The biggest car news and reviews, no BS
Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter directly to you, every weekday.
I put quite a few miles on the 2026 Hummer EV 3X Pickup Truck this summer. It went up to lake country, went off-road, and, most importantly, carried Bramble the dog and her brother Silas around the Hudson Valley. This is the Hummer EV Pickup dog review.
The /Dog
The Drive has tested dozens of cars for dog-friendliness. Ultimately, we’ve learned you can fit (almost) any dog in (almost) any car if you try hard enough. What makes a good dog taxi comes down to ease of ingress/egress and rear-seat room. But only our specialized testing can address every big question about car and canine compatibility.
Test 1: Do Dogs Look Cool In This Car?
Absolutely.
The Hummer EV has a bit of a coolness paradox. Since its primary mission is looking cool, it’s try-hard by definition, which is inherently uncool. That said, it really is technologically impressive, once again suggesting coolness. Everywhere you go in a Hummer, people will see your Hummer, formulate an opinion about your Hummer, and be like, “yep, that’s the guy with the Hummer.”
However—dogs are a great disarmer of cultivated coolness. Even a Hummer hater will be forced to crack a smile when they see you’re sharing your Hummer with dogs.
Test 2: Can Dogs Hop In and Out?
Yes, but only if they’re super springy breeds (Australian shepherds, border collies, et al).
Bramble, at 47 pounds, can jump into a closed Tacoma bed from the ground if you offer something as tantalizing as a raw hot dog. She was able to make it into the back seat without too much difficulty. Silas, closer to 70 pounds, needed a little boost. An old dog would need a ramp. And a tiny dog would have to be lifted in.
Even with the Hummer at its lowest air-suspension setting, the bottom of the seat is quite a ways off the ground.
Test 3: Do Dogs Have Room To Ride In It?
In abundance.
The Hummer EV is so ridiculously wide that, although there are only three seatbelts, you could pretty much seat five middleweight people abreast on the back bench without really making anyone too uncomfortable. Between the bench and the footwell area, I think you could carry six pretty big dogs in the back seat alone.
As for the pickup bed, you could probably put another 10 in there. But don’t do that—dogs should really not ride in truck beds beyond on-property farm driving. The wind can work in unexpected ways, especially at highway speeds, and between the high volume of noise, hard surfaces, and lack of tethering, your pet is really not safe in a truck bed above a driveway pace.
Test 4: Is the Interior Resistant To Paws and Claws?
Yes.
I always use seat covers for car testing with dogs, but I’ve been around enough interior surfaces now to know what’ll scratch easily and what won’t. The Hummer EV’s interior is made entirely of robust materials; everything’s chunky, with no dainty details or ultra-fine surfaces that an animal would be likely to scratch.
By the same token, cleaning up dog fur wouldn’t be too bad in this thing since most of the interior is leather (doesn’t hold hair) or rubberized hard material (doesn’t hold anything). In fact, you won’t need to vacuum much at all if you take the roofs off, which brings us to our next section …
Test 5: Are There Any Special Dog-Friendly Features?
The Hummer EV has four removable roof sections called Infinity Roof Sky Panels. It’s similar to a Jeep’s Freedom Top or a good ol’ fashion T-top … two rows’ worth. As you may have noticed, whether or not you have a dog yourself, these animals tend to love sticking their snouts out of car windows and getting air ram-jetted up their noses. So, in a sense, having the roof off is the ultimate olfactory experience.
That said, I got the sense that Bramble had kind of a love/hate relationship with the Hummer’s open roof. She really seemed to love it at town speed, but when we got close to or over 50 mph, her face started to look a little pained, and she started hiding behind the first row of seats. I think it’s a “too much of a good thing” scenario. Indeed, the vibe does go from pleasant breeze feeling to Navy storm-readiness test pretty quickly as you pick up the pace.
Bramble seemed unbothered by the Hummer’s vehicle-positioning party tricks (CrabWalk and King Crab rear-wheel steering moves) but definitely would not have appreciated the full force of a 1,160-horsepower WTF Mode launch.
Verdict
Andrew P. Collins
While the new Hummer truck is capable of unsettling acceleration and genuinely shocking maneuverability, Bramble and I enjoyed it most with all the windows open at a trot of about 35 mph. With a little breeze blowing through the cabin and early evening sun glinting off the armored-looking decorative bits, driving the thing in casual conditions feels like being Master Chief on vacation.
If your dog’s spry enough to hop up into this towering battlecruiser of a car, you will both definitely enjoy roaming around sniffing the smells the world has to offer. And hey, you won’t smell any exhaust at all thanks to the fully electric powertrain!
GMC provided The Drive with a seven-day loan of this vehicle for the purpose of writing this and another review.
Automotive journalist since 2013, Andrew primarily coordinates features, sponsored content, and multi-departmental initiatives at The Drive.
