GMC Hummer EV Production Looking to Rebound After Halt
The new GMC Hummer EV is looking to return to the production line after a pause at the assembly plant. The Hummer brand has a very storied history in America, dating back to the early 1980s. The story of the modern-day Hummer started in 1983 when the Pentagon contracted AM General Corporation to develop 55,000 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles or HMMWVs. To keep things simple, this vehicle was given the nickname “Humvee,” and the military used it worldwide for various tasks. From troop transport to automatic weapons platforms, the Humvee was an incredibly capable vehicle that could do almost anything the military needed.
Around 1992, the civilian version of the Humvee went on sale as the Hummer, and it quickly spread among Hollywood celebrities as a sign of wealth. Almost overnight, the Hummer became a symbol of American overconsumption with its 8,000-lb weight and 10 mpg fuel economy. Over time, the smaller Hummer H2 and even smaller Hummer H3 aimed to change the American public’s view of the Hummer brand. Still, it wasn’t until the Hummer was discontinued and reborn as the GMC Hummer EV super truck that it truly became a vehicle that attracted nearly every buyer on the road today. Here is everything you need to know about the GMC Hummer EV and why production was recently halted.
GMC Hummer EV – price, specs, and features
The GMC Hummer EV is quite the opposite of its large, gas-powered ancestors, as detailed by History. While the original Hummer lineup was slow and the build quality was suspect at times, the GMC Hummer EV is an all-out super truck with incredible speed, luxury features, and offroad capabilities. Of course, this comes at a price, with the original 2022 model starting at $110,295, according to Car and Driver. However, this price is well worth the capabilities found within the truck. With a range of around 329 miles per charge and a 0 to 60 time of just 3.3 seconds, this is one of the fastest production trucks of all time, only being beaten out by highly modified trucks from brands like Hennessey. The GMC Hummer EV produces around 1,000 horsepower in its top-of-the-line trim, alongside self-driving supercruise, adjustable air suspension, a 13.4-inch display, and even a crab walk feature.
The GMC Hummer EV is still expensive in 2023, with the current model at the original $110,295 MSRP price tag, but the Hummer EV2 and a Hummer EV2X are set to hit dealer lots in 2024, and they will be much cheaper. Of course, these models will be less powerful and have fewer features, but Car and Driver estimates that the Summer EV2 will start at around $87,000 MSRP, putting this truck in the same price range as a mid-range F-150 Lightning.
Why didn’t GM produce any Hummer EVs in January?
According to GM Authority, GM did not produce any GMC Hummer EVs in January 2023 due to its current GM Factory Zero plant upgrades. This upgrade was necessary to equip the factory with enough tooling to produce the upcoming Chevy Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV. Production is looking to continue soon after this planned halt, and the factory is also expecting to provide a solution to an October 2022 recall, which affected Hummer battery packs. This recall allowed water to enter the battery packs, damaging the Hummer’s internals.
Right before the GMC Hummer EV’s production halted, the plant was experiencing its best production numbers, producing 1,455 units in November 2022 alone. With the GMC Hummer EV being sold as a limited-run super truck as of right now, these are great numbers, and with production restarting soon, GM hopes to bring production numbers back to where they were before the shutdown in 2022.
