Manoli Katakis 
Russia is a country that exists. What sort of images are conjured in your mind when you think of Russia? For us, it’s a couple things: Vlad Putin, Soviet ruin porn, Lada, alcoholism, Khabib Nurmagomedov, dash cams, and wealthy sociopaths with poor taste. It makes perfect sense that this is the country where the Uran SUV is from. It makes perfect sense that there are garages in Russia full of people hard at work already making Tesla Cybertruck knock-offs. And it makes perfect sense for General Motors to reboot its regional strategy over there on the back of the 2022 GMC Hummer EV.
According to a new report from Ward’s Auto, General Motors has copyrighted the Hummer name in Russia for exclusive use in the next five years. The report notes that the Russian government hopes the 2022 GMC Hummer EV will help the market change perspectives when it comes to electric vehicles. It goes on to mention that the Russian government has set a target of 200,000 EVs, representing 8%-10% of the market, by 2025. That’s a moonshot from where things are currently in that market, as EV sales were between 10,000 and 11,000 units at the end of 2019.
But none of them could be even remotely compared to what GM is going to offer with the Hummer EV.
To recap, the 2022 GMC Hummer EV will offer as much as 1,000 horsepower, and 11,500 pounds of wheel torque. It will be offered in single, dual and tri-motor configurations, like the Cybertruck, but will have removable doors and a targa top, like a Jeep Gladiator. It will be capable of rocketing from 0-60 in just 3 seconds, which is faster than the 2021 Ram TRX. Additionally, it will have a front trunk, like the Rivian R1T, unique driver modes like Adrenaline and Crab modes, and will also come in SUV flavor.
Will the Hummer EV account for the 200,000 EV sales that Russia is looking for? Definitely not. Will it change customer perceptions? Probably yes.
