The Cadillac ELR may be heading off into the sunset soon, but the premium PHEV still has a few tricks left up its sleeve.
After federal tax credits, the 2016 ELR will start with a price of $58,495, just nearly $18,000 less than the original price tag of $75,000 when it first hit showrooms in late 2013.
For that starting price, new ELR owners will also benefit from a few upgrades over the MY 2014 and 2015 editions, one of which is an improved Sport driving mode. The improved mode — part of the optional Performance Package — helps push the PHEV from 0-60 in 6.4 seconds, 1.5 seconds faster than the recent model; top speed comes to 106 mph, 130 mph with the aforementioned package.
The ELR’s hybrid system gets a makeover, as well, with a new lithium-ion pack capable of 17.1 kWh of capacity that’s good for 39 miles of electric-only travel; the Performance Package option knocks that range down to 35 miles. Overall power from the system, which pairs the pack with a 1.4-liter gasoline engine — comes to 233 horses and 373 lb-ft of torque, while total range falls 10 miles to 330 miles. Recharge time takes around five hours when plugged into a 240-volt charger.
Other features include the aforementioned Performance Package, which adds 20-inch wheels and summer-only tires mounted over Brembo brakes and vented rotors as well as the new Sport mode, and improvements to the ELR’s electric power steering and continuous damping control; OnStar with 4G LTE; three USB ports; 8-inch configurable driver instrument and information displays; magnetic inductive charging for passengers’ smartphones; standard Wi-Fi; and on-demand regenerative braking.
Per Cadillac CEO Johan de Nysschen via AutoGuide, the ELR won’t see a second generation, likely due to low sales; 1,310 left the lot in 2014, and 311 had been purchased or leased through the first three months of 2015.
“After federal tax credits, the 2016 ELR will start with a price of $58,495, just $9,000 less than the original price tag of $75,000 when it first hit showrooms in late 2013.”
Eh? I’m missing something with math.
He’s applying the $7500 tax credit to the first price but not the second. 58.5K + 9K + 7.5K = 75K
Ahh, thanks.
*she
I do have to wonder what the MSRP would be on those without the tax credit (which seems to be corporate welfare ta this point)?
Hardly the worst case of corporate welfare.
Anyhow, aside from the “moon in the sky” pricing flub, GM messed up for going for an upmarket Voltec based coupe instead of an upmarket Voltec based crossover (would have been perfect as the Buick Electra).
The federal tax credit is about $7500, if I remember correctly, which explains the difference in math.
Why is it that whenever they talk about the price of an EV, they never want to talk about the LOADED price – which is usually how the dealer orders them – and they always wanna talk about BASE PRICES minus these ridiculous Green Liberal Agenda government subsidy welfare handouts?
The P85D for example is a $135,000 car. Yet, everyone keeps lowballing the price to $108,000.
You’re just jealous because Fiat is not paying you to pimp 500e’s or something.
Give him time. After enough years of constantly touting the awesomeness that is everything FCA and shouting “HELLCAT!” in every car forum, they’ll eventually employ him directly.
…or do they already?
Should be interesting to see supplier pricing now since this was roughly the supplier price I saw quoted.
I am an unabashed lover of hybrids simply because I love low end torque and I have an unreasonable range anxiety, fear of running out of electric power in ALL electric cars.
My question for those here is how do these cars feel when passing or heavily loaded and trying to pull up hills.
Is there an issue with these smaller motors and little gas engines when real power is called for.
I would prefer a luxury hybrid car like this over the Tesla any time.
I would take the Tesla any time, but oh well.
As for driving dynamics, the Voltec drivetrain is different from other hybrids. (Shh: Don’t call the ELR/Volt a hybrid; it makes some fanboys angry).
As Carlson Fan will faithfully tell us, the ELR/Volt can be run at full throttle up to top speed without any ICE assistance. I haven’t driven one, but I think this drivetrain is fairly smooth.
I’ve test-driven an older Prius, and own an Optima Hybrid. The OH’s ICE is a slightly weaker version of its standard Optima 2.4 counterpart, so it’s not a ‘smaller engine’ exactly. It does not have a super smooth crossover from EV to ICE mode in city driving when it’s cold. But warmed up, and/or on the highway, it is very smooth. The OH also suffers – unpredictably – from serious throttle lag at slow speeds when you punch it. I am a Kia partisan and love the car, but this can be scary/annoying at the wrong moments. Otherwise, it has plenty of passing power even fully loaded. The OH is rated for 199 HP total, but its 43-HP electric motor is weaksauce at the low end.
For conventional hybrids, I think the Accord Hybrid probably has the best driving dynamics, and it uses a smaller engine (2.0 IIRC).
So honestly, the Volt is probably the better drivetrain for low-end response and torque – but it must be plugged in.
Am I the only person who see’s a problem with the logic of these comments?
“As for driving dynamics, the Voltec drivetrain is different from other hybrids. (Shh: Don’t call the ELR/Volt a hybrid; it makes some fanboys angry).”….” I haven’t driven one, but I think this drivetrain is fairly smooth.”
To rephrase: I’m taking others’ word for the smoothness of the Voltec drivetrain.
Why should I claim otherwise?
I HAVE driven the Volt. The drivetrain is quite nice (far nicer than a Prius), and the overall driveline concept really is the future. The Accord hybrid is a very similar operating concept, BTW.
The problem with the ELR is its way way way too expensive and too small. Even with this price drop, its still within spitting distance of the VASTLY more capable Tesla: $66k MSRP vs $75k for a 70D (>200 mile range, AWD). When the only way it would sell is if its less than an i3 ReX.
And “nice” is relative. I’d place the drivetrains in the following order (driven all, mind you):
Tesla over i3. Tesla drivetrain really is fantastic. i3 over Volt (more powah, RWD). Volt over C-Max (but the C-Max is surprisingly decent). And everything else vastly over the Prius snoozefest.
wow…so all these so called hybrids do perform very differently at the initial power, or low end?
OK. Then when choosing, I would have to look closely at them at this point, since this is my main reason for the love of the hybrid to begin with.
Not a lover of saving the planet, ALL I want the hybrid for is better performance.
I want fantastic beginning power.
I love my brother’s Tesla for this…and ONLY this. Everything else, to me, is bunk for the price.
But I cannot pay 100K for a city car. I want my car as my ONLY car and as such needs to do what I want, when I want…and for however long it takes to do it.
If this means driving to St Louis from Chicago…because I do this a lot…then the car better be able to do it.
But your information about all these systems not being created equal is an eye opener.
This is a reason I want the Mazda RX8 back as a Hybrid…the most perfect affordable 4 seater sports car then would have a speak(able) take off.
But now you have me worried about exactly how this would perform.
The Prius and OH are designed for efficiency, and lumpy performance seems to be part of the deal.
If you’re willing to deal with a plug and want the luxury, test drive an ELR. I’m sure the salesman won’t let you leave before offering you a $30k discount for a leftover 2014.
Test drive several makes; I think you’ll find they’re all different. But only a plug-in with an electric bias will give you that instant response.
Seems like you are looking for one of the “performance hybrids” like the original Accord Hybrid, the BMW 3-series ActiveHybrid, and I am pretty sure Lexus had one too – the big gas motor PLUS an added electric motor for more torque and some tiny amount of no gas motoring to keep the greens happy.
I’ve sent out an offer of $26,500 for one of these bad boys.
You’ll all soon spot me in my Raven Black ELR with 35% tint & JdN RLZ vanity plates.
p.s. – That’s me standing in the open door, in the photo above, with the mysterious bag, looking shady, about to load that bag into the ELR and depart for a secretive rendezvous using my stylish ELR.
p.s. 2 – That’s not me b/c that guy is black, but that’s cool.
Umm, that guy is clearly Indian or Middle Eastern, most likely East Indian though, definitely not black.
Looks like you’re headed to the airport to depart for Dubai. I wouldn’t travel in white pants though.
See above; not me.
I have it on good info he’s going to drive that ELR for approximately 1/8th of a mile, to a fully fueled chopper already fired up, origins unknown.
We need to run that helicopter’s N number, stat, and run it though FBI/CIA/NSA database (PRISM).
He’s letting all the heat out of his glassy modern. It’s clearly cold out given his sweater and her warm clothes as well.
You can tell that there’s a tactical threat that just arrived, based on his sudden glare & her deeply disconcerting body language.
That utility bill must be expensive. Look at all of those windows! Plus, as Corey points out, he’s just letting all the heat out.
I sense a hand-to-hand combat scene about to unfold, spilling back into the kitchen, where he’ll go for a stashed H&K 9mm, that’s already been unloaded (he’ll immediately notice the lightness, being highly skilled in the art of combat), and he’ll need to resort to defeating his well trained attacker with an old, rolled up copy of Road & Track (used to disarm his opponent of his knife & then crush his trachea).
His girlfriend will have been injured in the melee, as she attempted to dump a pot of boiling tea on the now deceased aggressor, so he’ll need to get her to the front company’s medical facility ASAP.
The ELR was sabotaged before the arrival of the would be assassin by an EMP device, so he’lll have to take her ATS-V (luckily kept in the back, hidden by camo- foliage screening) for the 1/8th of a mile trip to the chopper, but not before they grab their bug out bags & a secret cache of highly classified documents stored on a highly encrypted thumb drive.
People insist on paying Buick prices for Cadillacs. Perhaps that’s a sign – just imagine the ATS, CTS and CT6, all with Buick badges and appropriate Buick pricing.
How much extra for the performance package?
Depends on how cheap you can find a “Performance” decal?
Do you think a VTEC sticker would help?
I’ve maintained that the ELR’s problem isn’t price – lots of people buy $75k cars – but performance. If all they did was reduce the price, then it really would be the Cimarron 2.0.
At least they’ve made some real improvements, but the whole exercise seems moot when we’re talking about only another 1500 cars or so.
And they still have 3 months’ inventory remaining of 2014 models, some of which are marked down to $42k before the tax credit. That’s Volt territory.
For a “performance” car, many would still consider FWD to be WWD (Wrong Wheel Drive).
I agree. What GM should have done is emulate Toyota’s example in adapting its hybrid synergy drive to the Camry’s widely used XV platform. This allowed Toyota to offer its hybrid in several additional popular models aside from Prius. GM’s got Volt, Volt Coupe cimmaron edition, and Spark. Oh joy. Think of what a Equinox EV could have sold?
28… you mean like they’ve more or less done with the 2016 Malibu Hybrid?
Pretty much. Perhaps they were paying attention.
EV schmee-V.
Hybrid CTS and Malibu and Impala and Lacrosse and Enclave…
Somebody might actually want to *buy* those.
I like FWD. I like it better with AWD…but I love the extra design allowances for interior room as well as the ability to shorten the hood.
Never would have any performance car perform as it is capable of to begin with. Not one to have ever lost the rear wheels or honed around in any of the so called ways a RWD car can do.
Any well build FWD car will perform as fast as I will ever go.
Shhh… stop speaking for the 99% of real-world car buyers. This is the internet; reality is not welcome here.
I’d have real interest in a Volt with the Performance Package.
This the car GM should have built first instead of the Volt.
This is the ELR that should have been offered the first year. Once again, GM puts out incomplete cars the first year, makes improvements during the production run, and finally gets it right, just in time for the last year’s production.
Just like the Fiero.
No – not much interest in a 2-door coupe.
Should have built a “4-door coupe” (if a Cadillac) or better yet, a Voltec based crossover (Buick Electra).
Either way tho, the Voltec system based models were going to be low volume sellers due to the pricing.
Prius sales were tepid until the gen 2 model (which saw a large price cut).
Unless they carry a Porsche badge, small coupes need to be topless. If GM was serious about the ELR, then it would have been designed as a roadster.
They couldn’t find a way to replace the iron block 1.4L engine with the more sophisticated unit in the 2016 Volt?
Chevy tech > Cadillac tech = fail.
Use of the word “fail” by a grown adult…ugg
PI,
For a guy who doesn’t envy me in any way (save my ability to enjoy an enjoyable, practical, thrifty, reliable little car that has a smooth and willing engine, a slick transmission, good clutch and decent road feel), you sure spend a lot of time responding to my posts without actually addressing the content as it relates to the subject at hand (which would be the “improved” 2016 ELR, in case you had lost track of that).
Kix,
In real life you’re probably a decent human being, but I have absolutely no reason to envy you at all. In this case your comment defines your character.
I do enjoy needling you a little bit because you are ALWAYS so serious and sure of yourself, even when you’re wrong. It’s cool though, all part of the internet community.
Have a great day!
I fail to see why I shouldn’t use the word fail.
Now, using it *in that manner*, well, that’s a big WTF.
(See what I did there?)
If Cadillac wasn’t using the 1.4 liter 4 banger in the $75,000 ELR (restyled Chevy Volt) that’s also used in the Chevy Volt, Chevy Cruze and Chevy Sonic than they wouldn’t be consistent.
Bears sh!t in the woods.
DW,
The 2016 Volt has an improved, 1.5L ICE.
They actually did. The 2016 has a 1.5L ALUMINUM block.
Take that French people that go on vacation.
Well played!
I know they are asking kookoo money for these, but I saw one in person a couple weeks ago and it’s a really good looking car. If they could make the Volt look that good for around the same price they wouldn’t be able to keep them in stock.
I honestly have no idea what people see in this car. It is not attractive to me in any way.
We added a performance package option!
Gee, it should have been standard out of the gate.
We dropped the price to $58K after ‘guberment handouts!
It’s still too feckin’ high.
*golf clap*
I figure they’ll have churned through inventory of those 2014’s collecting dust sometime around 2017…
Say what you want about the ELR, but a couple of my neighbors have them, got them deeply discounted of course and they love them. One has the old man red one, but the other has silver, the only silver one I have ever seen and that is gorgeous. The ELR will probably be one of those rare, cultish, collectibles down the road. The biggest problem with the ELR was that it was a coupe so it is not practical and that it has a small and not very powerful engine, so you have a very expensive toy that’s not a performance car and that’s just not what people want. You’ll either go Tesla or Porsche Cayman or Corvette depending on your priorities.
I think that’s the irony of the ELR – it’s arguably one of the best old-people cars that Cadillac has produced in the last 10 years. If you don’t need haul/carry stuff, and your driving consists of extremely short grocery runs (electric only) and long trips to Florida (hello Snowbirds!) it makes a pretty good proposition if you want something a bit ‘nicer’ than a Prius.
Everyone assumes that these are cross-shopped with Tesla’s because of the ‘tech’ factor, but the people I have seen driving one really just wanted a much larger Jazzy, and occasionally they want to drive interstates to see the Grandkids.
I can’t believe I have never seen one. I live in the DC suburbs and not a one.
I leased a Volt for 2-years and will likely buy one next year. I was also lucky enough to drive one of these ELRs for a week. So if you guys have any questions I can help you out.
As far as driving up a hill: This is a CVT and it has 250+ lb/ft of torque. It is very capable, and does just fine when compared to other economy cars. I like that it doesn’t have to bounce between gears under acceleration. A slight ramp-up while it transitions to a more aggressive gearing does occur sometimes, but nothing like a traditional auto. Cars around me struggle on the drive from LA to Vegas. I do not in the least.
Note: Both cars require you to place them in Mountain mode if you are going to be driving several miles with steep inclines in order to maximize drivability. Its a quick and easy button on the dash.
My take on the ELR:
The Cadillac does drive with more weight and more presence. The interior materials are fantastic and I was very comfortable. Visibility was… Acceptable, but the Volt is superior. Style? The Cadillac is off the charts for me. That is a matter of opinion of course. Handling? Both are very good with a very low center of gravity. The Cadillac wins hands-down here due to the superior wheel/tire combination.
Here is why I would never grab the Cadillac: The practicality that I have come to know and love in the Volt is all but lost in the Cadillac. The center console in the back seat, (along with the dual pass-through design), results in the loss of the Volt’s hatchback convenience. The airy feel when I look over my shoulder is gone. 4 People can travel, but only if two of them have luggage.
Unfortunately for me, I do not have the space of the money to get a second larger car. The Volt is extremely livable as a person’s only vehicle. Fold the back seats flat (and remove the center console) and the Volt is like any other hatchback when that run to Costco comes around. The ELR really struggles here with a small conventional trunk and difficult access to the back seat.
The Cadillac is a good car. No question. The Volt is by most measurements, (unfortunately for the Cadillac), an excellent car.
BTW: The bottom fell out on prices if you are interested in a lightly used one. The market soured on it despite some of the highest consumer praise I have ever seen on a car. Something about the government subsidizing puppies in order to trick people into leasing Volts or something. These things cost as much as a Cruze now on the used market. Mine has had 2 oil changes in 25k miles, not a single hiccup, ~170mpg average. I saw one near me for 15k despite still having a warranty. An article I read recently noted they are only 12k at auction. Crazy how things work out.
For clarification: I was speaking to the prices of the Volt….
DW will like this news: Cadillac dealers are selling new 2014 ELRs for $46. After the tax rebate, that’s essentially half price.
To this day I still strongly believe Volt should have been its own brand; available at any GM dealer that wanted to sell it but not tied to the pricing structure of any particular division. Branding the Volt as a Chevrolet cut the car off at the knees IMHO.
Let’s be honest, there are very few places in the contiguous United States where you are ever further than 50 miles from a Chevrolet dealership. The vast majority of GM dealerships have Chevy, and if they don’t you can bet there’s probably one nearby. I doubt having this car availible at every dealership would result in even 1,000 extra yearly sales, but it would certainly result in a lot of financial headaches for the few dealerships without a Chevrolet sign if they were forced to sell it. Also how many Chevrolet dealerships outside the “main” areas even wanted to sell the car in the first place, there are 4-5 dealers I can think of near me, the one I’m often nearest has had 2 volts. Both early models that gathered dust for over a year, I haven’t seen a single Volt on the lot since. That’s a fairly large dealership having all 4 Brands under the roof, and also a CJDR dealer nearby.
Selling the Volt as its own, stand-alone brand would have addressed exactly what you are describing. The Volt could have been a small, separate space inside existing stores, and pricing could have been based on the technology and not tied to the bow tie on the hood. It could have also given GM the opportunity to experiment with things like the sales and service process, and had those experiments worked, that real world knowledge could have been shared with the rest of the dealers.
Understanding that the timing of the Volt – during the financial meltdown – couldn’t have been worse, they could have done so much of a better job. Launch Volt with a little-to-no compromise premium model with a premium price to compete with what Tesla has become. Then later on introduce a more basic, less expensive model once the initial investment has been (at least partially) paid for.
Lack of imagination hobbled the Volt from Day 1.
This is now the car that it should have been from when it was launched. I fear these changes are coming too late as it is already doomed to be an utter failure.
The price is still at least $5000 too high, considering that the $58000 price they’re quoting is AFTER federal tax incentives, so it’s really an MRSP of ~$65000. It should be 55-60k before any incentives; around 10-12k more than a Volt.
If the Volt had the front seats from the ELR, I would probably have bought one. I need 4 doors, rear leg room and some cargo space, so the ELR is out, even though I think it’s beautiful. Which coming from this expat is surprising let me tell you.
This car was an experiment: can they sell a more hippie-friendly CTS coupe? I think we have the answer now. I don’t blame Cadillac for trying… it was an intriguing, if probably doomed, possibility.