It’s happening. GM has just confirmed the rumors it will revive the Hummer as a GMC-branded vehicle. This time, instead of being an unapologetic gas quaffer, the Hummer will be an electric pickup truck.
The new Hummer will feature in a Super Bowl ad, then make its official full debut in May 2020. According to Car and Driver, GM plans to begin sales in late 2021.
The original Hummer was a testament to excess with its size and fuel consumption, but something of a slowpoke on the road. The new Hummer, though, will generate excessive power and performance. GMC claims it will produce 1,000 horsepower and 11,500 lb-ft of torque and will accelerate to 60 mph in 3.0 seconds. (No word yet on the range.)
Now, that staggering torque figure is probably not the usual engine torque number we would typically use when describing a vehicle. A vehicle having 25 times the oomph of a GMC Sierra Denali 1500 with the 6.2-liter V8 seems a bit far-fetched. We’re guessing it’s a measurement of wheel torque, as opposed to the engine torque measured in most cars. (Gas-powered cars have their engine torque multiplied by their gears, so they can actually produce thousands of pound-feet at the wheels in first gear.) So take that figure with the same grain of salt as you did Ford’s electric F-150 towing stunt.
A Hummer as an electric car may seem counterintuitive, but large trucks and SUVs are the most natural vehicles to transform into EVs, as they are large enough to accommodate the size and weight of the bulky battery packs. Rivian, for instance, is starting with a full-size pickup and a three-row SUV.
The big question, of course, is who is going to buy this new EV. Traditional Hummer diehards seem more apt to be the people ICE-ing charging points rather than using them. Will 1,000 horsepower be enough to change their minds?
