GM releases Q3 numbers, Bolt leads the way while Ultium finally ramps
GM has released its Q3 delivery numbers and EV sales are plugging along, most notably with a huge increase in deliveries of GM’s first Ultium vehicles, the Cadillac Lyriq and Hummer EV, suggesting that GM might finally be getting Ultium off the ground.
But compared to GM’s overall non-EV sales, the Q3 total of just over 20,000 EVs sold represents a rather small percentage for a company that has repeatedly stated it is “all-in” on EVs.
The leader of the pack for GM’s EVs, as it has been for many years now, was the Bolt. Between EV and EUV models, Bolt sold 15,835 units, up 13% from Q2. This is not quite a record quarter for Bolt – that came at the start of this year with 19,700 in Q1.
But it is quite solid, especially for a vehicle that is going to be discontinued at the end of this year. It’s not often that vehicles have their best year of sales in their last year of existence, but it looks like that’s what’s about to happen for the Bolt.
No wonder, given what a screaming deal it is at base MSRP of $26,000. And it’s not just cheap; it was also good enough to win Electrek’s Vehicle of the Year award in this last year of its existence.
But now, moving on to Ultium, things are getting a little more interesting.
GM has struggled with Ultium since the beginning, and the ramp has been slower than many would expect. Ultium-based vehicles have had pretty low sales, though it looks like that’s changing this quarter.
Last quarter, GM delivered just 47 units of the Hummer EV, its first Ultium-based vehicle. Deliveries began way back in late 2021, and sales have been slow. Its best quarters so far were 411 units in Q3 2022 and 272 in Q2 2022, but other than that, it has never sold triple-digits in a single quarter.
This probably has something to do with the truck being entirely excessive, but it also indicates that GM has perhaps had trouble getting Ultium off the ground.
But that seems to have changed this quarter, as GM delivered 1,167 Hummers in Q3, nearly tripling its previous best from last year.
Cadillac Lyriq, the second Ultium-based EV, also saw a record quarter: 3,108 Lyriqs were delivered in Q3, more than double Q2’s previous 1,348 record.
Both of these are expensive vehicles, so they’re expected to have lower sales. But this progress is still large and suggests that GM might have turned a corner on production.
This is important news since GM’s mass market Ultium-based EVs are set to be released imminently. In fact, a few deliveries were already accounted for in the company’s Q3 results.
Apparently, 19 Blazer EVs and 18 Silverado EVs were delivered in Q3. This is the first time we’ve seen either of these vehicles show up in quarterly numbers and suggests that customers should be getting cars soon. GM says it recently began customer deliveries of the Blazer and has delivered a few Silverados to fleet customers.
Chevy recently opened order requests for the Blazer EV, so we hope to see the floodgates open and big numbers to show up. The fact that Lyriq and Hummer sales have increased so much over the course of one quarter gives us hope that this might be possible.
Finally, rounding out the total 20,092 EVs that GM delivered in Q3 are 35 Zevo 600 vans from GM’s electric last-mile delivery arm, BrightDrop.
That 20,092 number is up 28% from Q2, but still small compared to GM’s overall total of 674,336 vehicles delivered, including gas vehicles. That’s just under 3% of GM’s sales that are all-electric, which even means GM is underperforming compared to the national average of around 6-7% EV sales.
It’s also barely ahead of Rivian, a startup without over 100 years of production experience like GM has, which just announced 15,654 EV deliveries, beating estimates.
GM has claimed for years that it is “all-in” on EVs and that it would have 20 new EVs by 2023. So it’s going to take several more quarters of doubling or tripling EV production, while also reducing the production of vehicles that will continue to spew toxic waste into your lungs for the whole next decade or more of their use, if GM wants to deliver on this promise of being “all-in.”
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If you’ve ever wondered what happens when you combine a fruit cart, a cargo bike, and a Piaggio Ape all in one vehicle, now you’ve got your answer. I submit, for your approval, this week’s feature for the Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week column – and it’s a beautiful doozie.
Feast your eyes on this salad slinging, coleslaw cruising, tuber taxiing produce chariot!
I think this electric vegetable trike might finally scratch the itch long felt by many of my readers. It seems every time I cover an electric trike, even the really cool ones, I always get commenters poo-poo-ing it for having two wheels in the rear instead of two wheels in the front. Well, here you go, folks!
Designed with two front wheels for maximum stability, this trike keeps your cucumbers in check through every corner. Because trust me, you don’t want to hit a pothole and suddenly be juggling peaches like you’re in Cirque du Soleil: Farmers Market Edition.
To avoid the extra cost of designing a linked steering system for a pair of front wheels, the engineers who brought this salad shuttle to life simply side-stepped that complexity altogether by steering the entire fixed front end. I’ve got articulating electric tractors that steer like this, and so if it works for a several-ton work machine, it should work for a couple hundred pounds of cargo bike.
Featuring a giant cargo bed up front with four cascading fruit baskets set up for roadside sales, this cargo bike is something of a blank slate. Sure, you could monetize grandma’s vegetable garden, or you could fill it with your own ideas and concoctions. Our exceedingly talented graphics wizard sees it as the perfect coffee and pastry e-bike for my new startup, The Handlebarista, and I’m not one to argue. Basically, the sky is the limit with a blank slate bike like this!
Sure, the quality doesn’t quite match something like a fancy Tern cargo bike. The rim brakes aren’t exactly confidence-inspiring, but at least there are three of them. And if they should all give out, or just not quite slow you down enough to avoid that quickly approaching brick wall, then at least you’ve got a couple hundred pounds of tomatoes as a tasty crumple zone.
The electrical system does seem a bit underpowered. With a 36V battery and a 250W motor, I don’t know if one-third of a horsepower is enough to haul a full load to the local farmer’s market. But I guess if the weight is a bit much for the little motor, you could always do some snacking along the way. On the other hand, all the pictures seem to show a non-electric version. So if this cart is presumably mobile on pedal power alone, then that extra motor assist, however small, is going to feel like a very welcome guest.
The $950 price is presumably for the electric version, since that’s what’s in the title of the listing, though I wouldn’t get too excited just yet. I’ve bought a LOT of stuff on Alibaba, including many electric vehicles, and the too-good-to-be-true price is always exactly that. In my experience, you can multiply the Alibaba price by 3-4x to get the actual landed price for things like these. Even so, $3,000-$4,000 wouldn’t be a terrible price, considering a lot of electric trikes stateside already cost that much and don’t even come with a quad-set of vegetable baskets on board!
I should also put my normal caveat in here about not actually buying one of these. Please, please don’t try to buy one of these awesome cargo e-trikes. This is a silly, tongue-in-cheek weekend column where I scour the ever-entertaining underbelly of China’s massive e-commerce site Alibaba in search of fun, quirky, and just plain awesomely weird electric vehicles. While I’ve successfully bought several fun things on the platform, I’ve also gotten scammed more than once, so this is not for the timid or the tight-budgeted among us.
That isn’t to say that some of my more stubborn readers haven’t followed in my footsteps before, ignoring my advice and setting out on their own wild journey. But please don’t be the one who risks it all and gets nothing in return. Don’t say I didn’t warn you; this is the warning.
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Environment
Podcast: Trump/GOP go after EV/solar, Tesla, Ford, GM EV sales, Electrek Formula Sun, and more
In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss Trump’s Big Beautiful bill becoming law and going after EVs and solar, Tesla, Ford, and GM EV sales, Electrek Formula Sun, and more
Today’s episode is brought to you by Bosch Mobility Aftermarket—A global leader and trusted provider of automotive aftermarket parts. To celebrate Amazon Prime Day July 8th through 11th, Bosch Mobility is offering exclusive savings on must-have auto parts and tools. Learn more here.
The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.
As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.
After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:
We now have a Patreon if you want to help us avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.
Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:
- Electrek FSGP 2025: New teams, new cars, same solar spirit
- Congress votes to send 2 million US jobs to China, increase deficit, energy costs
- Tesla (TSLA) confirms 384,000 deliveries in Q2 2025, right on expectations
- Tesla prototype sparks speculation: a Model Y, maybe slightly smaller
- Tesla launches Oasis Supercharger with solar farm and off-grid batteries
- Tesla unveils its LFP battery factory, claims it’s almost ready
- Here’s why Ford’s electric vehicle sales crashed by nearly a third in Q2
- The Chevy Equinox EV is GM’s breakout star, but that’s not the only surprise
- Xpeng launches G7, a new Tesla Model Y competitor for just $27,000
Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET:
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