DETROIT – General Motors is beginning to ship its GMC Hummer EV pickup to customers, marking a major milestone for the automaker and its next-generation electric vehicles.
The new truck is the first to incorporate the Detroit automaker's Ultium platform, motors and batteries, all of which GM developed in-house and plans to use as the foundation for dozens of new electric vehicles in the coming years.
"We're very excited for our customers," GM President Mark Reuss said Friday during an interview with CNBC's Phil LeBeau during "Squawk on the Street."
GM is investing about $30 billion into the production and development of electric vehicles such as the Hummer pickup and an upcoming SUV variant of the vehicle through 2025. The company on Friday also confirmed the first deliveries of a new electric commercial delivery van to FedEx.
The first production Hummer EV was auctioned for $2.5 million with proceeds benefiting the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, an organization established to honor the memory of Sept. 11 first responder Stephen Siller.
Shares of GM were down Friday morning by about 7% following the company announcing the abrupt departure Thursday afternoon of Dan Ammann, CEO of its majority-owned autonomous vehicle unit Cruise. The stock closed Friday at $55.16 a share, down by 5.5%.
GM has not confirmed how many reservations it has received for the Hummer EV pickup, which a special "Edition 1" version of will initially sell for about $113,000 before lower-priced versions enter production. The company has previously said reservations for the new Hummer are fully booked through the next year.
Reuss said the company plans to build about 1,200 "Edition 1" Hummers before moving to lower-priced variations. He said GM has about 17 of those vehicles that are ready to be sent to customers.
"Those sold out here in a very short amount of time," Reuss said Friday.
The Hummer EV is the second all-electric pickup to enter the unproven, yet, emerging segment. It follows the R1T from EV start-up Rivian, which started building the vehicle at a factory in Illinois in September.
The two pickups are expected to be the first of a handful of new electric pickups in the coming years. They are expected to be followed next year by an electric version of the Ford F-150 in the spring and Tesla's Cybertruck late next year. GM also has confirmed electric pickups for its Chevrolet and GMC brands are coming in the years ahead.
