Asian Tech Press (Nov 24) -- The veteran automaker General Motors Co. (GM) announced on Tuesday that it will begin delivering its Hummer electric pickup truck in December, after Rivian Automotive, a rising star in the electric vehicle industry, became the first car company to deliver an electric pickup this September.
Duncan Aldred, Vice President of Global Buick and GMC, made the announcement during a press call Tuesday.
General Motors, the top-selling automaker in North America, is increasingly betting its future on electric vehicles. Last March, the company said it plans to invest more than $20 billion in all-electric and autonomous vehicles through 2025.
In January 2020, GM announced it would reintroduce models under the Hummer brand, which had previously been discontinued. And in October 2020, the company unveiled a Hummer EV pickup called the "Edition 1," the first GM product in the line to hit the market.
The launch version has a range of 329 miles and is priced at more than $100,000. And between 2022 and 2024, GM will also deliver lower-trim versions of the series.
The company's website shows that the "Edition 1" quickly sold out soon after it opened for pre-orders. Aldred said that about 80% of the reservations for the Hummer EV pickup were focused on the "Edition 1." And of the 125,000 people who have expressed interest in the vehicle, nearly half have placed a $100 deposit to reserve it.
It's worth noting that U.S. president Joe Biden visited GM's EV plant in Detroit, Factory Zero, where the Hummer electric pickup truck is produced, and drove it himself when promoting the infrastructure bill last week.
Factory Zero is dedicated to producing zero-emission electric vehicles, and GM invested a total of $2.2 billion to convert the plant.
Besides Rivian, GM's old rival Ford, its F-150 Lightning all-electric pickup will also be available next spring, with the advantage of starting at as little as $40,000. And Tesla is ramping up construction of its Austin plant, which will also be used to assemble the long-announced Cybertruck pickup when it's finished.
Aldred also looked ahead on Tuesday to the Hummer electric SUV, expecting it to be available in 2023 and eventually become the main source of revenue for the entire lineup, accounting for roughly 60%.
