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GM's Ultium EV platform finally shows up in Q3 sales numbers

General Motors has heralded its Ultium battery-electric platform as the future of its passenger car and truck lineup, but for the first two years of its existence, its impact on the marketplace has been virtually nonexistent. Well, that finally changed in the third quarter of 2023, and while the cars based on this architecture don't represent anywhere near the volume of GM's broader combustion portfolio, we're reaching a point where Ultium products are finally in view (and in the hands) of real-world shoppers. At this point, five U.S.-market Ultium models are in production: the GMC Hummer EV, Cadillac Lyriq, Chevrolet Blazer & Silverado EV, and BrightDrop Zevo 600. If you're not familiar with that last one, that's OK; it's a commercial product that you likely won't see on the road for some time. Together, these four combined for 4,257 sales in the third quarter alone — up from 2,663 for the entire first half of the year. While that may not seem like a significant uptick when viewed from altitude, the quarter-to-quarter numbers paint a clearer picture.  Let's toss out the stragglers first. The Chevy Blazer EV, and Silverado EV for example, are barely in production. GM delivered 19 Blazers and 18 Silverados in the third quarter and that's the entirety of their production runs so far. Likewise, GM's BrightDrop Zevo 600 delivery van effectively exists apart from the consumer marketplace, so its contribution of just 35 units can be set aside too. That leaves us the two you've heard of: the GMC Hummer EV and Cadillac Lyriq — models with high sticker prices and long reservation queues.  Through the second quarter (remember, we're talking six months here), GMC sold 49 Hummer EVs. No typo. In the three months that made up the third quarter, GM moved 1,167 of them. Not only is that a dramatic improvement over the first half, but it's more Hummers than GMC sold in the entirety of 2022 (854). Lyriq's improvement was less eye-popping on paper, but after moving just 122 total units in 2022 and 2,013 of them in the first half of 2023, Cadillac managed to up that figure to 3,018 units in the third quarter alone.  GM is betting its short-term EV future on the Ultium platform, so these trends need to continue if that's going to be a profitable wager.

Now's the time to buy a cheap first-gen Chevy Volt

Would you fork over 18 grand and change for a new Chevrolet Volt extended-range plug-in vehicle? If so, there are some for the taking. Since the updated Volt is about ready to hit dealerships, current models have become a lot easier to afford. For some reason, it appears the best deals are in Iowa, recalling some sort of Field of Dreams-style whispering voice luring car shoppers to their first plug-in vehicle, according to EV Obsession. To wit, a couple of 2014 Volts with a sticker price in the $35,000 range are being offered for less than $26,000 in that Midwestern state. Factor in the $7,500 tax credit from the federal government, and the Volt can be had for less than the sticker price of a Toyota Prius C compact hybrid. Chevy started priming that particular pump earlier this year, though didn't appear to have a ton of success. This past spring, Chevrolet was offering some impressive lease deals on the Volt, with monthly payments dropping to less than $250. There's a reason buyers will want to wait for the second-generation Volt. The 2016 version will have a 53-mile all-electric range, up from the 38-mile range in the current version, along with 106 MPGe. Some will say that the style is improved as well, and the first-gen's touch-sensitive control panel was discarded for more buttons. Still, if you're more concerned about price than having the newest car on the lot, now's a good time to shop. And speaking of the current version, sales remain down substantially. Last month, Chevy moved 1,380 Volts, a 45-percent plunge from a year earlier. Through August, Volt sales were down 37 percent this year compared to 2014 numbers, to 8,315 units.

Supercharged 2015 Chevy Corvette Z06 takes the C7 beyond the ZR1

The Z06 is just about everything we got in the last ZR1, but better.
After a bright-yellow false start, here is the real thing: the fourth-generation, 2015 Corvette Z06. If Chevrolet makes a ZR1 version of the C7 Corvette, it's going to be absolutely mega, because the Z06 is just about everything we got in the last ZR1, but better.