Electric vehicle ownership is on the rise, and we're starting to see signs of demand outpacing supply.
One such EV that's in hot demand is the electric version of General Motors' Hummer — yes, the same type of vehicle that was enormously popular some years back, then became a symbol of gas guzzlers. Now that there's an electric version of the Hummer, it seems that drivers just can't get enough of the iconic vehicle.
Even if you were able to find one for sticker price or lower (spoiler alert: you can't), Hummers still cost a pretty penny. In 2020, it was announced that the Hummer EV would have a base price of $79,995.
An auction in Houston earlier this month saw this 2022 Hummer EV, which is in like-new condition with just 80 miles on the odometer, sell for an astounding $225,000 — more than double its listing price.
The Hummer sold in Houston isn't an outlier. It reflects just how hard it is to find an EV Hummer, particularly one that's in like-new condition. You certainly won't find one at most dealerships.
According to Fox News, under a thousand EV Hummers are out in the wild, with a waiting list of close to 80,000 people. Some quick math tells us that about 98 people are waiting for their electric Hummer for every one that's actually delivered.
An auction in Las Vegas this past summer saw this electric Hummer, with just 48 miles on the odometer, sell for $324,500. Based on this data, it seems that the market is slowly cooling — people are now paying double the retail price, whereas they were paying more than triple before.
With enough TLC and enough money, just about any car can be made road-worthy again. That must be what the buyer was going for when they spent $69,000 on an EV Hummer that had been crashed.
As we've seen, demand may have already peaked. But with EV Hummers still selling for far more than their sticker price, it'll likely be some time before you can find one for a reasonable price.
According to a Wall Street Journal story from July, GMC is stepping up its EV Hummer manufacturing capacity. This is welcome news, because at the time the story was written, just 12 vehicles were being produced each day.
Unless you're up there on the waiting list, you'll be waiting awhile. At current capacity, it'll take more than 17 years for GMC to fulfill all of its orders. Of course, increased production should help shorten that somewhat.
It's a handsome vehicle, built for off-roading with a powerful 1,000 horsepower engine. But it just seems like a feeding frenzy right now.
Let us know what electric vehicle you'd buy if you had the choice.
