DETROIT — General Motors plans to unveil the GMC Hummer EV on Oct. 20, exactly five months after the high-performance electric pickup originally was scheduled to make its debut.
The brand will begin taking reservations for the truck on the same date, officials said Monday, without divulging how much of a deposit would be required. Production is scheduled to begin in late 2021 at Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly, which is closed for a lengthy conversion into an EV plant.
The pickup won't be available at all of GMC's approximately 1,700 U.S. dealers, however. As of now, "just over half of dealers have elected to sell Hummer EV," Duncan Aldred, GM's vice president of global Buick and GMC, told reporters on a call Monday.
Dealers who want to sell the Hummer and other upcoming EVs that GM is developing have to invest in upgrades to their facility and go through staff training. Some dealers, especially those in rural areas and states where EVs are in low demand, have questioned the payoff of the money GM is asking them to spend.
GMC released a video Monday promoting the Hummer's Oct. 20 reveal and four-wheel steering, a feature the brand is calling "crab mode" that allows the truck to move diagonally.
GM postponed the Hummer's May 20 unveiling in Las Vegas because of the coronavirus pandemic. The rescheduled event will happen virtually. The pickup's production plan remains on schedule, officials said.
The Hummer will have multiple electric motors and numerous battery packs producing up to 1,000 hp and 11,500 pound-feet of torque.
