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Cadillac CT6 production ceases January 2020 as part of D-Ham layoffs

General Motors filed paperwork under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act with Michigan's Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity this week, detailing events to come at the automaker's Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant. Starting February 28, 814 salaried and hourly workers at D-Ham, as its called, will be laid off. The 753 workers represented by the UAW will begin receiving offers in January to relocate to facilities in Michigan and Ohio, or buyout offers. As the 4-million-square-foot plant winds down through April 3 to a skeleton crew, the Cadillac CT6 ceases production in January 2020, and the last Chevrolet Impala comes off the line on February 28. The loss of the CT6 represents the end of Cadillac's latest brief, and highly regarded, adventure into flagship sedans. It might also mean the end of the 4.2-liter Blackwing twin-turbo V8 engine, at least for the moment. Both casualties are calamities. The death of the Impala closes the door on a nameplate in production for 52 years since 1957, having started off as a top-tier trim for the 1958 Bel Air known as the Bel Air Impala, once advertised with the line, "Lets you know you're the boss." As part of the new four-year labor agreement with the UAW, GM is keeping D-Ham open to build a new line of battery-electric vehicles, ultimately investing $3 billion and tripling employment to 2,225 workers when fully operational. The agreement described the coming EV as a "van" that would commence production in late 2021, but various reports say what's actually coming is a range of premium EVs in pickup and SUV bodystyles under the program codename BT1. The easy predictions put an electric GMC Sierra and Cadillac Escalade among the EV fold, but not until 2023, according to auto industry forecaster LMC Automotive. Before that, LMC claims an electric van will debut in late 2021, along with a battery-powered rebirth of the Hummer brand in pickup and SUV forms, also in late 2021. 

GMC and EarthCruiser to collaborate on Hummer EV Pickup overlander project

GMC just announced a collaboration with overlanding vehicle builder EarthCruiser, and the end result is going to provide us with a co-developed Hummer EV Pickup. The photo you’re looking at above is the first teaser for whatÂ’s to come of the partnership. The Hummer team will be working with EarthCruiserÂ’s research and design division to develop an overland upfit solution for EVs that it says will initially be integrated into the Hummer EV Pickup. In case you werenÂ’t familiar with EarthCruiser, theyÂ’re the people that have made utterly wild overlanding vehicles like the Terranova, FX and EXP. Needless to say, EarthCruiser makes some pretty rad stuff, and none of it is cheap. GMC says this collaboration will look to use EarthCruiserÂ’s expertise gained from developing its vehicles to create an overlanding solution for the Hummer. We should expect to see EarthCruiserÂ’s engineering technologies integrated into the vehicle, which will allow the Hummer to go even further off-road and provide the ability for owners to live with their trucks in the wilderness.  The one snag with overlanding in EVs is the typically long journeys away from civilization. As an example, the EarthCruiser XP and EXP feature 60-gallon fuel tanks to ensure you can get to where you need to go and power the living situation for a long time once youÂ’re there. WeÂ’ll be interested to hear what GMC and EarthCruiser have to say about the challenges presented by overlanding in an EV. Already visible in the teaser image is what looks like a solar panel-filled roof and rear side pods for supplies. The concept truck will be presented in late summer 2023, and while no date for a production vehicle was provided, itÂ’s likely that the final truck will come soon after. Related video:

2022 GMC Hummer Edition 1 weighs 9,063 pounds

From the beginning, the Hummer line of vehicles has been synonymous with the phrase, "absolute unit." The M998 Humvee turned to civilian use as the Hummer H1 came with a curb weight of 7,560 pounds depending on configuration. The much more urbane Hummer H2 didn't sacrifice much of those gains, putting about 6,615 on the scales. Let us not forget that the behemoth gravitational pull and square-jawed mass were what every Hummer buyer wanted. So, starting with the brand values and customer demand, and adding the fact that electric vehicles are substantially heavier than their ICE counterparts, no one should be surprised that the 2022 GMC Hummer Edition 1 weighs 9,063 pounds. That's just one of the substantial figures GMC included in a self-certification filing submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the document rooted out by Car and Driver. Last year GMC told us the Hummer would weigh 9,046 pounds, which proves again the Freshman 15 (or 16) is unavoidable.  Loaded up with humans and their accessories, the truck's gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) comes in at 10,550 pounds. It takes a few other big numbers to keep that kind of tonnage on the go. The Ultium battery weighs 2,923 pounds. With a 617-amp-hour capacity at 400 volts, total capacity comes in at 246.8 kWh, specific energy at 158 Wh/kg. Usable capacity is about 85% less, at 212.7 kWh. For the time being, these numbers put every other pack in a production vehicle in the shade. That gargantuan chemical plant in the Hummer's floor powers a 329-mile range the same way a giant fuel tanks feed a truck that gets 8 miles to the gallon. The miles per gallon equivalent figures GMC submitted to the EPA are 51 MPGe city, 43 MPGe highway, 47 MPGe combined. Motor Trend questioned whether GM applied the correction factor used for window sticker numbers; if not, the standard 0.7 correction drops the MPGe specs to 36 city, 30 highway, and 33 combined. However, trucks with a GVWR beyond 8,500 pounds don't need to display fuel economy figures on their window stickers, so don't expect to see any such details on dealer lots. For comparison, the Rivian R1T Launch Edition weighs about 7,000 pounds, and fits a 128.9 kWh battery good for an estimated 314 miles estimated at 70 MPGe.