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Upcoming GMC Hummer EV Could Spawn Humvee Successor: Exclusive

In June, General Motors announced that its GM Defense division was awarded a multi-million contract to produce and sustain the U.S. Army’s new Infantry Defense Vehicle (ISV), a military vehicle that shares about 90 percent of its mechanical bits with the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 midsize pickup truck. Being the first major contact secured by GM Defense, the ISV is only the beginning as the division looks to future products, one of which could be a military variant of the upcoming GMC Hummer EV.

In an interview with GM Authority, GM Defense President, David Albritton, alluded to exactly such a possibility.

A teaser of the upcoming GMC Hummer EV pickup

A teaser of the upcoming GMC Hummer EV pickup

“GM has announced that it is coming out with a [GMC] Hummer battery electric truck in 2021. It’s a full-size truck with 400 miles of range, 1,000 foot-pounds of torque, a very highly-capable vehicle. That could provide a great base platform for an electric vehicle to be used in the military context,” Albritton says.

Though he specifies that there’s nothing definitive in the works today, Albritton also notes that “we’d like to position ourselves as the company that can provide those kinds of capabilities if or when they’re needed [by the client].”

Hummer H1 was a civilian version of the original Humvee (HMMWV)

Hummer H1 was a civilian version of the original Humvee (HMMWV)

GM has an intriguing history with Hummer. It all started in 1992, when AM General – an automaker focused on military and commercial sectors – began offering its High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) to the civilian market under the Hummer marque. In 1999, GM acquired the rights to the Hummer brand and continued to offer the original civilian Hummer as the H1 until June 2006.

Hummer H2

Hummer H2

The H1 was followed by the Hummer H2, which was built by AM General despite being designed and marketed by General Motors. The vehicle was launched in 2002 and was produced through January 2009. The H2 was followed by the Hummer H3, which was a full-fledged GM effort in terms of development, design, marketing as well as manufacturing.

Hummer H3

Hummer H3

GM shuttered the Hummer brand and discontinued all Hummer products during its bankruptcy. Several efforts to sell rights to the brand as well as the vehicles were made, but all ended up falling through.

A teaser of the open roof capabilities of the upcoming GMC Hummer EV

A teaser of the open roof capabilities of the upcoming GMC Hummer EV

Soon, GM will revive Hummer, though not as a standalone brand. Instead, the new Hummer will be a sub-brand of GMC. It will launch in the next year with two products – the GMC Hummer EV pickup truck followed by the GMC Hummer EV SUV. As the names imply, both models will be battery electric vehicles delivering 400 miles of driving range while offering earth-moving amounts of power and torque. The pickup is expected to begin arriving at dealers in the fall of 2021 as a 2022 model, while the SUV will appear about a year later. Both full-size, body-on-frame electric models will offer removable roof panels, healthy amounts of off-road capability and the latest in comfort and convenience tech.

If a military version of the GMC Hummer EV pickup does come to market, then it will be what the Humvee (HMMWV) was to the consumer-grade Hummer H1.

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Comments

  1. Interesting as the use of a military EV is limited to possibly just on base?

    Reply
    1. No. It would go beyond BEV. Stay tuned, more info to come.

      Reply
      1. Hey @Alex Luft, do you have ANY info or even rumors on when the new Hummer EV will drop? Anything?? I’m desperate for a bone, man…I’m getting KILLED by my Ford friends over here with this Bronco…

        Reply
        1. Sometime next Spring. Or early next year.

          Reply
  2. Blah blah blah, More corporate spin from GM who still believe their the worlds greatest carmaker, just release the hummer now not keep telling us about some maybe future release

    Reply
  3. How about just release it already and slay the bronco lol

    Reply
    1. Unfortunately, Hummer is going to be an EV-only brand and will cost at least twice as much as the Bronco. It will be placed into its own EV SUV class. As a GM guy, I want The General to jump into the Wrangler/Bronco segment, but I don’t see it happening. EV’s and CUV’s are the only two things that are running around in Barra’s brain right now. 🙁

      Reply
      1. If GM does a Hummer “Bronco” it will not start at $29,000 but good luck finding the Base Bronco or Wrangler on a Dealer Lot.
        I think GM can do a Hummer “Bronco” that can start at $40,000. That vehicle would sell like Hotcakes.

        Reply
        1. When I bought my Jeep Wrangler last month there were plenty of “base” models on the lot in Fenton Michigan. You’re not looking hard enouhgh.

          Reply
  4. I expect the Hummer line will start EV but will spread to a number of things in the line including ICE and Fuel Cell along with the BEV.

    This was a strong brand and by doing an EV version first it will help change the negative image the tree huggers hung on it at a time GM had no money to counter the claims.

    Please note the Bronco has no Ford emblem on the outside and only an embossed panel on the inside of the tail gate with Ford on it,

    For already has two models of Bronco’s out and I expect they will make this a brand under the Ford banner. This is what GM is doing with Hummer as it is a Brand under GMC this time and no expensive stand alone dealers to work with, This makes it cheaper to do and cheaper to make changes as time passes.

    The Hummer and Bronco both will be much more like Jeep with multiple off road models and I hope innovation to go with it

    The blessing for GM is they have a much bigger canvas to work with as Hummer has a look but in a wide variation vs Jeep and Bronco that have to stick closer to heritage styling that limits some things.

    Reply
    1. I hope not. I hope GM keeps the upcoming Hummer vehicles as BEV’s
      That is the only way the so called “Safe the Earth” Groups will leave Hummer alone.
      GM can use those Groups to Spin the Hummer Image. It will be advertising that GM could’t buy even if they tried. That is my opinion at least.

      Reply
      1. Well some people really do like to go off road so ICE is really needed.

        Run out of battery at Moab what do you do plug into a cactus?

        Opinions and reality can be at odds.

        A vehicle like a wrangler with a 2.7 Turbo would be very efficient and great for off road. That could do more for GM than any political correct stance would do.

        Reply
        1. @C8.R
          I am not against GMC or Chevrolet getting an ICE off road vehicle I was just specifically talking about Hummer. I think Full BEV is the ONLY way GM can go in the Future with Hummer. Have we all forgotten why Hummer died originally?
          GM cannot afford to have Hummer come back and go away again because they are viewed as Gas Guzzlers again.

          Reply
  5. GM cant figure out what to do with the other divisions, now wants to add another? Couldn’t this be GMC and let GMC have more of a identity separate from Chevrolet?

    Reply
    1. No one is adding a division. It is a brand with in GMC.

      The name equity of GMC, Denali and Hummer are all three very valuable. Run them in one division and under the GMC dealer net work and it will make the kind of money a Cadillac should be making.

      Keep in mind the Denali along hold more name equity than about any other name at GM and has pushed GMC to the top in percentage of profits at GM.

      Reply
      1. If you like GMC, fine. Just don’t be delusional enough to think it’s any better than your neighbors Chevy. I was impressed with the Sierra Denali until I opened the door and saw it was no better than the Silverado LTZ.

        Reply
  6. Really don’t care let them first release the Hummer EV (which we have been waiting for 7 months and there is still no confirmation date on when the world will see it) then let them talk about future plans.

    Reply
  7. Hey @Alex Luft, I’m not really expecting a response here lol…but have you heard ANYTHING on when the Hummer twins will be released? Anything?? Even if just a rumor, I’m desperate for a bone, man. You’d be the one for us to ask.

    Reply
  8. Hey @Alex Luft, I don’t know if you can share this…but if you can, have you heard ANYTHING on the new reveal date for the Hummer twins? Anything?? Any bone you can toss, any rumor, would be awesome, man lol. Figured you’d be the man to ask.

    Reply
  9. It appears that it’s somewhat back to their old ways at GM but a new generation of giant EV Hummers are still energy guzzlers. GM seems to have decided that electric Hummers are some kind of marketing miracle that will mitigate the brand’s reputation as the poster child for contributing to global warming/climate change. However, until we live in a world where energy is derived entirely from hydropower, wind or solar, a Hummer is still disproportionately using energy created by dirty means. Where I live, about 75 percent of my state’s energy comes from burning coal and nationwide the figure is about 80 percent coal or other fossil fuels. So unless a Hummer EV can go from Point A to Point B on the same amount of energy as a Chevy Bolt, a Hummer is still causing more coal or fossil fuels to be burned and more pollution to be generated than more reasonably sized vehicles.

    Reply
  10. GM and some of the commenters here appear to think that electric Hummers are some kind of marketing miracle that will mitigate the brand’s reputation as the poster child for contributing to global warming/climate change. Throw a battery under the same giant SUV and all is well appears to be the thinking. However, until we live in a world where energy is derived entirely from hydropower, wind or solar, a Hummer is still disproportionately using energy created by dirty means. Where I live, about 75 percent of my state’s energy comes from burning coal and nationwide the figure is about 80 percent coal or other fossil fuels. So unless a Hummer EV can go from Point A to Point B on the same amount of stored energy as a Chevy Bolt, a Hummer is still causing more coal or fossil fuels to be burned and more pollution to be generated than more reasonably sized vehicles. I seriously doubt the environmentalists are going to not notice that fact.

    The primary difference between an EV and an ICE vehicle is that with the former the energy is purchased from an outside vendor and typically stored overnight for use the next day. Whereas with an ICE, the energy is produced onboard the vehicle itself on an as-needed basis. Either way though, as our society is currently constituted, the energy production process is generating pollution and the larger and heavier a vehicle is, the more dirty energy it will need.

    Reply
  11. Ugly, Looks like rounded styling like a Toyota not boxy like a real hummer

    Reply

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