A Detroit automaker is set to make a big splash during the World Series on Tuesday night, showcasing an age-old classic updated.
General Motors will display its resurrected Hummer line, which it is touting as an all-electric “supertruck,” in an advertisement set to air during Game 1 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at 8 p.m. EDT.
General Motors plans to release the new line, which will include pickup and SUV versions, ahead of Tesla’s electric Cybertruck scheduled to be released in 2021.
President Mark Reuss told CNBC that the idea for a new electric Hummer line was conceived during a short discussion with GM CEO Mary Barra about recreating the classic model for a new generation of consumers.
During GM’s “EV Day” this year, Reuss said engineers at the company had “always wanted to do this with the Hummer” but that the truck’s gas consumption proved a sticking point until recently.
The Hummer is the centerpiece of GM’s plan to spend more than $20 billion dollars through 2025 on the creation of autonomous and all-electric vehicles.
GM bought the off-road brand in 1999 and debuted its first version, the Hummer H2, in 2002. Several years later, in February 2010, GM shut down production of the model amid a cultural backlash against the gas-guzzling truck after a failed sale to a Chinese manufacturer.
