News
GMC Hummer EV vs Tesla Cybertruck vs Rivian R1T: price and specs comparison
Legacy automaker General Motors recently unveiled the Hummer EV, a monster of a vehicle that will be pitted against other all-electric trucks like the Tesla Cybertruck and the Rivian R1T. The Hummer EV isn’t just another rival in the sustainable pickup truck market. The rivalry between the GMC Hummer EV, the Tesla Cybertruck, and the Rivian R1T also represents the battle between legacy automakers and new kinds of auto manufacturers.
Price
GM seems to have gone a different route when deciding the Hummer EV’s price. GM plans to release four variants of the all-electric “supertruck:” the EV2, EV2X, EV3X, and the limited Hummer EV Edition 1. The base model’s starting price is $79,995 with a reservation fee of $100.
Each subsequent model’s price is raised by about $10,000, except the limited edition Hummer Edition 1. For example, the Hummer EV2X costs $89,995 and the EV3X costs $99,995. The Hummer EV Edition 1, on the other hand, starts at $112,595.
Tesla and Rivian’s EV pickup trucks are priced significantly less than the GM Hummer EV. The Rivian R1T starts at $69,000, though speculations suggest that the production truck will be more affordable. But even at its original price, the R1T is $10,000 less than GM’s cheapest all-electric pickup truck. Rivian’s R1T has a reservation fee of $1000.
When it comes to pricing, however, Tesla’s Cybertruck takes the cake with a starting price of $39,990 for its single motor RWD variant. Tesla set a reservation fee of $100 for the Cybertruck. Tesla seemed to go the opposite direction as the other two automakers and set the price for its top-tier Cybertruck at $69,900. This makes the top-tier Cybertruck Tri-Motor AWD more affordable than the GMC Hummer EV’s base variant.
Price may not be the main factor that sways potential customers from one EV pickup to another. GMC, Tesla, and Rivian have packed their EV trucks with the best specs and features possible. In the end, these specs and features may be the deciding factor for buyers.
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- The Rivian R1T promises to bring electrification to the luxury adventure industry. (Credit: Rivian)
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- Tesla Cybertruck futuristic aero wheel makes debut in Los Angeles unveiling event on Nov. 21, 2019 (Photo: Teslarati)
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- (Credit: GMC)
Range and Performance
When it comes to range and performance in the EV market, Tesla sets the bar high. Tesla’s in-depth knowledge in battery technology has given it a serious edge against the competition, most notably legacy automakers like GM.
For the purposes of this comparison, Teslarati will be looking at top-tier variant of each EV pickup truck. In GM’s case, the Hummer EV Edition 1 has a tri-motor setup with an estimated 350+ miles of range. According to the OEM, the Hummer EV can run 0-60 mph in approximately 3 seconds.
Rivian’s R1T pickups beat the Hummer EV’s range, reaching up to 400+ miles on a single charge. In terms of performance, the R1T matches GM’s Hummer EV with the ability to run 0-60 mph in 3 seconds.
The Cybertruck will be Tesla’s first entry into the pickup truck market, but the company certainly didn’t hold back when it came to range and performance. The tri-motor Cybertruck is expected to have an EPA-estimated range of 500+ miles and can run 0-60 mph in about 2.9 seconds.
Unique Features
When it comes to novel features, GMC has some tricks up its sleeve. After all, the legacy automaker has been in the pickup truck market for decades and has enough experience to understand what Hummer customers want. When Rivian revealed the R1T, it seemed to understand the pickup truck market’s customer base well, too.
When it comes to vehicles, utility is a top priority, most especially for pickup truck buyers. Rivian understood that useful features mattered and included features like a cleaver gear tunnel and “Tank Turn.” Both features were specifically included in the Rivian R1T with the pickup customer in mind.
The GMC Hummer EV also has some features specifically tailored for pickup owners. During its unveiling, GM introduced the Hummer EV’s CrabWalk feature which allows the vehicle to navigate tricky terrain. The legacy automaker also included adaptive air suspension.
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- (Credit: Tesla)
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- (Credit: Rivian)
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- (Credit: GMC)
Tesla’s focus has always been on sustainability, but it still managed to include some unique features in the Cybertruck. The adaptive air suspension GM announced for the Hummer EV was also seen in the Cybertruck during its unveiling.
The bed of the Cybertruck includes 110v/220v outlets, which impressed many pickup truck owners who use power tools for work or recreation. Tesla’s pickup truck also has Camp Mode, which allows passengers to sleep in their vehicles comfortably without draining the batteries.
Camp Mode is not unique to the Tesla Cybertruck. The feature is available in all Tesla vehicles. But it’s one of many features that neither GM nor Rivian has announced for their pickup trucks. Camp Mode will not be the only quirky Tesla feature that will make it to the Cybertruck, too. There are also features like Dog Mode and the multiple entertainment features available in Tesla vehicles like Caraoke.
Conclusion
Tesla and Rivian, especially the former, have forged their own path in the auto industry. Both car companies have committed to manufacturing sustainable vehicles with great performance and look good doing it.
In comparison, General Motors Truck Co. has been one of the leading car manufacturers in the world for decades and has created some of the toughest pickup trucks ever made. So it’s no surprise everyone wondered what GMC would bring to the table when it announced the Hummer EV.
Given each automaker’s competencies, the battle between the GM Hummer EV, Tesla Cybertruck, and Rivian R1T could decide the future of the electric pickup market. Nevertheless, the presence of the three all-electric trucks in the market today bodes well for the shift to sustainability as a whole. Every GMC Hummer EV sold is one less ICE truck on the road, after all.
Watch an in-depth look at the GMC Hummer EV in the video below.
Lifestyle
Tesla teases “Halloween Mode” update with Optimus rising from a graveyard
Tesla’s Halloween teaser hides a covered vehicle and an Optimus hand rising from the ground.
Tesla has started teasing a Halloween software update for its vehicles, with a short clip on X that reads, “Halloween is coming.” The clip opens on a glowing pumpkin before pulling back to the car’s center touchscreen, where the usual parked visualization has been replaced by a graveyard scene, and the vehicle draped with a white sheet so it reads as a cartoon ghost.
Halloween is coming pic.twitter.com/lM3ASUeOqX
— Tesla (@Tesla) October 1, 2026
The second detail is a robotic hand clawing its way out of the dirt like a zombie, which looks to be the hand of Tesla’s latest Optimus V3 humanoid robot. While Tesla still has not formally shown Optimus Gen 3 walking around in service, renders pulled from Tesla’s Android app last month gave the clearest look yet, including far more refined hands that Tesla has said carry 22 degrees of freedom. The hand has been the hardest part of the program. Musk has called it the majority of the robot’s engineering difficulty, and Tesla’s patents describe a design driven by tendons with the actuators moved into the forearm.
Tesla Optimus V3 hand and arm details revealed in new patents
Optimus also has a Halloween track record. Last October the robot handed out candy in Times Square, and a costumed “zombie” Optimus shuffled around the Tesla Diner in Los Angeles on Halloween night.
On the software side, Tesla’s 2025 Holiday Update expanded Santa Mode with a Santa sleigh, snowmen, snow effects, and a festive lock chime, so it wouldn’t be too far fetched if we saw something similar but themed for a Halloween Mode.
Tesla Full Self-Driving is set to receive improvements to address its two biggest issues, according to a company engineer.
Director of Engineering at Tesla AI, Phil Duan, revealed in a post on X that improvements to both pothole avoidance and navigation “are coming,’ something we have heard many times in the past. However, there are a few things that seem to hint that things might be different this time around.
Improvements on both are coming.
— Phil Duan (@pduan) October 1, 2026
Pothole avoidance, navigation, speed control, and left lane camping are some of the most prevalent and frequently mentioned shortcomings of the Full Self-Driving suite. These are a few of the biggest issues that have kept Tesla Full Self-Driving as a Supervised suite, meaning drivers must remain attentive during operation.
Pothole Avoidance
Pothole avoidance was first mentioned as an “Upcoming Improvement” with the Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.3 update back in early April of this year. It was listed alongside “Expand reasoning to all behaviors beyond destination handling.”
It’s been six months since we first saw pothole avoidance explicitly mentioned, and it has not moved beyond that and joined the main release notes yet.
Tesla has not shed any light on why pothole avoidance has been such an issue for it to solve, but it also has issues identifying large bumps much of the time, so its modeling of sudden changes in road conditions is likely pretty weak at this particular point. I’ve had more issues with large bumps than potholes, personally, but both are issues that need to be resolved.
This is that big bounce that I mentioned in the quoted post.
It’s just a tad too drastic to take at the speed FSD wants to go over it. You can see me quickly swipe down into Sloth, but I intervened. https://t.co/K20PK9ysBg pic.twitter.com/81Oc82ZJcZ
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 2, 2026
It makes sense that things might be pretty close to being released to the public, as we are going on such an extensive period of time between it being mentioned and it actually being deployed.
Navigation
Navigation is likely the most painful part of using Full Self-Driving, as it routinely takes strange routes, has trouble with local rules (like Except Right Turn Stop Signs in Pennsylvania), and sometimes does not realize that maneuvers it is suggesting are against the law. Turning out of my neighborhood, you cannot turn left, yet my Model Y still suggests it roughly 70 percent of the time when I’m leaving.
However, Tesla might be close to a breakthrough on this. With the Summer Update, Tesla added “Preferred Routes” alongside “Automatic Navigation.”
Preferred Routes prioritized roads that the driver had actually taken before, instead of always defaulting to what the vehicle believes is the most efficient path. This has already solved many of my issues. Formerly, I would turn off the Online Routing setting, and that would eliminate most of my complaints with routing, but then you lose out later on the Live Traffic Visualization.
Tesla’s Navigation has improved tremendously thanks to the Preferred Routes release with the Summer Update, but it still could use some polishing, as it still suggests strange routes from time to time, and it also has a lot of issues getting out of a parking lot. I find that those truly confuse FSD sometimes.
News
SpaceX’s midnight spy satellite launch quietly set a new record
Falcon Heavy launched its first NRO mission while SpaceX landed four boosters in one day.
SpaceX closed out one of its busiest days ever with a midnight Falcon Heavy launch from Florida, and the rocket’s two side boosters came home to finish off a landing record the company had never set before.
Falcon Heavy lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 11:54 p.m. ET Thursday carrying NROL-97, a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office. It was the first time the NRO has flown on Falcon Heavy after 22 missions on Falcon 9, and the first NRO mission bought through the National Security Space Launch Phase 3 Lane 2 contract awarded in 2025, according to Spaceflight Now.
Falcon Heavy lifts off from pad 39A in Florida for the 14th time! pic.twitter.com/uuZLKNTdD7
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 2, 2026
Roughly eight minutes after liftoff, side boosters B1104 and B1072 touched down at Landing Zones 1 and 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, setting off double sonic booms across Brevard County. B1104 was flying for the second time and B1072 for the fourth. Both last flew on August 30 on NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, making NROL-97 the quickest turnaround between Falcon Heavy missions to date. The brand new center core, B1106, was expended in the Atlantic so the payload could reach its high energy orbit, and SpaceX’s mission page noted the fairing had previously flown on the NROL-95 mission in July.
The two landings capped a record for SpaceX. Earlier Thursday, Falcon 9 booster B1101 returned to Landing Zone 40 after sending the Crew-13 astronauts to the International Space Station, and another Falcon 9 launched the Transporter-18 rideshare with 130 payloads from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Spaceflight Now reported it was the first time SpaceX has landed four boosters in a single day, wrapping up the triple header Teslarati previewed on Wednesday.
Falcon Heavy’s side boosters land on LZ-1 and LZ-2 pic.twitter.com/dBPcNeggFx
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 2, 2026
The mission also brought Landing Zone 1 back for what may be its final landing. SpaceX first landed an orbital class booster there in December 2015, but its lease on the former Launch Complex 13 site ended in 2025 as the company moved Florida landings to new pads at its own launch complexes. With LZ-40 already holding the Crew-13 booster, SpaceX brought LZ-1 back into service for one more night. Launch tracker Next Spaceflight listed NROL-97 as the final expected landing at the site.
NROL-97 adds to a fast growing stack of national security work for SpaceX. The company has flown four Space Force missions from Vandenberg since mid August, several believed to carry Starshield satellites, pushing its Pentagon contract total for 2026 past $8 billion. Elon Musk was also named this week to help lead the Pentagon’s Project Meridian study on the future of warfare.
The Florida doubleheader stood out for another reason. The Space Coast saw only one launch in all of September as SpaceX shifts more of its East Coast infrastructure toward Starship, which reached orbit for the first time on Flight 14 just three days earlier.
Tesla teases “Halloween Mode” update with Optimus rising from a graveyard
Tesla says fixes on Full Self-Driving’s two biggest issues are on the way
