General Motors reportedly will revive gargantuan SUVs, which went out of production in 2010, with electric engines

This article is more than 8 months old

This article is more than 8 months old

One of the most notorious gas guzzlers of the 1990s looks set to get a comeback – and this time in green.

General Motors is reportedly set to relaunch its gargantuan Hummer sport utility vehicles but with an electric engine. According to the Wall Street Journal GM has enlisted the NBA superstar LeBron James to promote its return with plans to air a commercial during the Super Bowl next month.

The Hummer started life as a civilian version of the Humvee, the vehicles used by the US military during the 1989 invasion of Panama and the Gulf war in the early 1990s.

Actor Arnold Schwazernegger campaigned for a civilian model after seeing a convoy of the vehicles while filming Kindergarten Cop.

Sales peaked in 2006, with more than 71,000 vehicles sold in the US. But the recession, and rising gas prices, led GM to mothball the brand. By 2008 GM was selling fewer than 4,000 a year and the brand was shuttered in 2010.

The car became a pariah as the climate crisis took center stage. A 2010 Hummer H2 could manage just 10 miles per gallon of gas.

GM’s chief executive, Mary Barra, has said she wants to pave the way for an “all-electric future” at the car company. Electric vehicle sales rose to an all-time high of 1.2m units sold between January and October 2019.