AP Photo/General Motors
Hummer H2 SUT.
- Reports are that General Motors will unveil a new, all-electric Hummer in a Super Bowl ad this Sunday.
- The reports are that the EV will be a pickup under the GMC brand, which would make it the first new Hummer since GM shut down the Hummer brand in 2010.
- This all comes as several manufacturers - including Ford, Tesla, and Rivian - plan to roll out electric pickups in the near future.
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A decade after General Motors discontinued the Hummer brand in the face of a bankruptcy, rising gas prices, and a decline in demand for the military-inspired SUV, it may soon be back in the form of an electric pickup truck.
Unnamed sources quoted by The Wall Street Journal said GM plans to revive the Hummer name for the truck, which it will show off during a Super Bowl ad featuring LeBron James this Sunday.
GM does not intend to revamp the old Hummer brand, but rather to bring back the name as an electric under GMC - a surprising move, considering the Hummer's reputation as an unabashedly excessive gas guzzler. The 2006 Hummer H3, for example, has a rated 16 mpg combined by the US Environmental Protection Agency.
But an increasing number of automakers are embracing EVs and entering the electric-pickup market. Tesla's Cybertruck, Rivian's R1T, Ford's electric F-150, and Bollinger's B2 are all slated to begin production or launch within the next couple of years, while the sources quoted by The Wall Street Journal said the forthcoming electric Hummer is projected to go on sale by 2022.
The Hummer report also follows the recent trend of carmakers resurrecting old and beloved nameplates. New versions of the Toyota Supra, Ford Ranger, and Land Rover Defender were all unveiled in recent years, and a new Ford Bronco - eliminated from the company's lineup in 1996 - will come this spring.
In honor of the Hummer's new and unexpected life as an EV, here's a look back at the brand's history.