This.
Imagine the awesomeness of being able to dial each of four wheels from 0 to 100% power according to the situation. diagonally opposite, three of four, whatever you want. Even left side forward, right side back. I doubt this Hummer does that, but it would be easily in reach of the technology.
Expensive, will take some getting used to, they put out big torque and should be very good off road. may as well get used to them because they will be the only vehicle power train in 10 years.
I agree. While the Hummer specifically is far too expensive and while GM seems to be throwing whatever at the wall in the hope something sticks, the tech is proving itself thanks to Tesla. Hopefully Rivian/Ford will pull it off as well. It is exceptionally hard to imitate what Tesla has done down to writing their own software and building their own robots. I don't know if Tesla will really move upstream in lithium production, but as is, they are already the Ford T of today. For Ford, it means going back to their roots of vertical integration. At least Ford has proven they can survive tough challenges on their own.
Whatever the Cybertruck looks like, it will be a blast to drive on and off-road. Sure, too big for far too many trails to be of interest to me, but in open spaces, watch out. A mid-size Tesla truck would be very appealing to me in the 2030s once the new tech is proven enough for remote offroad use. Not that I would ever sell the 4R, but I would add a Tesla truck one day.
As for generic gas vehicles that get us around town and between major towns, I think it is starting to be dangerous to buy new ones, especially from manufacturers that already have bad resale values.
I am not sure when it will happen (who could know for sure?) but when it does, the falling off a cliff in the resale value of generic gas vehicles will likely be spectacular. Wranglers, Toyota trucks, WRXs, etc will last longer, in my opinion. But basic transportation vehicles? I don't think the gas ones have more than a decade left on economic basis alone.
And by generic, I even mean some of the best all-around gas vehicles. Think about this. For a long time, I was a poster child for Subarus. I laughed at Tesla for too long. I failed to look hard enough and see the scope and depth of what is happening. Recently, one of my closest friends was shocked when I argued that he should buy a Model Y instead of an XT Outback. The reality is that the Outback you want today (the turbo version) is not cheaper enough to justify itself vs a Model Y. And I have more faith in Tesla batteries now than I do in Subaru CVT.
Here is why electric pure plays can capture nearly everyone's excitement:
--clean;
--much less maintenance/fewer parts to break;
--exceptional road performance at a price that many can afford now;
It is enough that you care for just one of the above three, to make the switch.
The wild card is autonomous vehicles. I am not sold that these would be everywhere in just 5 years, but once autonomous vehicles do become a thing, the economics of gas ones will absolutely collapse (since gas ones cannot compete with electrics when used as much as autonomous ones will be).