Like the rest of GM’s brand lineup, Cadillac is now in the midst of transitioning to all-electric powertrains, with plans to unveil no less than three new EVs during the course of the 2023 calendar year. Although it may appear as though Cadillac is skipping over hybrids entirely, the luxury marque has actually dabbled in the segment on several occasions, most notably with the two-door Cadillac ELR. Now, we’re taking a closer look at this sleek luxury coupe caught out in the wild.
Offering sharp styling and a plug-in hybrid four-cylinder powertrain, or an electric powetrain with a range-extending combustion engine to be more specific, production of the Cadillac ELR was surprisingly short-lived, lasting from 2013 to 2016 (taking a break for the 2015 model year) with less than 3,000 units produced, making it a relatively rare find. Nevertheless, GM Authority stumbled across this particular example in Downtown Los Angeles, and suffice to say, it still looks good, even ten years after it was initially put into production.
In terms of styling, the Cadillac ELR is based on the Cadillac Converj concept, which made its debut in January of 2009 at the North American International Auto Show (also known as the Detroit Auto Show). With chiseled features and geometric shapes, the front end of the Cadillac ELR conveys a sense of motion for the vehicle, with the long headlamps running up across the fenders, drawing the eye rearwards towards a short, square tail. The profile and shoulder line are heavily raked, lending it a sense of sportiness, while the chrome trim and elegant shape provide luxurious overtones.
With regard to the powertrain, the Cadillac ELR is equipped with a retuned version of the Voltec system that powers the Chevy Volt, mating two electric motors to a 1.4L four-cylinder gasoline engine acting as an on-board generator, along with a 16.5 kWh lithium-ion battery (later increased to 17.1 kWh) and CVT multi-mode electric transaxle. Total output was pegged at 217 horsepower (later increased to 233 horsepower) and 295 pound-feet of torque (later increased to 373 pound-feet of torque), put to the ground exclusively through the front wheels, with 60 mph arriving in roughly 6.4 seconds in the model’s most powerful iteration. Fuel economy was rated at 82 MPGe, while all-electric mode can provide upwards of 39 miles of emissions-free driving.
Production of the Cadillac ELR ended in February of 2016, with Cadillac later launching a plug-in hybrid variant of the Cadillac CT6 sedan. And although the Cadillac ELR was not as popular as some of Cadillac’s other models, its attractive design and forward-looking technology make it a standout even today.
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Comments
I saw a red ELR at the parking lot of the Sawgrass Mills shopping center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in April 2019. My wife, who did not know about it, liked it very much. I need to correct a misunderstanding about the electric transaxle. It is NOT a CVT because the gear ratio is fixed from the main traction motor to the wheels. The speed is varied just like any electric vehicle. This is why the ELR and the Volt are EREV, not a regular hybrid. Both can run at top speed with only the battery power. The engine can supply some torque due to the planetary gear in the transaxle. But it runs totally independent of the vehicle speed.
Well said…
Sorry GM owner:
Not sure if anyone cares here, but the article is misleading in that the engine directly powers the wheels when locked up above 40mph under steady driving.. The lock is broken if acceleration is needed, assuming the engine is running. Exactly the same hardware as the 2011-2015 volts, but changed programing to allow more power when engine on.
However your statement that the ratio is fixed when accelerating does not allow for the continuously variable ratio changes when 2 motors are running in engine off mode. I’ll explain further if anyone cared.
It’s not so difficult to understand, especially when the 2016-2019 volt is Directly geared engine to wheels at all times even with engine off in full electric mode.
The Caddy ELR is probably one of the most beautiful coupes of all time. Too bad that it was too expensive new and was only built in small quantities. I like the look, the technology, but not the USED price!
Now wait until the technology/battery is broken and the ELR have to be scrapped. Unfortunately. But. You can then incorporate other technology and that will be great.
And now to the technology:
The 1.4 L ICE as pure N/A is cool and the gearbox was designed in such a way that in the event of a breakdown the ICE could act directly as a drive on the front wheels. At that time, as far as I know, it was a technical security that was wanted so that the customers didn’t break down somewhere in the desert and couldn’t call for help.
The problem then came that the ELR, like its stepbrothers at OPEL & Chevy, could not be approved as a BEV.
They were all three very early PHEV cars! You can also say that GM has always been light years ahead of all other OEMs. Also Toyota because their “Priuse” are and were only simple hybrids.
Brilliant concept. It’s what is needed now, not promises of charging system networks and nonexistent charging stations.
I loved the look of the car and was waiting for an opportunity to buy one. But it was priced too high and the back seat couldn’t be used by anyone over 4’11”. I think the car would have sold as good as a Volt if it wasn’t overpriced and was a 4 door.
Like a C8 Corvette drivetrain!
That would be called a CTS Coupe.
That would be called a CTS Coupe V series
Bring back the ELR
On a new episode of HotRod Garage, they had a track day at Famoso Raceway, and invited their staff to bring whatever. One of the crew had an ELR, not particularly fast, but did look good!
What about the CT-6 hybird ? Does anyone know how many vehicles produced? Have one and love the car
I have no production numbers, but ALL were built in China and imported. I saw one at Toyota of Cerritos before used car prices skyrocketed for a very good price.
Gym needs to bring back ELR and the volt . I have had 2013 and I have a 2018 know. They are the best concept of electric cars and gas cars.
In 2012 I leased a Volt. At the time, two roadblocks were in the way for the Volt to achieve success. The green energy market segment had a lingering hatred for GM over their “killing” the fully electric EV1. And at the same time the Volt was introduced, Nissan rushed out their fully electric LEAF to the market, which quickly became the darling of the most died in the wool greenies.
Within that group there became too many voices critical of the Volt being merely a gasoline powered car in disguise rather than the extended range electric vehicle (EREV) moniker GM touted it to be. As our GM owner from Puerto Rico said above, the confusion over how the Volt and ELR operate led to a widespread misunderstanding. A cloud over the two which never went away.
Which is why GM should not make cars for “greenies”.
You’re right, Stuart. They didn’t emphasize enough that they were fully electric cars with a generator engine. Same as the ugly electric BMW, except with a real engine for the range extender.
No they were be better than BMW since they efficiently used the engine when it was on to directly drive the wheels At Times. Totally unknown to the driver since transitions and clutch operations happened at “zero torque” which is why the clutches would last forever.
The gen 2 later volts got rid of one clutch entirely as mentioned in my above comment as in those vehicles the engine was hard-geared to the wheels at all times.
I sat in one of these while taking my 2009 CTS in for service to Massey Cadillac in Orlando.
This would’ve been maybe 2013 or 2014 BEFORE the Gen 3 CTS had come out.
The interior was SUPER luxurious as it had all the bells and whistles of the new CTS that was about to come out.
It also has the fluorescent LED light pipes on the exterior so it really, really stands out when driving during the day.
I think it’s a sexy car and reminds me of the CTS couple but more svelte and slimmed down.
It was awfully pricey though at the time.
I just bought a 2017 CTS. An opportunity arose that was too god to pass up. I didn’t know the final 3 years (2017-2019) were finally a good looking car. I was never a CTS fan, but by 2017 they had grown to the exact dimensions of the STS that ended in 2012 ( or ‘13?). I owned a 2007 STS since almost new (lease return). A good Caddy.
I have one as a daily driver for the last year and go about 80 miles to work and back. It gets about 80 mpg when I plug it in at work and home. I will say the only regret I have for this car is that it’s got less electric only range than the volt. I would love to go all electric all the time. But like my husband said, its rarer than a Ferrari so there’s that!
My wife has a 2016 ELR and she absolutely loves it. It’s her 2nd PHEV (first was a gen1 Volt), and she has no desire to move on to anything else. We bought it used (at roughly 2 years old and 30K miles), and since then we’ve put an additional 65K miles on it. It’s a great looking car, and has been very reliable, with the only major issue being recently the high-voltage drive battery needing to be refurbished (under the 8yr/100K battery warranty). The 2016 model is pretty quick, especially up to about 30-40MPH, and has plenty of grunt for passing. I really wish GM would have continued with a PHEV strategy as well as full EV as I feel it’s a much better solution for many people: electric for much of your around town trips, but still has the ability to drive long distances on gas when neede.
It’s nice to see people starting to appreciate these. I always thought it was a great car.
Yeah dean that’s true.. I’ve had a 2011, 2012, and 2019 volts, and a 2014 ELR in Silver, like the car here. Drove it for 95,000 miles as trade for my new Lyriq which I currently do not like, but maybe I’ll grow to at least tolerate it.
The technology in the drive train was superior to anything then or since , but gm threw
it all away.
The CUE system in the car was a bit of a joke and the electric heater should have Never run with the engine on, but those complaints don’t take away from the jewels of drivetrains in both gen 1 and 2 versions.
After putting 98,000 miles on a 2012 Volt and unsure what to replace it with, I happened upon the ELR. Lucky for me it was early 2019 and although very few ELRs were ever built (about 2800) there were many ELRs coming off lease around the US. (Most of the 2016 models were “dumped” by GM by way of a cheap lease program-buying one for $80,000 was a very hard sell!) As they came off lease the dealers who bought them put CPO warranties on them-6years from original in service date or 100,000 miles (wish the current CPO warranty was that generous). Thus, depending on condition and mileage they became about $33-35,000 3 year old used cars rather than $75-80,000 new cars. Buying a black on black ELR with less than 7,000 miles was one of the smartest things we ever did. 4 years and 40,000 miles later we still love it. It has been a reliable and luxurious ride that never fails to get thumbs up from passerbys.
I would love to hear from Bill Howland since we recently ordered a 2024 AWD Lyriq and intended to trade the ELR in on it. What about the Lyriq makes it inferior to your ELR and Volts?
Hi Steven B….
Three totally different cars here. My 2011 Tesla Roadster would have expired worthless if I didn’t sell it while it was still worth something. I wanted another plug-in and got the 2014 ELR on a totally cashless barter trade valued at $50,000 or possibly a bit more since normal dealer fees were adsorbed on this deal.
ELR for what it was, was fine. A few dopey things you always get with gm’s such as a heater water pump replacement for $650 that the car shouldn’t have had anyway. Just run the engine into a normal heater loop when heat is necessary and avoid the complications.
The engine stupidly was forced to run at any time under 34 deg f anyway, so an electric heater loop was never used anyway except when it was forced on to increase gasoline consumption. BS or Beyond Stupidity.
Took me a long time to tolerate the CUE front display system, the horrid map system, and Cue failures. But the basic gen 1 voltec drive system was flawless as is the gen 2 system in the 2019 volt I have.
As for Lyriq:
You know the jokes about the ‘equity compatible’
Marketing when the car came out?
The basic result is the car is too hard to drive.
The pedestrian alert under 25 mph makes too much of a racket INSIDE the car.
In my attached garage the car is constantly doing either arrival or departure light shows..
Guess I’ll have to leave my key ring in the refrigerator.
The constantly running goofy light show for the neighbors only takes about 2 miles of driving range per day.
Hi Bill Howland,
Thanks for the response. I have not had to deal with the pedestrian notification sound, but I understand that this became a safety requirement a few years ago. I didn’t know it was loud enough to bother people on the inside, but I suspect the decibel level is probably set as a regulatory requirement.
I understand that the light ‘greeting’ could get old after a while. I wonder if it can be turned off via some setting buried in a menu someplace. I imagine it wows you for the first few times then gets old.
As for the advertising I think the ads are pretty good but seem a waste. I was seeing Lyriq ads multiple times a day even though GM had orders to keep them busy for 18 months of production. If you divide the Lyriq ad budget in half (figuring they needed maybe half the ads they ran), then divide those excess ad dollars by the small number of units they are producing, probably hundreds of $$ of your purchase price could have been reduced simply by running the ads less often. Oh well, GM gets to decide how they will advertise and price their products and we consumers get to decide what we will buy and pay for.
Our ELR did have a warranty screen replacement in its first year with us (within the warranty period thankfully) which I understand was a known common problem. Beyond that it has been flawless. The Voltec system was very well designed and executed. Volts (and I guess ELRs) went down the assembly line at plant called Detroit Hamtramyck (spelling?) which built mostly Cadillacs and the Volt had a very good quality experience.that is the same plant which, 25 years before, built the famous Cadillac Allante’ (the one that had the chassis built in Michigan and the body built in Italy and which was final assembled in Michigan after traveling by Boeing 747 from Italy to Detroit. That may have been a lot more wasteful than the Lyriq advertising, but makes for a great story. My wife loves her little Allante’ convertible.
I’ve had plenty of gm plugins all with tolerable pedestrian alerts. But I have not had very many walking around INSIDE the car. Volume not changeable and choreographed lighting not disableable on luxury trims
We bought a 2016 Cadillac ELR in February of 2016. It has black exterior with factory 20” black wheels and beautiful Kona brown leather seats with black accents and 10 way power adjustable front seats and all of the other bells and whistles. It is a beautiful car inside and out with many features that were way ahead of its time. It only has 20,000 miles on it and sleeps in a heated garage. My wife loves it and she will never sell it and will upgrade the battery when need be.