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Volt-Based 2014 Cadillac ELR Electric Car Confirmed By GM

 
5,142 views Aug 17, 2011
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Cadillac ELR

Cadillac ELR extended-range electric car

Cadillac ELR extended-range electric car

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General Motors has just confirmed what this site reported last week: The Cadillac Converj concept car from 2009, based on the running gear of the Chevrolet Volt electric car, will go into production.

Cadillac's electric sports coupe will be called the ELR, joining the current CTS mid-size sports sedan and the upcoming ATS compact sedan and XTS full-size sedan. The name, Cadillac says, indicates the car's electric propulsion technology.

GM had very few details other than that the ELR is under development, noting that "details on performance, price, and timing will be announced later."

Our sources tell us the car will launch during 2013, most likely as a 2014 model.

Like the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, the Cadillac ELR is powered by an electric motor that drives the front wheels.

A T-shaped 16-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack between the seats and under the rear seat provides up to 40 miles of electric range, after which a four-cylinder gasoline engine switches on to run a generator that provides electricity for another 300-plus miles.

First introduced as a concept at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, the Cadillac Converj coupe received rave reviews. The General Motors [NYSE:GM] board approved it for production in that spring, but two months later, it was killed due to a variety of factors, including GM's financial challenges and questions over the car's performance.

Nonetheless, "the  concept generated instant enthusiasm,” said Don Butler, Cadillac marketing VP, today. He noted that the Cadillac ELR will offer "the combination of electric propulsion with striking design and the fun of luxury coupe driving.”

Cadillac will also unveiled another concept car tomorrow night, at a special event before the famed Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

[Cadillac]

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HI-RES GALLERY: Cadillac ELR




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Comments (22)

  1. fb_1792677598 avatar George Parrott Posted: 8/17/2011 1:56pm PDT

    Could be tempting, but it would need: 1. greater battery range, and 2. a bit more oomph overall

    compared to the Volt, IMHO of course.
     
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  2. fb_1001015277 avatar John Briggs Posted: 8/17/2011 2:14pm PDT

    I think this is a great car. I wonder how much new CAFE rules factored into the decision to green light the caddy.
     
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  3. fb_100000005296979 avatar Kent Beuchert Posted: 8/17/2011 4:49pm PDT

    Apparently GM figures that if they can't sell any EREV Volts, they may as well not sell any EREV Cadillacs either. Probably need several EREVs to keep a shift running on their EREV assembly line,
    currently idled, apparently.
     
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  4. john_v avatar John Voelcker Posted: 8/18/2011 2:51am PDT

    Kent: After a four-week shutdown for retooling, to replace Buick Lucerne and Cadillac DTS production with the new 2013 Chevrolet Malibu, and increase Volt capacity to 5,000 per month, the Detroit-Hamtramck plant restarted production last month. Your information and inferences are, once again, out of date and incorrect.
     
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  5. ev_enthusiast avatar EV Enthusiast Posted: 8/17/2011 5:38pm PDT

    not an electric car
     
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  6. CDspeed avatar CDspeed . Posted: 8/17/2011 6:45pm PDT

    It is a fantastic looking car, but I still maintain that it's no electric car. It may be propelled by electric motors but the majority of it's total range is dependent on gasoline. I'm not saying that it's not a fantastic new powertrain I simply think calling it an EREV is an attempt to make it sound more advanced then it is. For example the standard Tesla Model S is supposed to have a range of 160 miles, wouldn't that make the 300 mile version an EREV, because you would be opting for an extended range by choosing the 300.
     
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  7. fb_1405488596 avatar Eric Rotbard Posted: 8/17/2011 10:32pm PDT

    I beg to differ. I drive a Volt, and with my 30 mile round trip commute, I hardly ever use gasoline. Yet, there are times when I need the extra miles. So, with a bit over 6K miles on the car, I am at 203 mpg overall. With the Volt, I don't have to worry on those occasions when I have to drive 100 mile round-trip.
     
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  8. Chris O avatar Chris O Posted: 8/18/2011 4:07am PDT

    How would you define an electric car? GM uses the "what drives the wheels" definition. It's an electric motor therefore this is an electric car they maintain. A more relevant definition (after all new energy vehicles are about energy) would be based on "what goes in the tank". Now it's an EV for 35(EPA) grid powered miles, after that it's a gasoline car.
     
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  9. fb_1405488596 avatar Eric Rotbard Posted: 8/18/2011 7:15pm PDT

    I would define the car as a 100% electric because electricity is at all times providing the motive power. I would define a fuel cell as an EV also. A pure BEV is another subset of EV. Btw, I've found that 35 battery miles is generally either a really cold day, or one where I am playing in performance mode. Generally, I hit 40 battery miles, and so far since the spring, generally between 44 and 45 miles. The gasoline engine really is simply a backup in case I need to go farther than the battery permits, and even then, it operates like a hybrid. When I brake, coast, etc., the battery regens a bit, so off the line, I am usually back to battery. And in city driving, my mileage when in range extending mode is usually about 40+ mpg.
     
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  10. fb_1405488596 avatar Eric Rotbard Posted: 8/17/2011 10:34pm PDT

    This is my dream car. I even have a couple of Converj die casts from Luxury Collectibles. Hopefully, the ELR's timing will coincide with the expiration of my Volt lease.
     
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  11. ev_enthusiast avatar EV Enthusiast Posted: 8/17/2011 11:45pm PDT

    gm is owned by the oil industry. i would like to request that the volt and other hybrids be removed from all cars ELECTRIC, and be reported on the green car reports site, where it belongs.
     
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  12. john_v avatar John Voelcker Posted: 8/18/2011 2:52am PDT

    Actually, as of last week, the two sites are now one.
     
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  13. CDspeed avatar CDspeed . Posted: 8/18/2011 5:36am PDT

    Yes but the all cars electric tab is supposed to be for electric cars, and the ELR and Volt both use gasoline.
     
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  14. john_v avatar John Voelcker Posted: 8/18/2011 5:51am PDT

    We tend to err on the side of being inclusive. If a vehicle is propelled by electricity that powers an electric motor, that sounds "electric" to us.

    The presence of a gasoline engine seems less relevant to us than whether a vehicle plugs into the wall to run on grid power.

    In the early days of All Cars Electric (when the only the Tesla Roadster was on sale), the site also covered hybrids. Those now have their own category, and we don't deem them "electric cars" since they don't have plugs. But we'll probably include the 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In within our ACE/electric car coverage.

    Remember, it was called "All Cars Electric" not "All Battery Electric Vehicles"...
     
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  15. CDspeed avatar CDspeed . Posted: 8/18/2011 9:40am PDT

    John, calling an electric car a BEV is nearly the same as calling a plug-in hybrid an EREV in trying to create separate electric car categories. A hybrid is a mixture of two things in cars it's gasoline and electricity, the Volt has these two things and a plug so it's a plug-in hybrid. And a pure electric is just an EV calling it a BEV is silly it just points out the battery ahead of time, most people know an EV has a battery. Note: I'm only criticizing the term EREV not the Volt or ELR .
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  16. ev_enthusiast avatar EV Enthusiast Posted: 8/18/2011 7:42am PDT

    all cars electric is a sub-site of green car reports. it is supposed to be about ELECTRIC cars. the volt is a hybrid. if people want to read about gm and their oil industry, they can do so at the main site. i only care about evs, so when i log on, i immediately hit the all cars electric button - and am only interested in electric cars.

    of which there will be many. the ford focus, and quite a few others should be hitting the market next year. NOT THE VOLT, NOR ANY OTHER GM CARS WITH GAS ENGINES IN THEM.
     
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  17. fb_1405488596 avatar Eric Rotbard Posted: 8/18/2011 7:22pm PDT

    I disagree. Pre-bailout, the domestics made their profits from the sale of SUVs (whose sales tanked as a result of the oil price spikes), I figured they cannot possibly be in alignment with the oil companies. Now at least, GM will be able to make a profit even from their smallest cars, like the upcoming Chevrolet Sonic (which will be built in the US). At the very least, it could be argued that the Volt represents the first mainstream car that deemphasizes gasoline (i.e. for many commuting patterns, you may never use a drop of gasoline, but the flexibility is there if need be).
     
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  18. fb_100000688001462 avatar Dan Logan Posted: 8/18/2011 12:08am PDT

    The GM Cadillac ELR is a winner. The success of the Chevy Volt will be transferred to this car. GM is fill will with brilliant managers.

    The price for these cars are still somewhat high but fortunately we can obtain them with the assistance of the federal government because the government is promoting the purchase of Electric and Hybrid cars. The government is offering big tax credits to buyers of these vehicles. We can take the tax credit and save more $7,000. http://tiny.cc/70zlb
     
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  19. CDspeed avatar CDspeed . Posted: 8/18/2011 6:19am PDT

    The point I've been trying to make is that you can't truly call the Volt or ELR an electric car. In the title of the article it says " Electric Car Confirmed by GM". Electric cars are powered by batteries only and that's all, but the Volt and ELR have batteries along with a 4 cylinder engine. I'm not trying to insult the cars I just don't think it's right to call them electric cars, electric cars are supposed to stop tailpipe emissions and free us form the gas pump, the Volt and ELR help us do that but can't quite go all the way. We are dependent on oil and so are the Volt and ELR, cars that have an electric mode are hybrids gas+electricity=hybrid. I don't hate these cars actually I may take a serious look at the ELR for myself.
     
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  20. doctor olds avatar Dan Miller Posted: 8/18/2011 5:10pm PDT

    EREV is exactly the right label for these cars. The drive is always electric, period. They can be operated at any legal speed in "pure" electric mode. The 35 mile battery range accomodates the daily commutes of 3/4 of Americans, completely gas free. A simple 110V plug-in during the work day essentially doubles that daily range, covering the requirements of even more. The only other mass market EV, Nissan Leaf, can never be driven more than 37.5 miles from home without risk of a tow, or at least considerable time recharging, even with special 240V charger. Range extending capability is necessary to make up for today's limited battery technology. Simply because they can operate as hybrids does not mean they must ever do so. EREV is correct.
     
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  21. ev_enthusiast avatar EV Enthusiast Posted: 8/18/2011 10:24pm PDT

    hi cd,

    some authors on this site are very pro-gm. but the situation will solve itself very shortly. it is gonna look awfully silly to continue posting information about hybrid cars in the all electric section, when we have dozens of actual evs in production.

    at this point, all we have is the leaf. along with the focus, there must be a dozen other companies with actual evs due to be released in the coming 2 years.

    as long as we are not asked to bail gm out again, they can do whatever they want. if they want to produce hybrids and go out of business, so be it. i wish we would have let them go out of business already.
     
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  22. jeffhre avatar Jeff Hre Posted: 8/24/2011 10:32pm PDT

    Is it too late to change the name to ELC? The R as a soft consonant just rolls of the tongue and disapears, doesn't sound dynamic and well, it's just plain soft. ELC looks like the initials for something electric. And it has a high tech ring to it...is it too late?
     
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