General Streets is gearing up to announce an all-electric pickup truck that will carry the brand of the company’s famous gas-fired Hummer, according to a report by The Wall Street Journals. It is also claimed that the new vehicle will be shown during a Super Bowl commercial starring LeBron James.
GM will sell the Hummer truck under the GMC brand from 2022 and is not expected to revive the Hummer as its own brand as it once was, according to the report. GM killed off the Hummer brand in 2010 after the financial crisis, the automaker’s government bailout, and rising fuel costs. GM and GMC representatives declined to comment on the matter at the time.
For months, rumors had swirled that GM was planning to revive the Hummer nameplate, possibly returning for an electric vehicle. The company is in the midst of a multi-billion dollar push to launch 20 new electric vehicles (in all its global markets) by 2023, and it’s showing a willingness to take big chances to achieve that goal.
To establish a joint factory with LG
GM wanted to build an electric pickup truck with the Rivian, but was reportedly turned down after the Michigan-based EV start-up sought exclusive rights to its technology. (Rivian has since struck a non-exclusive deal with Ford.) GM also sold its shuttered factory in Lordstown, Ohio to an electric truck startup called Lordstown Motors, and plans to build a $2.3 billion factory in the town, along with LG’s battery division.
GM is reviving the Hummer, which is driving SUV and pickup truck sales in the US thanks to customer demand and refueling for things like reasonable gas prices, a higher seating position and a sense of security (in addition to service).
Automakers make more profit from these vehicles. This boom in SUV and truck sales has unfortunately had a human cost for the industry in the form of a huge jump in global CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions and a dramatic increase in pedestrian deaths. While an electric Hummer might help lighten the first, replacing the second certainly won’t do much.
