DETROIT — GM is starting delivery of its GMC Hummer electric pickup truck to customers, marking an important milestone for the automaker and its next-generation EV. The new truck is the first vehicle that integrates GMs Ultium platform, engine and battery, all developed internally by GM, which it plans to use as a basis for dozens of new electric vehicles over the coming years. DETROIT — A new era begins for General Motors today with the delivery of its first new-generation electric vehicles, the GMC HUMMER EV Edition 1 pickup and BrightDrop EV600 light-duty utility truck, both built on the Ultium Platform. BrightDrop, General Motors newest technology start-up, is on a mission to redefine commercial transportation and logistics for the all-electric future with products such as BrightDrop EV600 light commercial vehicles.
General Motors primary focus is vehicles built around the new Ultium platform, including GMC Hummer EV pickup/GMC Hummer EV SUV, Cadillac Lyriq, and Chevy Silverado EV/GMC Sierra EV, in addition to the Brightdrop commercial vehicles. ZERO factories in Detroit and Hamtramck, Mich., will be assembly-building several vehicles based on Ultium, including the completely autonomous Cruise Origin1 designed specifically for driverless hailing and delivery rides, GMC HUMMER EV Pickup and SUV2, Chevrolet Silverado EV3, and the newly announced GMC Electric Sierra Denali4. So far, electric pickup trucks are being built at factory zero in Detroit-Hamtramck; according to announcements last week, the Orion Township assembly plant will be converted as well — for Chevy Silverado EV, for instance.
The GMC Hummer EV and the Chevy Silverado trucks are going to be among the first vehicles built there. Other notable competitors include the highly anticipated Tesla Cybertruck, Rivian R1T, and an electric Chevy Silverado EV truck, which will utilize its Hummer EVs fully electric drivetrain. As in all segments of cars, Hummer EV is sure to face off against the other heavyweights of the EV truck and SUV market. The future of trucks is electric, and GMC is poised to remain a player in this space with its fully-electric Hummer EV, which is scheduled for a mid-2022 release.
Ford Motor has just begun producing the all-electric F-150 pickup and has already received reservations from customers of over 200,000. The Ford F-150 Lightning is likely to be the first electric truck that many Americans encounter — Ford sold out 200,000 reservations for the truck before the plant even started producing it. We have recently learned that GM has received a spectacular 65,000 reservations for its EV pickup trucks, but much of that impressive 65 are expected for a lower-cost configuration, a Hummer EV, to launch in the coming years. Its Hummer EV pickup has over 77,500 existing reservations, GM said, and those reservations will not be affected by the increase, since it takes effect on car reservations Saturday or later.
GM is also teasing upcoming new EVs including the Silverado small SUV, expected to be priced at about $30,000, and EV trucks from Chevy and GMC, Buick crossover SUVs, and Cadillac luxury vehicles. General Motors announced days ago another 6.6 billion U.S. dollars of investments to expand its production facilities in Michigan for electric vehicles and battery cells, and it wants production capacities for over one million electric vehicles (including 600,000 pickup trucks) in North America by the end of 2025. To grab leadership of the US electric car market, GM plans to spend $35 billion on more than 30 new battery vehicles worldwide by 2025.
WARREN, Mich. – As the world shifts from internal combustion engines to battery-powered vehicles, General Motors plans to capitalize, promising to double annual revenues by 2030 through a range of new electric vehicles, viable gas-powered cars and trucks, and services like its Electronic Driving System, which could handle most tasks on the road. GM launched a program on Monday to educate auto shoppers about electric vehicles and to target first-time buyers, as the automaker looks for ways to keep pace with — and beat — competitor Tesla. General Motors hopes that EV Live, a digital platform connecting shoppers to electric-car experts, will accelerate EV uptake and build more of a market for its new battery-electric models, including the newly launched Chevy Blazer SS.
Ford also is continuing its investments in EVs, according to reports this week, with plant conversions. Indeed, while GM has been pushing President-elect Joe Bidens blustery, ambitious plan to speed up deployment of electric cars, it has also been working – albeit somewhat quietly – to pursue building electric airplanes, trains, and delivery trucks, all powered by its proprietary hydrogen-fuel-cell batteries and technologies. With both pride and pessimism, General Motors says it has done the best it can under a California law requiring that two percent of new cars be zero-emission vehicles, which began in 1997, but the cars are not quite there yet. Tesla plans to finish its new Gigafactory, a factory that makes electric cars, in Texas this year, and recently became a $1 trillion corporation.
General Motors has a goal to only sell electric passenger cars by 2035. Critics of GM and supporters of electric vehicles say GM is afraid that electric car technology will take over the lucrative parts market, because the cars will likely eat away at their lucrative parts market, since there are significantly fewer moving parts in an electric vehicle compared to a gas-powered car. Key to GMs electric dreams is its Ultium lithium-ion battery technology, which would be integrated into a wider variety of vehicles.
