John Sawula was suitably impressed with his ride in the 2022 GMC Hummer EV pickup on Saturday.
“Oh, wow, is all I can say. It was absolutely amazing,” said Sawula, 63, of Westland.
He had just taken the “interstellar white” truck for a spin at a special event DTE Energy had set up outside its headquarters in Detroit to let customers try out different electric vehicles.
Besides Hummer, a Chevrolet Bolt, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Ford F-150 Lightning, Polestar 2, Volkswagen ID. 4, Rivian R1T and two Teslas, Model Y and S, were available for drives along a route that looped through Corktown and back to the headquarters building outside Bagley.
The “pep and power” in Hummer was more than Sawula expected. If only the sticker price were a little lower, General Motors might have a new customer. This particular model with extras such as ambient footwell lighting and mirror projection lights with the Hummer EV logo raised the standard vehicle price from $108,700 to $112,839, which includes the $1,595 destination charge.
Instead, Sawula, a Michigan Department of Corrections maintenance supervisor at the Detroit Detention Center, will likely stick with his 2013 Ram 1500 4×4 and the $125 a week he spends on gas these days. He bought a travel trailer, but the rise in fuel prices has meant a holiday is “out of the question at the moment”.
Still, part of the goal of DTE’s event this weekend was apparently accomplished when it came to Sawula, who said the Hummer’s Vertigo blows the 5.7-liter Hemi in his own truck “out of the water.” He said he used to think electric vehicles were underpowered and incapable of pulling a trailer, but that’s not his impression anymore. The Free Press previously reported that the Hummer, with a range of 329 miles on a charge, can tow up to 7,500 pounds and has a payload of 1,300 pounds.
DTE told customers about the event via email and invited them to sign up for time slots over two days, Saturday and Sunday, but by Saturday afternoon there had been a number of no-shows, so driving was not a problem. The company said 320 people signed up.
The initial high demand for slots, however – about 450 people tried to sign up for this weekend – prompted DTE to plan an extra event for July 23.
Walk-ups are welcome 8.00. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, but there is no guarantee that you will be allowed to drive a vehicle. Rides will only be available if registrants are late or fail to show up. And of course a valid driver’s license is required.
Milena Marku, director of EV strategy and programs at DTE, said the EV ride and drive program was launched in 2019 but had to be put on hold due to COVID-19. This weekend’s Detroit event marks the first rides for the program this year.
Getting behind the wheel of an electric car helps familiarize people with what they can do and alleviate some of the issues that are often raised, such as range anxiety (the fear that an electric car might not have enough juice to get a driver to its destination ), Marku noted.
“You can take long trips in Michigan” in an electric car, Marku said, pointing to a DTE estimate of 1,000 public charging points in the state, 400 of which are fast chargers.
Most experts also note that many EVs, with ranges in the hundreds of miles, have more than enough range to meet daily driving needs.
And, of course, with gas prices such a focus these days, the cost of charging versus gassing up is a big selling point for EVs. The estimate for overnight charging on the DTE rate plan aimed at EV users equates to less than $1 per gallon of gas, according to the company. For regular unleaded gasoline, the average price per gallon Saturday was $5.07 in Michigan and $4.91 nationwide, according to AAA.
“That’s quite a savings,” Marku said.
One of the questions that is often asked about electric cars is how they will affect the electricity grid. Asked whether brownouts were possible from widespread EV adoption, Marku shook his head, “no.”
She said the company’s annual investment in its infrastructure is sufficient to meet that demand.
“We can evolve at the same pace as the need,” she said.
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For Andrew Lipps. 33, in Rochester, the event offered a chance to sample more electric cars. In the past he has driven Teslas.
He is currently leasing a Jeep Grand Cherokee L and would be interested in a vehicle with a third row like his Jeep.
Like everyone else, he experiences the high cost of fuel that “eats everyone alive.”
Lipps believes the future is electric, and he’s starting to see more options with both vehicle choice and easier access to charging stations. It’s a key development for him because “one of the biggest battles is charging,” he said.
Lipps, who is a software consultant but used to work in the auto industry, said that based on what he’s seeing now, “it’s clear that Ford and the other automakers are serious” about moving to electric cars.
Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence. Become a subscriber.
DTE information on electric cars
For information from DTE on electric vehicles and charge plans, follow this link.