PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – A familiar car is hitting the streets again with a whole new look.
The Hummer has gone electric.
On Tuesday at Vera Cadillac in Pembroke Pines, the grand unveiling was held for the first Hummer EV pickup truck in South Florida.
John Zanotti is the owner of the first, and so far only, hummer electric vehicle in the area.
“I’ve had a lot of high-end cars in my life, but I’ve never seen anything remotely like this,” he said.
Since Hummers were discontinued by General Motors in 2010, the auto industry business has shifted into a new landscape.
But like a familiar franchise getting a modern reboot, the new version of this now, non-gas guzzling giant keeps a sleek design, while still reminding folks it looks and feels like a Hummer, with Zanotti letting Local 10 News try it out.
“I was never looking to get an electric car, but when I saw an electric Hummer, I said it’s going to be my first electric vehicle,” he said. “It truly feels like you’re in some sort of rocket ship.”
According to GM, the truck will drive more than 350 miles on a a full charge, but because of its size, it won’t fill up as quickly as other, smaller, electric vehicles. Depending on the charger and circuit, it’ll take hours to get back to max charge.
Either way, developers and dealers see it as a good trade-off to what came before.
Climate change and various economic factors have presented a robust atmosphere and demand for electric vehicles, something this new Hummer is hoping to take advantage of.
It’s one thing to admire it while sitting still but it’s another to see it in action.
The Hummer EV weighs about 9,000 lbs., not counting occupants or whatever extra cargo someone decides to include.
Naturally, that will bring up a question about safety, as it weighs more than most vehicles it shares the road with.
While the risk of the road is inherent, and the Hummer EV can be described as a beast, the inside draws slightly different comparisons, more aptly described as futuristic, with screens bursting behind the wheel and across the center console.
The pickup features four-wheel drive and three electric motors, and can hit a total of 1,000 horsepower.
And just when you thought a car could only go backward or forward, in a design fit for a heist movie or a fast and furious adventure, a special steering system allows for the car to be driven diagonally; the crabwalk, as it’s called.
Before you consider trading in your family car for this one, keep in mind supply is low and demand is incredibly high.
Only 1,500 vehicles of this edition are available right now in the country, and they are all sold out.
Tens of thousands more are already reserved, and new orders likely wouldn’t be filled for another couple of years.
It’s not cheap, either, with prices settling in around $100,000.