as the Advanced Design Studio in Pasadena, the GMC Hummer X1 concept—which is not intended for production—serves as a test platform for new technologies, aesthetic proposals, and ways to build community around adventure, all with sustainability at its core.
The concept was conceived as a highly capable rock-crawling vehicle, designed and engineered as a modular platform and built around four pillars: reconfigurability, capability, community, and sustainability.
Configurability
The GMC Hummer X can be fully and continuously configured thanks to flexible manufacturing technology. Flex Fab enables rapid, on-demand, small-volume production—similar to 3D printing but applied to metal—without specialized stamping tools and with multiple designs produced using the same machines.
This technology gave rise to a new aesthetic for Hummer: a clean silhouette with a flat top surface, rounded edges, laser-welded joints, and visible precision screws.
The cabin is just as adaptable, with stackable screens that allow drivers to customize their digital experience, whether for rock crawling, trail riding, or highway driving.
Capability
The GMC Hummer X redefines what a midsize EV can do off-road. With a low center of gravity, extreme on-demand acceleration, Goodyear tires ranging from 35 to 37 inches in outer diameter, beadlock rims, Multimatic shocks, removable fenders, and solid underbody protection, it has the capability to take adventurers to places most vehicles simply cannot reach.
The concept was designed for what the team calls the “builder maker”—someone who not only drives a vehicle but builds it, modifies it, and shares it with a community that understands it.
To cater to this target customer, the Advanced Design group in Pasadena conceptualized Hummer Hub, a suite of connected apps designed to link drivers with their vehicles before, during, and after each trip, which also features a scout drone that can fly ahead of this EV and send real-time terrain data, as well as land and dock automatically when not in use.
