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Humvees are now exported to China by Bob Lutz and Henrik Fisker's company

At Auto Shanghai, a company called Humvee Export showed off its Humvee C-Series. It's not a new design, of course, as the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) has been used by the American military for decades, and versions made their way into the hands of civilians through multiple means, including via General Motors as the Hummer H1. GM discontinued the H1 in 2006, and shuttered the Hummer brand in 2010. Now, Humvee Export is building the C-Series in the US, with help from none other than Bob Lutz and VLF Automotive, to sell in China, according to Car & Driver. VLF, if you recall, is the company founded by Gilbert Villarreal, Bob Lutz, and Henrik Fisker. So far, VLF has launched the Destino, using the Fisker Karma body with a supercharged LS9 V8 engine from GM, as well as the Force 1, which is essentially a Viper-based, V10-powered supercar. Humvee Export President John Costin tells C&D that his company has contracted VLF to build its new C-Series in St. Clair, Michigan. Among Humvee Export's founders is Paul Chedid, who was once the distributor for the Hummer H1 in France. AM General, which builds the HMMWV for US and other militaries, sells C-Series kits (customers need to supply their own powertrain). VLF buys kits and finishes the build, and Humvee Export works with importers around the world to sell finished versions of the C-Series, complete with powertrain, with China being the latest market. The US is out of luck, though, as it can't be certified as a replica of a 25-year-old vehicle, thus exempting it from EPA and crash test certification under the Low Volume Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Act. Related Video:

For EV drivers, realities may dampen the electric elation

The Atlantic, a decades-old monthly journal well-regarded for its intelligent essays on international news, American politics and cultural happenings, recently turned its attention to the car world. A piece that ran in The Atlantic in October examined the excesses of the GMC Hummer EV for compromising safety. And now in its latest edition, the magazine ran a compelling story about the challenges of driving an electric vehicle and how those experiences “mythologize the car as the great equalizer.” Titled “The Inconvenient Truth About Electric Vehicles,” the story addresses the economics of EVs, the stresses related to range anxiety, the social effects of owning an electric car — as in, affording one — and the overarching need for places to recharge that car. Basically, author Andrew Moseman says that EV life isn't so rosy: “On the eve of the long-promised electric-vehicle revolution, the myth is due for an update. Americans who take the plunge and buy their first EV will find a lot to love Â… they may also find that electric-vehicle ownership upends notions about driving, cost, and freedom, including how much car your money can buy. "No one spends an extra $5,000 to get a bigger gas tank in a Honda Civic, but with an EV, economic status is suddenly more connected to how much of the world you get to see — and how stressed out or annoyed youÂ’ll feel along the way.” Moseman charts how a basic Ford F-150 Lightning electric truck might start at $55,000, but an extended-range battery, which stretches the distance on a charge from 230 miles to 320, “raises the cost to at least $80,000. The trend holds true with all-electric brands such as Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid, and for many electric offerings from legacy automakers. The bigger battery option can add a four- or five-figure bump to an already accelerating sticker price.” As for the charging issue, the author details his anxiety driving a Telsa in Death Valley, with no charging stations in sight. “For those who never leave the comfort of the city, these concerns sound negligible," he says. "But so many of us want our cars to do everything, go everywhere, ferry us to the boundless life we imagine (or the one weÂ’re promised in car commercials),” he writes. His conclusions may raise some hackles among those of us who value automotive independence — not to mention fun — over practicalities.

2022 Hummer EV Edition 1 pickups ready to go to customers

It's official: Two years after GM announced the electric GMC Hummer pickup, the first couple dozen units have left the line at the GM Factory Zero Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center, according to GM president Mark Reuss. In an interview with CNBC to celebrate the milestone, Reuss said 17 Hummer EVs are ready for delivery to customers. This makes the Hummer the first of GM's new Ultium-based EVs to leave the factory, and the second electric pickup on the market after the Rivian R1T. The first 1,200 Hummer EVs made will be Edition 1 models, all of which are Interstellar White outside with Lunar Horizon interiors and bronze badging. Each of the $112,595 pickups is powered by three Ultium motors producing a GM-estimated 1,000 horsepower and 11,500 pound-feet of torque, loaded with features like height-adjusting adaptive suspension, skid rails and rock sliders, 35-inch tires, the diagonal-driving CrabWalk, the launch control system Watts to Freedom that unlocks a three-second sprint to 60 miles per hour, and Super Cruise. Range is a GM-estimated 329 miles when the 200-kWh battery is fully charged. As these filter out to eager owners, GM is prepping the next four phases of the Hummer rollout. About a year from now, in autumn of 2022, Factory Zero will begin production of the first widely available Hummer, the EV3X pickup that starts at $99,995 before destination. Three Ultium motors will provide an estimated 800 horsepower and 9,500 pound-feet of torque to a range estimated beyond 300 miles. Spring of 2023 is expected to deliver the Hummer EV2X pickup at an MSRP of $89,995, utilizing two motors producing a total 625 hp and 7,400 lb-ft over a range also estimated to go beyond 300 miles. Around the same time, the first units of the $105,595 Hummer SUV Edition 1 are planned to head down lines at Factory Zero. Finally, in the spring of 2024, the entry-level $79,995 Hummer EV2 pickup and its two-motor powertrain should arrive, making the same output as the EV2X, but only good for a range of around 250 miles. That won't be all we see from Factory Zero, either. GM invested $2.2 billion in the Detroit-Hamtramck plant that once built bread-and-butter GM fare like the Chevrolet Impala, Buick LaCrosse, and Oldsmobile Toronado in order to turn the facility into its first EV base of manufacturing operations for Ultium products. The battery-electric Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups will be built there, as will the Cruise Origin robotaxi.