Three days before a Super Bowl ad that will introduce its first all-electric truck to the world, General Motors on Thursday released a few early details of the upcoming GMC Hummer EV.
The truck will have a maximum power of 735 kilowatts (1,000 horsepower) and 11,500 foot-pounds of torque. And GMC says it will accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 3 seconds.
The Super Bowl ad will underscore its “anticipated” power and performance—and its silence, indicated by the ad’s “Quiet Revolution” title.
The one image of the Hummer EV shows a wide, slim, full-width light bar with Hummer’s seven vertical “grille opening” lines separated by what appear to be chrome strakes. A small red GMC badge rides below the front bumper to one side.
The front design suggests the Hummer image will be radically reinterpreted for a new role as an electric pioneer—and that the laws of physics will have a major impact on the truck’s shape. Previous Hummer models resembled vehicular bricks, with aerodynamics barely a consideration.
We may learn more about the truck including how much it costs—and indeed its body style, battery capacity, charging capabilities, and other specifications—on May 20, when the GMC Hummer EV will officially debut.
The electric Hummer will be the first of a suite of “BEV3” electric vehicles in different body styles, from multiple brands, over the next several years. Others include a future all-electric Cadillac luxury SUV, which was previewed at the Detroit auto show in January 2019.
GMC’s electric truck will be built in GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck plant, which will build only electric vehicles starting next year. And it will be profitable from the first day, per an interview with GM president Mark Reuss earlier this week.
As 2020 launches, GM has discussed its future electric-vehicle efforts as its “all-electric future.” Until now, any details at all about the products that will take the company toward that goal have been few and far between.
There may still be one more EV to come before the Hummer EV launch. It would be related to the earlier Chevrolet Bolt EV—which remains GM’s only electric car on sale today. It’s unclear whether the long-rumored, all-wheel-drive derivative built on the “BEV2” Bolt EV architecture will actually debut. If it does, it will likely be the last vehicle on Bolt underpinnings before the first of the “BEV3” vehicles start to arrive from Hamtramck in the second part of 2021.