Camouflaged 2014 Cadillac ELR Teaser Photo Released By GM

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Camouflaged 2014 Cadillac ELR Teaser Photo Released By GM

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Teaser for 2014 Cadillac ELR

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For years, spy photographers made a living shooting camouflaged test cars for eager fans.

Now the auto companies are doing it themselves.

GM today released a photo of the 2014 Cadillac ELR on the road in Southern California, covered in camo, as its second teaser shot for the electric luxury coupe it will unveil next Tuesday at the Detroit Auto Show.

In mid-December, GM had released a first teaser image of the Cadillac ELR, a shadowy side-profile shot that confirmed its essential shape without adding many details.

The range-extended Cadillac will ride on the same underpinnings as the Chevrolet Volt, with an updated version of its Voltec powertrain under the hood.

Some sources suggest the ELR will use an updated version of the Volt's 16-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack, perhaps even a more powerful 2.0-liter range-extending engine.

Based on the well-received Cadillac Converj concept car that was first unveiled in January 2009, the ELR was green-lighted for production in August 2011.

This site was the first to report that approval, before GM confirmed the news the following week.

GM executives had sought ways to boost plug-in car production at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant where the Chevrolet Volt is built. One method: additional Voltec models.

The Cadillac ELR will likely carry a price north of $40,000 and the usual Cadillac luxury features, presumably including the CUE touchscreen control system that's received mixed reviews.

"Cadillac customers are going to enjoy the unique features ELR will bring to the market," said the ELR's chief engineer, Chris Thomason. "We’re going to change the way people think about luxury and electrification."

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Comments (6)

Chris O Posted: 1/8/2013 6:34am PST

Great car but I wonder if a coupe is the right way for GM to diversify its plug-in hybrid portfolio. I have a feeling that the reign of the Volt as bestselling PHEV offering might come to an abrupt end in 2014 when it comes up against Mitsubishi's Outlander PHEV that, although it has less electric range, certainly offers tons more interior space, 3307 lbs of towing capacity (Volt none) and a mid sized SUV rather than a compact sedan at about the same price. So maybe GM should set its sight on that rather than an PHEV coupe which would be a niche within a niche.

PHEVs contain tons of parts and the SUV/CUV set up might be more suitable to house them all without sacrificing interior space than the compact sedan/coupe set up.

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Xiaolong Li Posted: 1/8/2013 4:04pm PST

Well, isn't a sporty 4 seater making more sense for a coupe than a "family sedan"?

We don't know what GM has in plan for its upcoming 2014/2015 redesign of the Volt.

We also don't know for sure what the Price of the dual electric motor PHEV from Mitsubishi. From the spec, it is nothing more than a 11-15 electric miles PHEV.

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Chris O Posted: 1/9/2013 4:25am PST

The price for US can be extrapolated from prices in other markets and shapes up to be about the same as the Volt's after incentives.

EPA ratings for the Outlander are yet to be determined. The battery is not that much smaller than the Volt's though, the car isn't much heavier and most PHEVs use more of their battery's capacity than the Volt. Using 10KWh out of 12KWh available the car should get ~30 miles of E-range.

Find full Outlander specs here:

http://www.insideoutlander.com/specs

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Xiaolong Li Posted: 1/9/2013 11:54am PST

If Mitsubishi can actually price it competitively, then it will do decently. However, I seriously doubt it based on the past experience. Like I said before, if what you said is "true", then I might be interested in acquiring one as well.

Just so you know that I-Miev's EVSE cost about $500 (dealer price) more than Nissan Leaf's EVSE for "no reason" at all...

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robok2 Posted: 1/9/2013 7:34am PST

Also, Mitsubishi is almost dead in the US already. I couldn't even tell you where a dealer is and they have a poor reputation for quality, as shown in the last decade of JD Power and Consumer Reports ratings.

Don't get me wrong, for the sake of EVs overall, I hope Mitsubishi makes a rare good move, but expecting any Mitsubishi vehicle to sell well in the U.S. is a major stretch, IMHO. Poor reputation for quality, few dealers, much more limited financing options that its competitors, etc...

We'll see and I wish Mitsubishi luck, but sales of the Outlander are already down over 40% from 2007 and I don't think one PHEV by an OEM nobody usualy considers will immediately reverse the trend.

If this were from Toyota, however...

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robok2 Posted: 1/8/2013 11:13am PST

GM has bigger plans for the Voltec system than the ELR, of course. The ELR, however, is an easy example of using already developed system architectures in another application. The development costs have already been spent and this is just some additional gravy in terms of additional volumes in addition to the Volt and whatever comes next, likely a Buick.

I'll agree completely that this will sell in very limited quantities, possibly 1k-5k annually, but it's a mini-halo car for Cadillac for now and I would agree that an SUV/CUV will come soon.

Also, some people who spend $50k and more on vehicles want a superior vehicle. That generally means a sedan and not an SUV/crossover. I still agree overall, but enough will buy this to justify it.

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