GM launches production of Hummer EV SUV

General Motors Co. began production of the 2024 GMC Hummer EV SUV on Monday and customers will start to receive deliveries at the end of the first quarter, the brand said.

The Hummer SUV will be built alongside the pickup version at GM's Factory Zero Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center. Production at the plant was halted for several weeks last year to prep for the Silverado EV.

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GMC revealed the SUV version of its beastly electric Hummer in spring 2021. Like the Hummer EV pickup, the SUV is based off of GM's new Ultium EV platform. On the SUV, the Ultium Drive System delivers up to an estimated 830 horsepower and 11,500 pound-feet of torque. The vehicle can go 0-60-mph in about 3.5 seconds with the Hummer's "Watts to Freedom" acceleration mode. 

In September, GM halted reservations of the Hummer pickup and SUV after receiving 90,000, which takes production through 2023 and into 2024, Duncan Aldred, global vice president of GMC and Buick, told media at a GMC business update event Monday.

"This is just, I think, the most sought-after vehicle in the world right now," Aldred said. "It really is a super truck as we positioned it."

Customers had to put down $100 to reserve one of the Hummers. Last June, GM upped the price on its GMC Hummer EV pickup and SUV by $6,250. 

The base price for the Hummer EV 3X went from $98,400 to $104,650. The Hummer EV 2X available this spring will be $94,650, up from $88,400. And coming spring 2024, the Hummer EV2 will be $84,650, up from $78,400. 

GMC launched production of the Hummer truck in late 2021 and through 2022 has delivered just over 850 Hummer pickups, according to GM's fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 sales report. GMC has had some hiccups with the launch. It had to recall 735 Hummers in the U.S. last fall because the enclosure on a high-voltage battery pack may not have been properly sealed, according to the automaker's recall notice to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The manufacturer had to stop delivery on the expensive trucks until the issue is resolved.

Aldred said on Monday that "news will be forthcoming" in the next few weeks on fixing the parked Hummers and delivering them to customers.

Outside of the Hummer EV SUV, GMC will also deliver its new heavy-duty Sierra and midsize Canyon pickups this year. And early next year, GMC will launch production of the GMC Sierra Denali EV.

"We did a record year last year: record market share, record prices, record brand health and we're looking to take this to another level this year," Aldred said. "And, again, we've got substance behind that belief."

khall@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @bykaleahall