American automotive giant General Motors (GM) has revealed its third quarter US delivery numbers, and while electric vehicles continue to only represent a small percentage of the total, deliveries of the Chevrolet Bolt saw a significant and continued increase in sales.
GM delivered a total of 15,835 Chevy Bolt’s in the third quarter – including both the Bolt EV and Bolt EUV (electric utility vehicle) – representing a 7.7% increase in sales compared to the same quarter a year earlier.
More importantly are the year-to-date Bolt delivery numbers, which have already smashed the total sold and delivered in 2022, with a total of 49,494 Bolts delivered through the first three quarters of 2023 to North American customers, compared to 22,012 through the same period in 2022.
There’s further good news for GM, with the first Ultium-based vehicles – the Cadillac Lyriq and Hummer EV – finally beginning to surge.
In the second quarter, GM only managed to deliver 47 units of the Hummer EV, its first Ultium-based vehicle. This followed a relatively lacklustre start to deliveries of the Hummer EV after it launched in late 2021, with only 854 delivered through 2022 and 272 delivered through the first half of 2023.
Things have started to look up, however, with 1,167 Hummer EV’s delivered in the third quarter.
The second Ultium-based vehicle is the Cadillac, which began production in early 2022 and finished 2022 with only 122 deliveries.
The Lyriq saw a better start to 2023 than the Hummer EV, with 2,316 deliveries through the first six months of the year and continued to shine in the third quarter with a total of 3,018 deliveries, up a hilarious 8,283% over the same quarter a year earlier.
That brings the total number of Cadillac Lyriq delivered through the first three quarters of 2023 up to 5,334.
The third quarter also saw the Chevrolet Blazer EV begin deliveries to customers, though only 19 were recorded by the quarter’s end after production began in late June.
GM made a final note regarding their EVs in their presentation, noting that 70% of buyers of the Chevrolet Bolt EV and Bolt EUV are trading in non-GM vehicles, with Toyota, Nissan, and Honda comprising top 3 competitor trade-ins.
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.