1999 Am General Hummer Base Sport Utility 4-door 6.5l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Why didn't GM recall fire-prone Hummers earlier?

As early as 2009, motorists reported fires in the Hummer H3. In a complaint filed that March with the regulatory agency in charge of vehicle safety, one motorist said they leaped into a smoldering vehicle and drove it away from gas pumps moments before it was engulfed in flames. Three months later, another motorist described how a fire spread from behind the glove box and consumed their H3. Dozens of car owners filed similar complaints with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the six years that followed, detailing car fires of varying severity that originated in the HVAC systems of their Hummer H3s. But General Motors didn't issue a recall for any of the affected cars until last week, prompting fresh questions about how the company treats safety concerns in the wake of an ignition-switch flaw that went unaddressed for years and, at latest count, is responsible for killing at least 124 motorists. In recall documents filed with NHTSA last week, GM initially said it knew of three fires associated with the defect. Within hours, the company said it knew of 42 fires associated with the problem and three injuries sustained by vehicle occupants. A company spokesperson attributed the inconsistency to a "misstated" number in the original documents and that the higher number comes from NHTSA complaints, reports to GM and TREAD data. Beyond that discrepancy, the documents show General Motors, which has touted a revitalized attitude toward safety concerns since the ignition-switch recalls, did nothing upon determining there was a problem with the H3s. Prompted by two complaints the company received in September 2014, General Motors says it launched an internal investigation related to melting blowers in the HVAC system on December 8, 2014. In that investigation, the company says it confirmed a problem existed, finding that "mismatched electrical conductivity could result in overheating and melting of the blower motor connector module." But even with that conclusion, the company opted to close its internal investigation on April 29, 2015, without taking any action. It wasn't until NHTSA officials met with GM representatives in a meeting on June 18, 2015, that General Motors was prompted to reconsider.

2022 GMC Hummer EV dimensions, clearances and off-road features explained

There are two things that almost everyone immediately thinks of when they hear the word "Hummer." And they are size and off-road capability. Looking at the numbers on the 2022 GMC Hummer EV, it seems the electric pickup has literal truck loads of each. One of the most prodigious numbers is the truck's width. See those clearance marker lights on the roof? They aren't just there for style, they're required by law due its width. At 86.7 inches, it's just a bit wider than a Ford F-150 Raptor, which is itself 6.4 inches wider than a comparable F-150. The Hummer is also 5.5 inches wider than a GMC Sierra. Length is more reasonable at 216.8 inches, which is much less than a full-size crew cab pickup (a Sierra 1500 is 231.7 inches with its 5-foot-8-inch box or 241.2 with the 6-foot-6 one). It's even 3 inches less than the Raptor SuperCab and only 4.4 inches longer than a GMC Canyon with the standard 5-foot-2-inch box. In other words, the Hummer EV is roughly as long as a midsize pickup but is wider than a heavy-duty one.  What does that mean for the cabin? With 38.9 inches of rear legroom, it falls well short of a Sierra Crew Cab's 43.4, but it's important to remember that crew cab pickups have an overkill amount of limo-like legroom. The Hummer's amount is still 3.7 inches longer than a Sierra Double Cab and 3.1 inches longer than a Canyon Crew Cab. Headroom, which was rather pathetic in the old Hummer H2, is 38.6 inches in the back seat – less than both its GMC truck siblings, but not by much. In other words, there should be plenty of space back there. Note that GMC didn't indicate bed length, frunk volume, or importantly, curb weight. We will update this should we find out answers to any of those.  Although it's big, the Hummer has plenty of features to make it nimble off road, both traditional and high-tech. One of the primary features is the height-adjustable air suspension, which offers 13 inches of travel and automatically adjusts damping for driving conditions. It has three main levels, a lowered setting for Aero Mode that helps with improving highway energy use, a default height for the normal driving modes, and a higher setting for the off-road Terrain Mode.

Hummer EV could be part of GM's move into electric trucks and SUVs

WASHINGTON/DETROIT — General Motors plans to build a new family of premium electric pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles at its Detroit-Hamtramck plant beginning in late 2021, possibly reviving the imposing Hummer brand with some of them, several people familiar with the plans said. The so-called BT1 electric truck/SUV program is the centerpiece of a planned $3 billion investment in the Detroit-Hamtramck plant to make electric trucks and vans, and part of a broader $7.7 billion investment in GM's U.S. plants over the next four years, according to a proposed labor deal between the automaker and the United Auto Workers union. The investments were made public by the UAW on Friday, but no details were provided. The investment would move the automaker into a part of the EV market that is largely untested and where GM has a higher likelihood of turning a profit, analysts said. "It makes perfect sense to hit the high end of the market in order to generate some revenue that might actually turn a profit," Auto Forecast Solutions vice president of global vehicle forecasting Sam Fiorani said. GM is mirroring the approach electric carmaker Tesla took by starting in the high end and then moving down the price ladder, he said. That is important for a company who previously tried to sell the plug-in electric hybrid Chevrolet Volt and all-electric Bolt cars at lower prices and higher volumes, but failed to sell enough to make those efforts profitable, Fiorani said. The UAW's 48,000 GM hourly workers are scheduled to vote next week on the proposed contract that would end a monthlong strike that analysts say has cost the No. 1 U.S. automaker about $2 billion in lost profit. GM's BT1 program includes an electric pickup for the GMC brand and an electric SUV for Cadillac, both due in 2023, the sources said. Before then, GM plans to begin low-volume production in late 2021 of the first BT1 model, a pickup, under a different brand, the source said. A performance variant of the pickup will be added to that brand in 2022, followed by an electric SUV in 2023. One of the sources said the Hummer name is "under consideration," but a decision has not been finalized. The pickup is codenamed "Project O." Bringing back the Hummer name would take advantage of a still strongly recognized brand name, Fiorani said.