Sam Krahn 
General Motors is going head first into the EV market. They tested the waters with the Volt, went a little deeper with the Bolt EV, and are now truly jumping in the deep end. The GMC Hummer EV and Cadillac Lyriq are the first vehicles under GM’s EV push, using their new Ultium Drive battery and motor powertrains. And although we’ve only seen these two vehicles, a whole lot more are coming, and they’re coming sooner than we or GM first thought. GM has previously said to expect 20 or more new EVs across their brands by 2023, and CEO Mary Barra said in an interview with analysts that the rapid development of the Hummer EV and Lyriq have pushed their timeline sooner.
“We will definitely bring EVs to market faster than what the plan was a year ago. We learned a lot in the last year, and the speed at which we’re developing the Lyriq and the Hummer are evidence of that,” said Barra during the Q&A.
The GMC Hummer EV has had an incredibly quick development schedule. The project was only green light in April, 2019, meaning the truck had only been in development for 18 months before it’s reveal. And assuming it launches on time in Fall, 2021, it only has a year left of development. This is incredibly fast for an all new vehicle, especially one as groundbreaking as the Hummer.
Most of that is thanks to the modular nature of the Ultium Drive powertrains. They can be modified and swapped to work with a variety of vehicles. This will allow GM to downscale them in terms of pricing too, not all of their EV’s will be out of budget for most people. Expect EV versions of their bestsellers in each brand, or new models that slot in the same segment.
“Ultium is going to allow us to have vehicles in high volume segments,” said Barra. “We will have entries across our brands and across our segments.”
Get ready folks, electric GM vehicles are coming, and fast. The Hummer EV is just the start.
