After a protracted and painful street, GM’s grand Ultium plan is lastly paying off. Jul 2, 2024 at 11:29am ET When Normal Motors projected file EV gross sales regardless of dropping the sales-leading Chevy Bolt from its lineup, I used to be uncertain. However within the second quarter, GM delivered. Extra particularly, it delivered a file variety of EVs. EV gross sales have been up 40% year-over-year, and 34% over final quarter. And the Normal’s simply getting began. GM’s Ultium Saga Normal Motors guess the farm on its new electric-vehicle structure, dubbed “Ultium.” It bought off to a tough begin, with software program issues that plagued the Cadillac Lyriq and Chevy Blazer EV. The Blazer even left us stranded. We began to doubt GM’s plan, however then the corporate delivered the inexpensive, 300-mile-range Equinox EV, and made us believers once more. Now, the corporate’s Ultium plan is lastly beginning to pay dividends. What ought to be the corporate’s highest-volume EV, the Equinox EV, simply launched a month in the past. Extra inexpensive variations are set to reach later this yr, with one that might value lower than $30,000 after tax credit. If GM can ship a 300-mile-range electrical crossover at that worth, it ought to add much more momentum to GM’s Ultium push. By the tip of the yr, GM says it will have 10 electrical nameplates on sale. We count on these to be: Chevy Equinox EV Chevy Blazer EV Chevy Silverado EV Cadillac Lyriq Cadillac Optiq Cadillac Celestiq Cadillac Escalade IQ GMC Sierra EV GMC Hummer EV SUV GMC Hummer EV Truck If GM would not rely the Hummer Truck and SUV as separate merchandise, there could also be one other thriller product in there. However both means, the corporate’s lineup of EVs was principally nowhere this time final yr, sustained by the ultra-low quantity GMC Hummer, troubled early variations of the Lyriq and the soon-to-be-dead Bolt. By the tip of this yr, the corporate can have stable choices in most of crucial classes, with a number of flagships to hold the torch. Plus, as new fashions enter the fray, older Ultium vehicles are hitting their stride. Lyriq deliveries grew 441% yr over yr, from 1,348 to 7,294 quarterly gross sales. Hummer EV deliveries went from principally none—47 in Q2 2023—to 2,929 in Q2 2024. Equinox EV gross sales simply barely kicked off, with 1,013 deliveries, however Chevy managed to maneuver 6,634 Blazer EVs and a pair of,196 Silverado EVs. The Bolt held on for an additional act, too, as leftover 2023 fashions made up 1,374 of GM’s quarterly gross sales. GM’s general retail EV registrations are already up 17% year-to-date, which the corporate notes far outpaces the business’s general 10% achieve. This information additionally dispels the “nobody needs EVs” narrative, as EV gross sales are as soon as once more rising whereas internal-combustion gross sales stagnate. Total GM gross sales grew 0.6 p.c, a minuscule determine in comparison with EV gross sales. And since that quantity consists of EV gross sales, the determine for ICE-only gross sales is much more underwhelming. If GM can proceed launching Ultium-platform automobiles with out the software program points that plagued early Lyriqs and Blazers, the Normal could also be poised to be the best-positioned legacy automaker within the EV market. Learn extra