Small crossover: GMC will not get a small crossover. Such a vehicle had been penciled in for the 2009 model year, developed on a shortened version of the Theta architecture used by the Chevrolet Equinox. Chevrolet won't get a small crossover either. With the crossovers on the Theta and Lambda architectures, executives now believe the automaker has enough crossover models.

DETROIT — General Motors will give a partial glimpse of its first battery-electric pickup, the Hummer EV, in a commercial airing Sunday during the Super Bowl. But the automaker won't show the full vehicle until May.

The commercial, which will include NBA star LeBron James, will mark GM’s plan to revive the Hummer name on an electric pickup. GM plans to build it at its Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant starting in 2021 and sell it under the GMC brand.

The pickup will have 1,000 hp and go from 0 to 60 mph in three seconds, GM said Thursday. GM engineers say the truck's electric powertrain will have an estimated torque rating of 11,500 pound-feet.

Some media reports speculated that Hummer could be a brand of its own or a subbrand of GMC. But a GMC spokesman confirmed that the Hummer electric vehicle will be a nameplate within the brand, just like the GMC Sierra or Yukon.

PIn the 30-second spot, called "Quiet Revolution," GM reveals the specs as the sound at the beginning of the scene mutes to reflect the silence of the Hummer EV, a clear departure from the rugged gas guzzlers that wore the Hummer badge a decade ago.

The only part of the pickup shown in the commercial is a new version of the traditional seven-slot Hummer grille. It's illuminated with "Hummer" spelled out across the grille and a smaller GMC brand mark below it on the driver's side. GMC will reveal the pickup May 20 in Las Vegas, the spokesman said.

The automaker previewed the Super Bowl spot by releasing four videos on Thursday that include scenes from the ad. None of them include James, but a GM representative confirmed to Ad Age that James would appear in the ad.



The automaker had planned to release the full ad this week, but opted to hold off in the wake of Kobe Bryant’s death Sunday in a helicopter crash. James was close to Bryant and considered him a brother. In an Instagram post following news of Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash on Sunday, James wrote that he was “heartbroken and devastated” by the news. “Out of respect for this week’s news and all those involved, we are holding the full ad until game day,” A GM spokeswoman told Ad Age, an affiliate of Automotive News.

GM discontinued the Hummer brand in 2010, shortly after its bankruptcy restructuring. Hummer sales in the U.S. peaked in 2006 at more than 71,000 vehicles before plummeting in subsequent years as gas prices surged.