GM's Q3 EV Sales Collapse as Federal Credit's End Reshapes the Battery Market

The rest of the quarter went much the same way. The Blazer EV fell 84.4% and the Hummer EV 72.9%, and GM's total US sales slipped 5.5% to 670,974 vehicles. A year earlier, buyers had rushed to beat the 30 September 2025 deadline, setting an electric sales record. This year there was no incentive at all. Cox Automotive has raised its US forecast by about 2%, to 16.1 million vehicles, so the wider market is not the problem. GM's lead over Toyota is now under 136,000 vehicles for the year to date, against roughly 335,000 for all of last year.

Meanwhile, Europe kept its mandates. Battery-electric cars took 29% of new registrations in August, and the EU's weighted average petrol price sits at EUR 2.092 a litre, roughly $8.95 a gallon, against $4.41 in the US.

LMR, sodium and the chemistry bet

GM is not retreating from batteries. On 29 September it announced that its Ultium Cells joint venture with LG Energy Solution would upgrade the Spring Hill, Tennessee plant to build lithium manganese-rich (LMR) cells, with combined LFP and LMR investments reaching $2 billion by 2030. CleanTechnica reported the same day that GM expects the LMR formula to deliver improved performance at lower cost than other affordable chemistries, with high-nickel cells kept for long-range models. The BBC reported on 29 September that San Diego startup Unigrid has shipped its first 100 sodium-ion home batteries, and expects to ship 1,000 by year end, using cells made in China. Prof Dame Clare Grey of Cambridge told the BBC that chromium-3 in Unigrid's cathode could form toxic chromium-6 under certain conditions, though Ivana Hasa of Warwick Manufacturing Group said the reported cell safety tests are very promising.

Europe's problem is midstream, not assembly. Transport & Environment analysis published on 30 September found the EU can supply enough made-in-EU cells for vehicles in the Industrial Accelerator Act's scope by 2030, if all projects materialise, and warned that China controls up to 90% of cathode active material capacity, and 95% for LFP. The car industry disputes the feasibility; T&E's Xavier Sol said the choice is whether clean tech jobs come to Europe or stay in Asia.

Charging, storage and the grid edge

China is pushing the other end of the curve. InsideEVs reported on 30 September that Geely's new Ultra Short Blade Battery can peak at nearly 1,100 kilowatts and charged a Lynk & Co 10 from 10% to 97% in 8 minutes 40 seconds, with the warranty extended to eight years and 200,000 km. Geely CEO Jerry Gan said the company does not advocate fast charging at the expense of lifespan. Electrek reported on 29 September that BYD's Yangwang brand is testing an ultra-luxury sedan, internally called HU, that Autohome says will be BYD's first with solid-state batteries; executive vice president Stella Li said the first such car debuts in 2027.

On the demand side, the US Energy Information Administration estimated light-duty EVs consumed almost 14 billion kilowatt-hours in the first half of 2026, 8% more than in the second half of 2025, down from 13% to 24% growth in earlier periods. New EV sales fell 19% between the two periods, and EVs were 2% of registered light-duty vehicles in 2024, the most recent data available.

Stationary storage is drawing its own scrutiny. Tokio Marine GX's Olly Litterick told ESS News on 1 October that shared grid connections at co-located solar-plus-storage sites concentrate hundreds of millions to billions of dollars of exposure at single points. In Germany, network operator Mitnetz Strom had logged more than 10,000 storage connection applications by mid-September, which managing director Lutz Eckenroth called a tsunami. Eco Stor chief executive Georg Gallmetzer told heise online that nine of ten megawatts applied for will never connect.

Fleets keep ordering. CleanTechnica reported on 30 September that FedEx ordered 2,000 electric trucks from California startup Harbinger, while Hyundai has completed its B-X range of high-voltage electric forklifts up to 18 tonnes, according to Electrek on 1 October. Chicago's Metra expects its first Stadler battery-electric FLIRT trainset to enter passenger service before the end of 2027.