General Motors US electric vehicle sales have more than doubled from the same time period last year. This is further evidence that consumers are increasingly interested in battery-powered vehicles and trucks.
Detroit automaker announced on Wednesday it had sold over 15,000 electric vehicles between April and the end of June. This compares to 7,000 units in the second quarter 2022. The 113 percent increase was fueled by the strong demand for the Chevrolet Bolt in both its smaller and larger versions. At approximately $27,000, the Bolt is one of most affordable EVs available on the US market.
GM released its report after strong data on production and deliveries from EV manufacturers Tesla, Rivian and . This boosted shares in both companies. Tesla is the largest seller of EVs on the US market. Ford, GM’s Detroit competitor, is expected to release sales figures on Thursday.
Volkswagen, which has the fourth largest share of the US EV Market, announced on Wednesday that the sales of its ID.4 SUV electric vehicle had quadrupled in the second quarter compared to the previous year, reaching 6,690 units.
Despite the fact that car buyers are buying more battery-powered vehicles and trucks, this still represents a small part of the US market. Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group, said that EVs accounted for 8.6 percent of new vehicle sales in US in the first three months of this year. This is up from 5.9 percent in the first three months of 2022.
GM sold almost 692,000 vehicles in the second quarter. Of these, 2% were electric. Total sales volumes were up 19% over 2022 when supply chain issues limited the number of vehicles automakers could produce.
Only 47 GMC Hummer electric vehicles were sold. Bolt sales jumped from 6,900 units to almost 14,000
GM will stop producing the Bolt by the end of this year. It plans to stop making the Bolt by the end of this year.
Mary Barra, the chief executive of General Motors (GM), hinted last month at a future for the Bolt when she stated in an interview GM “leveraging names of our cars that are well-understood” and the Bolt “built up a great deal of loyalty and equity”.
The automaker will launch six electrified vehicles in the second part of the year. These include electric versions of the Chevrolet Silverado pickup and the Chevrolet Equinox SUV.