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2018 GMC Canyon Denali isn't worth the money

In the GMC lineup, Denali is the top dog. It's the trim with all the bells and whistles, and often provides an experience comparable to Cadillac. Unfortunately that's not the case in the GMC Canyon Denali we drove recently. In the Canyon's case, the Denali trim isn't worth the price premium because it isn't luxurious enough and doesn't distinguish itself from the midlevel SLT trim. While the outside maintains the Denali look with a unique chrome grille, chrome door handles, 20-inch wheels, and big Denali badges (which a guy at a car wash immediately noticed when this editor drove past), the interior and feature set don't rise to meet the borderline Cadillac image of Denali. All GMC did to spruce up the already drab, gray, plasticky interior of the Canyon was give it black leather, some real aluminum trim, some fake wood trim, and stitched soft-touch surfaces. The aluminum and leather are nice touches, but they don't look much different from the black and aluminum-look plastic in lower trim models. The fake wood also looks really fake. They're also exactly the same upgrades as what you'll find in an SLT. But the SLT offers a dark brown color scheme as an option, which would help alleviate the dinginess, and the SLT, equipped exactly like a base Denali, costs $2,690 less at $41,575. The same issue comes up with equipment. The Denali has heated seats and steering wheel, navigation, automatic climate and navigation, but so does the SLT. The big problem here is that Denali is supposed to indicate the best, most luxurious vehicle GMC has to offer, but there's not enough differentiation — or specialness, even — to separate it from a well-optioned SLT. GMC needs to give the Denali something more. It needs some real wood trim, or perhaps some interior schemes with contrasting materials you can't find in other Canyons. It should have some other special luxury features included that can't be added to lower trim GMCs such as a heads-up display, automatic windshield wipers, push-button keyless entry and starting, things like that. The real reason to buy the Canyon Denali is really to get the prestige that the Denali badge brings, rather than the specific equipment it has — the Denali name has some value, after all. But if you can look past the badge and focus on practicality, the SLT is the runaway winner, offering the exact same experience for a notably lower price.

GM Defense shows Hummer EV-based military truck concept

GM Defense wants to convince the U.S. military that it has even more of what the military needs. During this week's Modern Day Marine 2023 exposition in Washington, D.C., GM Defense showed a new tactical vehicle concept based on the GMC Hummer EV platform. Called the Electric Military Concept Vehicle (eMCV), it uses the same Ultium platform and drivetrain as the retail Hummer EV. That means a 200-kWh battery (usable) powering three motors making 1,000 horsepower, with the two motors in back capable of torque vectoring, the single motor in front fitted with a locking diff. Upgrades over the dealership version include Fox shocks working larger 37-inch tires and heavy-duty brakes. The redrawn front and rear bumpers improve approach and departure angles. The tube chassis and lack of body panels would shed some of the Hummer's prodigious weight, nevertheless, range is reduced as a result of the other mods that reduce aerodynamic efficiency. Among said mods to the six-seater is a 46-inch gun ring and a swing side-arm mount when it's time to clock in. The estimated range drops to 300 miles from the 329 on the retail Hummer EV. Being mostly electric – more on that in a moment – the eMCV has features Silent Drive and Silent Watch driving modes could get fighters on-station with minimal noise.Plugged into a fast charger capable of 350 kilowatts, GM Defense says 12 minutes gets 100 miles of range. But when silence isn't a necessary factor, this is a series hybrid. GM Defense added a 12-kW diesel generator that can provide "limited charging and propulsion," which could also help charge "mission-critical equipment." A while back, the Army purchased a commercial Hummer EV for evaluation. The military didn't request this new concept, a GM Defense spokesperson telling Defense News it was built as a sign of potential. "We're trying to showcase what is in the realm of the possible just so we can get the discussion going and help shape [the military's] future requirements," the spokesperson said. "They get to see the different sizes and how to customize it, the different options." The eMCV sat on the trade show floor next to GM Defense's All-Electric Military Concept Vehicle, a Chevy Colorado-based Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV) powered by a 60-kWh battery juicing an e-crate motor with 200 hp and 266 pound-feet of torque. The eISV was also built as a demonstrator without military input.

GMC Sierra Denali CarbonPro bed is finally, almost here

GMC revealed the Sierra 1500 with the optional CarbonPro bed on March 1, 2018. The bed wasn't available at launch, though. You can't buy it now, either, but it will hit dealerships with limited availability after production starts in early June, exclusively for the Denali 1500 and AT4 1500 trims. The carbon floor and sides replace the steel panels in a normal bed, providing "strength, durability, and scratch resistance" and a potential 59-pound weight saving, depending on the truck's configuration. To make sure the bed had a chance, development engineers replicated "extreme use scenarios" like dropping 1,800-pound gravel loads, 450-pound steel drums, and cinder blocks from various heights. They put a 250-pound man on a snowmobile with studded tracks, had him drive into the bed and then go wide-open throttle. We're told the result was "minimal scratching." On top of the extreme weather testing any vehicle goes through, the team also put a generator in the bed and aim the exhaust into a corner to ensure vibration and direct heat wouldn't deform the carbon fiber. Because of the finer shaping area-specific strength possible with carbon fiber, the bed provides one cubic foot of additional payload space by having its sidewalls pushed further out. The CarbonPro bed doesn't need a bedliner, and is grained at the top for better traction but smooth on the bottom for easier hosing down and dirt removal. Tie-downs at the front of the bed work with molded indentations to hold motorcycle tires, and slots in the sidewalls hold two-by-sixes. The truck maker says the carbon-lined payload area confers "best-in-class dent, scratch and corrosion resistance," but we suppose the nation's pickup truck army will prove that or not. The trucks likely won't have the hardest life at the start, since the Sierra Denali costs $56,790 before even a basic option like four-wheel drive. The real test probably won't come until around 2029, when third owners begin treating their aerospace-inspired thoroughbreds like dray horses.