Hummer is making a comeback as an electric vehicle

DETROIT

The Hummer, once a gas-guzzling target for environmentalists, is making a comeback. But this time around it won’t burn fuel or spew greenhouse gases.

General Motors said Thursday that it will sell a battery-powered Hummer truck in September of 2021. At least part of the new Hummer will be shown in a 30-second television ad featuring basketball star LeBron James during the second quarter of Sunday’s Super Bowl.

GM gave only a few details about the truck, which will be unveiled on May 20. It will have a huge battery to generate the equivalent of 1,000 horsepower, and will be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds. The Hummer also will produce 11,500 foot pounds of torque, which indicates a high towing capacity.

The truck will be sold under the GMC brand as the Hummer EV. The new version will have similar design elements but will not look like the Hummer of the past, said GM spokeswoman Michelle Malcho.

GM wouldn’t reveal the price or say how far the new truck can go on a single charge of its battery.

GM likely will be able to attract former Hummer buyers if it delivers on promises of power and speed, said Sam Abuelsamid, an analyst for Navigant Research. At 1,000 horsepower, the new Hummer would be the most powerful production vehicle GM has ever made, he said.

“I don’t know that the people who bought Hummers 15 years ago would necessarily be turned off by the fact that it’s electric,” he said. “What they wanted was the big kind of brutish look, at least the perception of go-anywhere capability even if they didn’t go anywhere most of the time.”

Abuelsamid said the new Hummer will compete directly with Tesla’s upcoming “Cybertruck,” a futuristic, heavily angled vehicle that will hit the market next year with a starting price of $39,900. A tri-motor, longrange version will have a base price of $69,900.

To compete at the lower price, GM will have to offer a Hummer with a smaller battery and less than 1,000 horsepower. Abuelsamid can see GM putting a starting price of $45,000 and “going up to $80,000, $85,000 for the top-end model.”

GM also will have to exceed 300 miles on a single charge to compete, he said.