Talk about sticker shock.
General Motors (GM) started deliveries of its Hummer EV Edition 1 Pickup in December and already it appears someone looking to flip the massive vehicle for nearly three times its starting price.
It's a huge increase, but the numbers aren't that shocking when you consider how limited (and special) the car is. This isn't a marked-up Toyota Corolla or even a really hot sports car. It's a very collectible that, while probably not worth people are paying, is worth quite a bit
Rare Hummer Has 'Every Option Available'
A post on the Instagram page @americanmusclehd displayed a photo of what was described as a "Brand New Hummer Edition 1" that came "with every option available."
The vehicle is being sold for a stunning $325,000, much higher than the starting price of roughly $110,000.
However, the limited launched series is sold out.
Someone posting on a private Facebook group called Wholesale Car Club was selling a Hummer for "$310,000 or best offer."
GMAuthority noted in a post that the vehicles listed on Instagram and Facebook might be one and the same "as both are listed as being #59 in the limited First Edition production run."
A blog post from the Facebook group Essex Rebels Class Car Club said "those looking to make a good chunk of cash have already got their hands on the over-the-top EV."
People Are Flipping the New Hummer
"You had to see it coming — you just didn’t know when right it would happen, right?" the post said. "But it’s finally starting. Flippers have got their greedy paws on the Hummer EV, and one flipper is asking for a price that’s as absurd as the truck itself."
GM is looking to muscle its way into the increasingly crowded electric vehicle space that includes Tesla (TSLA) and Ford (F).
The company has decided to multiply sixfold the number of SUVs and trucks it intends to produce between 2022 and 2023.
President Joe Biden said in his first State of the Union address on March 1 that "GM is making the largest investment in its history — $7 billion to build electric vehicles, creating 4,000 jobs in Michigan."
The transition to electricity has been challenging. GM and other automakers have experienced setbacks due to supply chain problems sparked by the Covid-9 pandemic.
In addition, the surging price of nickel, a key battery metal produced by Russia, is making electric vehicle production a lot more expensive.
The price of nickel was trading at about $48,220 on Monday after briefly touching the $100,000 mark over a week ago.
The Hummer was an environmentalist's worst nightmare when the gas guzzler debuted in 1992.
Now the vehicle that David Hirsch, of Friends of the Earth in the US, once described as "the most anti-environmental vehicle in the history of the world" is being reborn as an EV.
GM said earlier this year that it has received nearly 59,000 reservations for the GMC Hummer EV.
