GM is the second best-selling EV brand in the US after topping Ford in the third quarter. With EV prices coming down, GM took a shot at its rival on Tuesday, saying it “doesn’t need a skunkworks team to create affordable EVs.”
GM overtakes Ford as America’s number two EV brand
“We’re now the number two seller of EVs in North America,” GM boasted during its 2024 Investor Day on Tuesday.
After selling a record 32,095 electric vehicles in Q3, GM officially overtook Ford through the first nine months of 2024. GM has sold 70,450 EVs in the US through September, while Ford has sold 67,689.
Ford’s EV sales also increased but by much less. The company sold 23,509 EVs in the third quarter, up 12% from Q3 2023 but less than the nearly 24,000 sold in Q2 2024.
GM told investors on Tuesday that new models are helping improve EV profits. With “the most diverse EV portfolio in the industry,” the company is taking EV market share from rivals.
The portfolio includes a wide range of vehicles, including affordable models like the Chevy Equinox, luxury EVs such as the Cadillac Lyriq, and electric pickups including the GMC Hummer EV, Chevy Silverado EV, and GMC Sierra EV.
Chevy Silverado (left), Equinox (middle), and Blazer (right) EVs at a Tesla Supercharger (Source: GM)
New models are driving demand while lowing costs
GM will continue launching new EVs, including the Cadillac VISTIQ and OPTIQ. The iconic Chevy Bolt EV will also make its return in late 2025.
GM’s president, Mark Reuss, confirmed the next-gen Bolt EV will launch next year. Reuss said the new model will be part of a “family of Bolts,” including an even lower-priced version. It will initially start slightly higher than the previous $28,785 Bolt EUV but features faster charging. Reuss claims the upcoming Bolt will be “a moneymaker” for GM.
2024 Chevy Blazer EV RS (Source: GM)
The new long-range models are expected to drive demand. GM claimed, “Our EV economics will improve as volume increases,” adding, “We’re nearing the crossover point to profitability for EV sales.”
GM added EV prices are coming down due to declining battery cell costs. As a result, GM said it reduced fixed costs by over $2 billion over the last two years.
From left to right: 2025 GMC Sierra EV Elevation, 2025 GMC Sierra EV AT4, 2024 GMC Sierra EV Denali Edition 1 (Source: GMC)
While rival Ford has a “skunkworks” team in California, filled with ex-Tesla, Rivian, and Apple execs, developing a low-cost platform, GM said it’s ahead of the game.
Reuss took a shot at Ford at the event, saying, “We don’t need to create a skunkworks to create affordable electric vehicles.” He added, “We know how to do this.”
Despite cutting its EV production goal, GM still expects its EVs to achieve positive variable profitability by the end of 2024.
Chevy Silverado EV LT trim (Source: Chevrolet)
Moving forward, GM plans to drop the Ultium name from its batteries and launch new chemistries to cut costs.
On Monday, Chevy launched the long-awaited lower-priced 2025 Silverado EV LT. The new electric pickup features over 400 miles range with a $75,195 starting price tag.
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Tesla’s brand damage is eroding the value of used Tesla vehicles at a rapid rate, as owners rush to sell theirs.
It is breaking the used Tesla market as prices are plunging just as the broader used car market is recovering.
After a few tough years for the used car market following the pandemic, it is finally starting to recover over the last month.
Economic uncertainty and a fear of higher inflation due to Trump’s tariffs are prompting some buyers to shift from the new car market to the used car market.
According to Car Guru‘s used car index, used car prices have risen an impressive 2.17% in the last 30 days alone.
However, there’s an exception: Tesla.
The price of used Tesla vehicles has been falling, like the rest of the used car market, since the pandemic; however, it is not benefiting from the reversal in the current macroeconomic situation.
While average used car prices rose more than 2% in the last 30 days, Tesla’s used car prices decreased by 1.34% in the US.
That’s due to oversupply, as many Tesla owners are selling their vehicles to distance themselves from the Tesla brand, which is associated with CEO Elon Musk and his increasingly divisive political views.
The demand to sell used Tesla vehicles is so high that many used car dealers, who had been fighting to acquire inventory just a year prior, are starting to be reticent about buying Tesla vehicles as the value decreases so rapidly.
In Quebec, Le Journal de Montréal spoke with local used car dealers and attended a car auction where many Tesla vehicles were up for sale, with some selling for half the price they were selling for just over a year ago.
Éric Piuze, owner of a used car dealership on Montreal’s South Shore, said (translated from French):
“People don’t want them anymore. The Elon Musk effect is very real in Quebec.”
The used car dealers at the auction noted that they are not confident they can sell the used Tesla quickly enough to avoid further value decreases.
Furthermore, they note that potential buyers are lowballing on Tesla vehicles because they are aware that inventory is high, creating a buyer’s market.
Dealers are also seeing higher defaults on Tesla car payments, as buyers who took on debt to purchase them just a few years ago struggle to make payments.
Piuze added (translated from French):
People paid a lot of money for Teslas. During the pandemic, we saw many people remortgaging their homes to buy a Tesla. Those days are over.
At its peak, the average used Tesla price was over $60,000 in 2022. Now, the same vehicles are worth a fraction, but their car payments are still high.
Electrek’s Take
Even with the used car market finally getting a breather from crashing prices, Tesla vehicles are not benefiting at all. This highlights a significant issue in the used Tesla market. It’s broken.
The market can’t absorb the surge in people selling their Tesla vehicles.
I wouldn’t want to be a company holding a fleet of Tesla vehicles right now. The value erosion is impressive.
I thought that maybe the Cybertruck was dragging the entire Tesla market down, with a 6.64% decrease in used value over the last 30 days. However, the Model Y alone saw a 1.67% decrease during the same period.
The good news is that the vast majority of people selling their used Tesla vehicles are purchasing other electric vehicles, thereby boosting the EV market. It’s also giving people the chance to get into Tesla vehicles for cheaper, although they should expect the value of those vehicles to decrease rapidly.
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The new flagship Q-Range electric drive cone plant from the quarry experts at Sandvik is engineered to be safe, quiet, and tough enough to operate in the most hostile environments the mining and quarrying industries can put it in.
Cone crushers enhance quarrying efficiency by enabling operators to crush rock, stone, and ore down to a precise size. In ELI5 terms, big rocks go into the top of the plant. Inside, a cone-shaped mantle moves inside a larger cone in an eccentric circle that grinds up the stone and ore between the mantle and the cone’s sides, breaking them up into smaller pieces. Once the pieces are ground to a given size determined by the position of the mantle within the larger cone, they fall out into a cone-shaped pile (but that’s just a coincidence).
Basic mechanisms of cone crusher
The “how it works” version.
The cone crusher is part of a broader “train” of machines on a quarry that work together to turn a massive rock face into a fine sand and/or anything in between. With the launch of the QH443E electric cone plant, Sandvik now offers mine operators a fully electric driven train – one that includes the UJ443E fully electric jaw crusher launched in 2023, the QE342e hybrid scalper, and the QA452e hybrid triple-deck Doublescreen launched in 2022 (if you want to know more about how those work, let us know in the comments).
The new QH443E features a new heavy-duty feeder design equipped with electrically driven components, which can be powered by batteries, or a connection to grid power. An on-board diesel generator capable of running on 100% HVO (hydrogenated vegetable oil), providing a number of more sustainable fuel choices and effectively reducing the mine’s operating costs.
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Sandvik claims the electric delivers a 25% fuel savings on generator (and, obviously, 100% on grid or battery power), as well as a 78% reduction in oil usage compared to previous generations.
The new crusher bridges the gap between tracked mobile, wheeled portable, and stationary cone plants by combining electric drives and track mobility on a single platform. The QH443E uses Optik intuitive automation system and My Fleet remote monitoring software hooked to a suite of sensors that provide 24/7 telematics, geo-fencing, and remote-operator support that’s designed to ensure continuous crushing and optimal performance.
Those sensors also help drive innovations in safety, as well. “Safety is paramount in the design of the QH443E,” said Sandvik, in a statement. “The unit includes remote camera viewing of the crushing chamber, 270 degree access around the crusher for easy maintenance and mandatory audible and visual warnings for safe operation. Our extensive global distributor and sales support network ensures that you receive the best support for your operations.”
The QH443E is available in the EU now through Sandvik Mobile’s global dealer network, and will be available everywhere by Q4 of 2025.
Electrek’s Take
Sandvik QH443E portable cone plant rounds out the company’s electric train offering; via Sandvik.
While there are a lot of people outside the drilling and mining space who may scoff at environmental concerns, the quest for improved efficiency and cost reduction among commercial fleet managers knows no political ideology. Simply put: If it’s better or cheaper, they’ll buy it. If it’s better and cheaper, they’ll buy two — and battery power is proving to be consistently better, in a broader scope of use cases, than diesel.
The current EV era is ripe with revered classic car designs and nameplates that are being reborn as battery-powered rides – and the success of cars the Renault 5 proves it can be a winning formula. Today, I’m suggesting another classic that deserves a modern electric update: the OG Ford Taurus.
It might seem old and dated now, but when the original Ford Taurus made its debut in 1985, it was so fresh, so different, so futuristic that it was included, almost unchanged, in Robocop’s sci-fi vision of a dystopian Detroit. Really.
I’d buy that for a dollar
From the movie poster for Robocop; MGM Studios.
The aerodynamic design of the Ford Taurus wasn’t just futuristic, it was successful – and, from 1992 through 1996, the OG Taurus was not just Ford’s best-selling car, but the best selling car in North America.
The sedan market is very different forty years on – so different, in fact, that Ford doesn’t actually sell any sedans in North America. With the exception of the 2-door ICE Mustang, the Blue Oval brand doesn’t even sell any cars, and operates almost entirely as a truck and SUV brand.
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Now, imagine Ford decides to get back into the sedan game. It’s 2025 now, and the Tesla Model 3 has proven that there’s enough demand for at least one successful electric sedan in the US. And, crucially, it seems like most of those buyers won’t be trading their Tesla back in for another one.
If there was ever a time to do it, that time is now – and Ford is perfectly positioned to fast-track a new-age Taurus.
The VW connection
Chinese-market Volkswagen ID.7 Vizzion; via VW.
Yes, I know that’s a Volkswagen – but hear me out. Ford and VW have a strong, existing relationship when it comes to EVs, having co-developed the MEB electric skateboard platform that underpins both the high-riding Ford Capri (itself a modern take on a classic Ford) and the Volkswagen ID.7 shown, above.
The ID.7 is an interesting piece, because it was always Volkswagen’s original intention to bring the car to the US, but slowing sedan demand and a dealer body that would rather sell Scout-branded SUVs and pickups than near/entry-luxe sedans killed the car’s chances before before the first one made it over. Now, it’s not coming to the US at all.