Targa T-Top Truck Teased

Today’s letter is clearly “T” — as far as GMC’s concerned, anyway. With little else to show off during These Trying Times, General Motors’ truck division decided to remind the public that its plan to release a large electric pickup bearing the Hummer name hasn’t changed. Just the timing.

In said truck, which was bound for a May 20th debut before the coronavirus pandemic kiboshed those plans, gazing at the stars or taking shots at enemy aircraft in some sort of Mad Max-like post-apocalyptic scenario will be made all the more easier with removable roof panels.

The Jeep Gladiator got things started. Why should alfresco motoring be off-limits to fans of the General’s trucks?

Seems it won’t be, what with the airy greenhouse seen in a brief GMC Hummer EV video released Wednesday. A removable roof section will open up gazing area above the heads of front seat occupants (with no side bars or upper window frame to be seen), while rear-seat denizens can expect a T-top configuration, with a panel for each side. From the angle offered by the video, we can’t see the extent of the truck’s upperworks.

Given the weight of the battery needed to keep this thing on the road, rollover protection will need to be robust.

All GMC was willing to say is that the upcoming model “features easily removable roof panels to provide a unique open-air experience.” Clearly. Whether the model will tempt lower-priced buyers (an amusing thought, given the segment) with an all-metal roof or a less complex soft top remains to be seen.

GM spokeswoman Tara Kuhnen revealed to Car and Driver that the removable panels actually number four, with an equally doffable front t-bar as part of the setup. That’s all she was willing to say about the truck’s roof options, or lack thereof.

Boasting a variety of motor (and presumably, drive wheel) options, up to 1,000 horsepower, and a confused ideology, the Hummer EV won’t reach customers until late 2021 as a 2022 model. GM said recently that the coronavirus pandemic and related production shutdown hasn’t swayed the automaker from its (partly) EV-focused course. Despite low gas prices and a newly dodgy economy, the company still plans to turn Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly into an EV hub and dispense electric vehicles to all GM brands.

[Images: General Motors]