Arizona man is one of first electric Hummer owners in the country

GOODYEAR, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) - Jason Kahn is one of the first people in the country to buy the new, all-electric Hummer. “I previously had two Hummer H2s, and when they released this, I knew that I wanted to get one,” he said. “I had to wait 18 months.” Kahn’s new ride was unveiled at Yates Buick GMC in Goodyear. It is one of the first 99 Hummers to roll off the line.

According to GM, the vehicle gets up to 350 miles on a charge. Kahn took 3 On Your Side for a test drive, showing off the vehicle’s tight turn radius and its new “crab walk” mode, meant for traversing obstacles. “The vehicle goes at an angle,” Kahn said. “It feels like you’re on water and floating.”

Whitney Yates-Woods says her dealership has five more Hummers on the way and 90 customers with reservations for the EV. “People are excited,” she said. “I think this breaks the stereotype that electric vehicles can’t be powerful. Obviously, this is a super truck.”

Demand for larger EVs is rising, but supply chain disruptions are slowing down production. “They need more of these rare earth metals to build those big battery packs, and they have typically more advanced technology, which means more microchips,” said Karl Brauer, an analyst for iSeeCars. “Almost every one of these kind of new hot EVs on the market right now, whether it’s the Rivian truck, whether it’s the GMC Hummer, they’ve got years of backlog now.”

According to Brauer, that backlog of new electric vehicles is driving up the cost of used EVs. “For them to be up 35.1% year over year and be seeing this kind of demand, it really does reflect a shift in consumer attitude toward EVs, driven largely by these fuel prices,” he said.

With just a few miles on his new Hummer, Kahn is already sold. “My old Hummers, they would get 12 miles to a gallon,” he said. “So, now having a Hummer that is electric is such a big benefit.”

MSRP for the electric Hummer starts at about $110,000.

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