General Motors has announced plans to produce the Cadillac ELR extended-range luxury coupe at its Detroit-Hamtramck plant. The automaker will soon begin preparing the facility to built the ELR, with production scheduled to commence in late 2013.
The addition of the ELR to Detroit-Hamtramck represents a $35 million investment in the plant and increases total product investment to $561 million since December 2009. The ELR will be the first two-door car built at the plant since the 1999 Cadillac Eldorado.
“The ELR will be in a class by itself, further proof of our commitment to electric vehicles and advanced technology,” GM North American President Mark Reuss said in a keynote address at the SAE Convergence Conference in Detroit. “People will instantly recognize it as a Cadillac by its distinctive, signature look and true-to-concept exterior design.”
The ELR is the production version of the Cadillac Converj concept unveiled at NAIAS 2009. Like the Chevrolet Volt, the extended-range electric coupe will use an electric propulsion system comprised of a lithium-ion battery pack, an electric drive unit, and a four-cylinder engine-generator; it will use electricity as its primary power source to drive the car without using gasoline or producing tailpipe emissions. When the battery’s energy is low, the ELR will seamlessly switch to a gasoline-powered electric generator to allow hundreds of additional driving miles. However, the ELR’s powertrain is widely anticipated to be an updated updated variant of the Voltec system, dubbed Voltec 2.0.
Detroit-Hamtramck is the only U.S. automotive manufacturing plant that mass produces extended-range electric vehicles. The plant is home to the Chevrolet Volt, Opel Ampera, and Holden Volt extended-range electric vehicles, which are exported to 21 countries from the plant, as well as the all-new 2014 Chevy Impala.
Comments
This is really no surprise. It makes sense since everything else on the platform is built there.
What a great looking car! The first truly desirable electric vehicle. So glad it’s staying very true to the concept.
Can we guess prices? $60K
$60,000 sounds plausible to me. Unlike the Volt, the ELR can charge much more for the luxury experience and the added green image.
The Volt, however, needs to come down in price to be more widely accepted.
Yes lowering the cost would make sales of them in the Canadian Province of Quebec a huge market, As we have extremely low cost electricity! Charging stations are going everywhere. I am surprised that they would not also build the Volt MPV5 as the SUV crossover segment is incredibly active automotive sector.
I am sure that the SUV version would outsell the Luxury Cadillac 8 to 1! I am aware that giving a “green” luxury vehicle is a great advertisement campaign on wheels.
I thought I previously read that the Cadillac would get the ” Voltec 2.0″ power train, that would offer significantly improved electric range over what is used in the Volt. I also love the design of this car… So nice to see them take all of the Cadillac design language to the next level, rather than trying to neuter it (as in the XTS and ATS, and rumored for the next-gen CTS). This is the “look” that has made Cadillac successful – they should be proud of it!
Bill, the ELR could very well use an improved version of the Voltec powertrain… That’s why we didn’t go into specifics as it relates to the vehicle’s powertrain. The basics of the system (how it works and the non-specific components) will stay the same.
dual powertrain vehicles like the Volt and ELR are only stop gap vehicles until batteries meet a few more hurdles.
lower cost
higher battery capacity / unit size
fast charging
Full electrics cannot meet all 3 hurdles today and will not sell in volume. The Volt/ELR however sorta bypasses 2 and 3 due to the on board generator and therefore are at least salable to a small market who “overlook” the high cost.
However once electrics meet all 3 hurdles vehicles like the Volt/ELR will go away and be replaced by full electrics. There will be a transition period as the hurdles are chipped away at and we will see the Volt type vehicles get lower in price but they can never fully compete because they have to haul around both powertrains (battery and generator).
Yupp, that’s the thinking. The question is when electrics will be able to meet all of the three requirements.
“The addition of the ELR to Detroit-Hamtramck represents a $35 million investment in the plant and increases total product investment to $561 since December 2009.”
Wow! Only $561 for total product investment! That plant is extremely efficient to be able to produce the ELR for so little money!
Or did someone miss a few zeroes?
561 million. Thanks bud 🙂