Return of the Hummer: UAE favourite’s comeback confirmed

The car built for the world’s wildest terrain will return to the Emirates later this year in a grossly souped-up format, but it won’t be the petrol pounder of days of yore

So that's all they're letting you see of the new electric Hummer. GMC

A Hummer H2. Rudolf Stricker

A Hummer SUV charges through the rough terrain of Northern Alberta in 2005, sending debris flying in all directions. Getty Images

A Hummer H1, looking similar to its army incarnation.

A Hummer H3.

Hummers gathered in a car park.

The Bollinger B1 electric vehicle, one of the new Hummer's modern-day rivals. Bollinger

This stretch Hummer might need a change of colour if it's to head into the combat zone. Chris Waits

A Hummer H3, the somewhat distant cousin of the military version. USNHTSA

A Hummer H2 sits behind a Knight XV. William Maizlin

The JLTV, which is the vehicle the US military replaced the Humvee with. AFP

Hummer H2s await delivery. Getty

A Hummer H3 driven by Rod Hall in the 2005 Baja 1000 race.

An original military Humvee in its intended environment. Getty

The Tesla Cybertruck, which is the new Hummer's best-known electric rival. Reuters

GMC has finally come clean.

Yes, it is reintroducing the Hummer range, and, yes, the new model will indeed be an all-electric affair.

Word reached the ears of The National in January that one of the UAE's favourite heavyweight SUVs was likely to reappear, but now that bit of news has been confirmed.

The crew behind the project is still keeping quiet about what this battery-powered beast will look like, but they’ve revealed a few salient statistics.

Apparently, the new Hummer will do 0-100kph in three seconds, have 1,000 horsepower, and generate 11.500 lb-ft of torque. That’ll send more than a few fellow road users scampering to the side of the road in terror.

A video ad the company has called Quiet Revolution has been released, but you’d be hard pushed to get a proper idea of what the car looks like from that.

It was first shown during Sunday’s Super Bowl LIV, which is the biggest night of the year for US TV advertising.

The Hummer was once a highly prized vehicle on Gulf shores.

It was first introduced into the UAE in 2006, with the country fast becoming the second largest market for the vehicle outside the US.

Originally a military vehicle, the civilian version was created in 1992 for the roughest of back roads. When GMC bought the brand a few years later, it renamed the car the H1 and then released pared-down H2 and H3 versions.

Sales of the range peaked in 2006 before taking a hit at the end of the decade as petrol prices spiralled. On the back of this, the company halted production in 2010.

The GMC Hummer electric vehicle will be unveiled on May 20, 2020, with the range being built in Michigan at General Motors’ Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant.