Will GM’s Fully Electric Hummer Compete with the Tesla Cybertruck?

General Motors discontinued the Hummer in 2010 amidst the Great Recession and rising gas prices. The embodiment of American excess, the Hummer had long been a target of environmentalists, so you can imagine their surprise to see GM resurrect it 10 years later as a full battery electric vehicle (BEV) with a 350-mile range.

While Tesla famously refrains from advertising its vehicles on traditional mediums, GM went all-in this week by announcing the Hummer EV “Supertruck” on primetime TV during the first game of the 2020 World Series and the premiere of The Voice with narration from LeBron James. It doesn’t get much bigger than that, so don’t be surprised if other automakers announce new EV models during the Super Bowl or other events with high viewership (Audi’s e-tron commercial during the 2020 Super Bowl comes to mind).

With 1,000 horsepower, the Hummer EV has turned enough heads to sell out its first round of reservation spots, even at the high price of $112,595 before incentives compared to the Tesla Cybertruck ($39,900) and Rivian R1T ($69,000).

Trucks and SUVs continue to top vehicle sales in the U.S. In 2020 the top three best-selling vehicles are pickup trucks, which makes it a natural move for automakers to focus efforts on designing, producing, and advertising electric trucks as the industry shifts to an electric future.

With truck junkies eyeing the next best thing, thousands of reservations have been made for the Hummer EV, Tesla Cybertruck, and Rivian R1T, even in the absence of test drives. This type of excitement is exactly what mature industries are looking for in new technologies.

Tesla has certainly pioneered the EV market with its wildly successful Model 3 and Y, and other EV startups like Rivian have seen massive investments from the likes of Amazon and  Ford. But now, legacy automakers like GM are directly challenging Tesla’s highly anticipated Cybertruck and Rivian’s exciting R1T. The Hummer EV’s production timeline puts deliveries around the same time as the Cybertruck.

Hummer EV variants are expected in the coming years at lower price points between $79,995 and $99,995.

What you may not have heard is that GM is investing a whopping $2.2 billion in its plant in Detroit-Hamtramck, Michigan – the company’s first plant devoted to all-electric vehicles – indicating GM’s commitment to EVs. GM plans to create 2,200 jobs at the Michigan-based EV plant, a sign that the clean energy economy not often touted by President Trump will lead to more manufacturing jobs in the U.S.