Official Cadillac ELR thread - a luxury version of the Volt

[Deleted member 9549]

It is embarrassing and not justifiable.

GMs comeback is that they don't plan to sell many.

Then why did they bother to spend the time and energy to develop a car that is more than twice as expensive as the Volt, with even less interior room, less storage space with even worse electric range.

The effort should have been put towards a vehicle that someone (anyone) would want to own. But alas, maybe its the answer no one wants to admit. GM simply doesn't know how to make a reasonably priced EV and has no interest in BEVs. The Spark is still sold only in CA, OR and only 100/mo. The typical reluctant money losing compliance car. They brag about losing money on every Volt sold. Rather than improve on any of the Volt's issues, they make them all worse.

Dysfunctional company at its best. Sometimes its not how good your products are but how bad the competitors are. Tesla has an amazing product. Toyota and most others refuse to invest in BEVs. GM comes out with the ELR as their premium electric vehicle? It doesn't look like Tesla has any credible competition. Nissan is the only one remotely trying. Will be interesting to see how this has played out in a few years.

 

[redLEAF]

Was surprised that AW didn't comment much on the asking price but those who did comments below the article certainly did ...

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20131014/carnews/131019923#ixzz2hiflusM3

Maybe they need to have a 'special edition' and feature that in the Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog to sell a few ... did see a prototype at the Chicago Auto Show; decent looking car but at this price it would be hard NOT to compare it to a Tesla S

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

An article linked to that story said the first on rolled off the line on May 29th. What do they do with them all that time? Test some that came off the production line?

 

[TomT]

Not the least bit unusual. Production line shakeout, testing, etc.

An article linked to that story said the first on rolled off the line on May 29th. What do they do with them all that time? Test some that came off the production line?

 

[scottf200]

They better go fast to the Cadillac lovers, that's a dying breed.

They are doing OK.

 

[TomT]

Their sales have actually been fairly good the last few years... The biggest fight Cadillac has is getting their aging demographic numbers down... Vehicles like the ATS are an attempt to do that.

They better go fast to the Cadillac lovers, that's a dying breed.

 

[EvansvilleLeaf]

Yep this one was on my radar as I could probably handle a shorter PHEV range for normal days and then drive on gas for the occasional long trip - all my needs in one well-designed car. At potential high 40s price point my main concerns were whether it would have the Volt's laughable ground clearance and awkward entry ergonomics. At 74k I couldn't care less if it had the clearance of a Humvee and the seating of a Maybach, it's an utterly asinine value proposition. That's a Leaf and, say, an E class for christ's sake - giving you far better cars for EV commuting and longer travel. Strike this off the list. Wonder what the Outlander's AER will end up being? Over 30 and we'll shift to that option. Everybody's situation is different but a comfortable (sadly eliminates the Volt) 30+ mile PHEV is about my ideal. I'd only use gas every couple of months. Sorry GM - you had a chance at a convert with this one but not even close.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

Everybody's situation is different but a comfortable (sadly eliminates the Volt) 30+ mile PHEV is about my ideal.

Why does that eliminate the Volt? Because you think the car is not comfortable, or because it won't comfortably go that far?

You mentioned the occasional long trip. Conventional EV wisdom says you rent a car for those times, but really that's a PITA, and I bet Leaf owners renting cars are few and far between. If I have to pick someone up at the Miami airport (100 miles RT) seriously, I'm not going to waste time dealing with picking up and returning a rental car.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

Active noise cancellation used to mask the noise when the engine kicks in

http://media.gm.com/content/media/us/en/cadillac/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2013/Oct/1017-elr-anc.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[TomT]

It's really nothing that new... A number of vehicles manufacturers - domestic and foreign - have been using it for some time now... It's also common in a number of airplanes these days...

Active noise cancellation used to mask the noise when the engine kicks in

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

It's really nothing that new...

True, but it's upgrade over the Volt.

 

[TomT]

For more than twice the price, there damn well better be a lot of upgrades! :lol:

It's really nothing that new...

True, but it's upgrade over the Volt.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

For more than twice the price, there damn well better be a lot of upgrades! :lol:

Particularly since you're losing two doors in the deal.

 

[charlestonleafer]

I guess if someone absolutely had to have a 2 door, they might go for the ELR. All others will go for Model S

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

... or have usage patterns not met by connecting the dots in the supercharger network. Also we don't know what lease rates look like for this thing, they might be manageable, and last I heard that's still an issue for tesla. As long as you're leasing it's really a short term decision anyway.

 

[scottf200]

In my Volt I have never hand anyone know when the ICE came on while driving down the highway. Happened when we first picked up the car and the wife asked how we'd know. Some miles later when it happened she did not know (same with many friends since then).

The ELR has active noise cancellation which would be great for tire noise, cars next to you, etc, etc which exist for any car (LEAF, Tesla Model S, Volt, etc).

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1087771_2014-cadillac-elr-active-noise-cancellation-tech-video" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The 2014 Cadillac ELR presented another challenge. When its gasoline range-extender is operating, it creates low-frequency structure-born vibrations.

"These generally aren't regarded as premium-level sounds," Doug Koons, lead noise and vibration engineer on the ELR, said.

To avoid exposing customers to sounds that are below their social station, Koons and his colleagues employed active noise cancellation. This technology uses microphones placed throughout the cabin and real-time engine data to track undesirable sounds. The car's audio system then plays back opposing sounds to cancel them out.

Cadillac says this approach not only drowns out the buzzing of the ELR's engine, but also saves weight by cutting the amount of sound-deadening material needed to create a tranquil cabin.

GM Media article: Cadillac ELR Takes Active Noise Cancelling to the Limit
Audio technology helps preserve sound of silence in electrified luxury coupe
2013-10-17
http://media.gm.com/content/media/us/en/cadillac/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2013/Oct/1017-elr-anc.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

It is hard to hear the engine on the volt, only certain circumstances can you hear it like just before you come to a stop. Interesting when you can hear the engine how rpms are independant of the vehicle speed. I like the way it still feels like an ev once the engine kicks in.

I wonder if the noise cancellation on the elr can block out that nasty pornographic rap "music" being blasted by the neanderthals at stop lights.

 

[Zythryn]

In my Volt I have never hand anyone know when the ICE came on while driving down the highway. ...

Really?
That was our biggest annoyance with our Volt. Absolutely cringed anytime the ICE came on on the winter or summer when we ran the battery out.
Sure, it was less noticeable at highway speeds, but still cringeworthy.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

Maybe it's because I live in a warm climate or maybe it's because they tweaked something on the 2013 models to keep a little extra juice in reserve. On ours even if the battery has run out the engine doesn't seem to run below about 30 mph , although I'm sure it would if we drove that slow long enough.

 

[TomT]

I have driven my neighbor's 2012 Volt enough to have a good feel for what it sounds and acts like when the genset comes on... I can definitely feel and hear when it kicks in but I would definitely not classify it as cringe-worthy... Yeah, I can tell but it is definitely very much in the background and subdued... It probably would still NOT be suitable for a $76K luxury car though.

In my Volt I have never hand anyone know when the ICE came on while driving down the highway. ...

Really? That was our biggest annoyance with our Volt. Absolutely cringed anytime the ICE came on on the winter or summer when we ran the battery out.
Sure, it was less noticeable at highway speeds, but still cringeworthy.