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Cadillac Unveils Pricier Alternative To Tesla Model S
An anonymous reader writes "Cadillac has officially unveiled its Tesla S alternative, but at $5,000 more than the Tesla, it may not be the cheaper option you've been looking for. 'Cadillac is touting the ELR's 8-inch touchscreen powered by its CUE infotainment system — which two years in is still a buggy mess — along with a range of safety and convenience features, including lane departure warning, forward collision alert, and a 24-hour concierge service to answer questions. There's also a "regen on demand" feature that allows the driver to boost the brake regeneration, slowing the vehicle and recouping energy by pulling on the flappy paddles behind the steering wheel. GM's bean counters are quick to point out that depending on what federal and state tax incentives buyers are eligible for, the net pricing could be as low as $68,495, but that's still a tough sell considering you're basically getting a Volt with more presence and less practicality.'"
So your feet never get cold when you're pressing on the pedals.
1) A nicer interior
2) A nicer exterior (tesla is bland, this is one of the nicest looking cars ever)
3) A car you can drive anywhere without charging
4) A car that will work for more than 10 years
5) Support from a company that wont be out of business in 10 years
6) A lot more technology features (the tesla has a rear view camera but not much else)
Since TFS doesn't give any detail worth noting, this thing has two doors (not four like the S), a laughable 35mi electric range before the gasoline engine kicks in for 300mi total (which is still fairly bad, especially when the S has 208-265mi range pure electric depending on the model), a smaller (8" vs 17" for the S) touchscreen with a poorer OS/UI, all that for $75k. Oh yeah, and it looks like a blockier Volt. In fact, it's pretty much a Volt with a few extra features at twice the price.
If this is the best GM can do, they better get back to the drawing board quick.
Get a plug in Prius or similar. A small gasoline engine is not going to damage the environment. It's ludicrous to use all electric given the low range.
I applaud efforts to reduce CO2 emissions. I despise people who do it ass backwards.
And Tesla is made in China mostly.
...to help pay for the heath and retirement benefits of union employees who already retired at 55.
Lawrence Person (lawrencepersonh@gmailh.com (remove all "h"s to mail)
http://www.lawrenceperson.com/
I'm Elon Musk and I approve this negative review of my competitor's product.
Really, it *IS* your father's cadillac.
It looks like news outlets all over the place are comparing this to the Model S, but then like 2 sentences later point out how it is mechanically basically a Volt. How does that make it an alternative to the Model S at all? Doesn't that just make it an alternative to the Volt? Was the Volt an alternative to the Model S?
If there is a car that screams old and crass, that's Cadillac. We are talking a brand that appeals to the oldest segment of society, and only in the US - when it comes to a presence as a luxury car anywhere else, Cadillac only elicits smirks. My guess is that your average Tesla buyer will probably be repelled by Cadillac. Chances are Cadillac has another Catera in its hands - a car meant for a market that does not exist.
that may as well be 0 inches for all the good a lcd screen is in a car when the sun hits it, do you think "sorry officer i had no idea of my speed because the sun is shining" will work ?
as for having touch as an interface is beyond stupidity in a car, why do 99% of cars have knobs and buttons ? clue: it isnt a technological problem its more of a "how can i adjust ac/settings/radio/nav without taking my eye of the road"
good luck in court
Cadillac has picked up their game across the board from the ATS, CTS and the XTS with what has to be just about the greatest turn around of any automotive manufacture ever. I have every confidence that they will get this car right and that it will be worth the proverbial money. Hell, even Top Gear magazine (typically very Anti American) gave the ATS and new CTS high praise.
GM should have made this car before they made the Volt. People are far more likely to accept a pricier car at the luxury end of the segment (eco-sheek) than in the family segment where it is much harder to justify the price differential. Now the problem is that people will think of this as an expensive Volt and that may make it difficult to sell.
What are those? Is that the technical term?
...then we can pout and claim that Americans don't want electric cars.
Americans don't want your crappy electric cars, they want a Tesla.
When GM does something like this it just advertises that they're a dinosaur stuck in the tar pits of history.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
It is unbelievable that this article is taken seriously. The writer refers to the shift paddles as "flappy paddles behind the steering wheel". This tells me that the person writing the article knows nothing about cars and did very little research to reach their conclusions.
If the author had been willing to do some actual research, instead of generating a fluff piece, we would have a comparison of the features between what's included with the Volt and the Cadillac version. Perhaps there are a few more things under the hood than a re-badged Volt.
http://www.topspeed.com/cars/cadillac/2014-cadillac-elr-ar128653.html
There are a lot of people who spend $k to by a wrist watch even though there are perfectly good and accurate watches available for $20. Watches are functional jewelry. A lot of people avoid digital watches because they aren't usually very nice looking.
There is a large segment of the US population that regards cars not just as transportation, but also a statement about themselves. Cadillac has always been a prestige brand. People who buy Cadillacs aren't interested in diving a Chevy volt because Chevy is a blue-collar brand. The fact that it costs more than a Volt or Tesla makes it MORE attractive to Cadillac buyers.
The fact is, that GM and other car companies are desperate to buy some time and push a fuel cell that uses nat gas, either directly or indirectly (for hydrogen). By the time that these companies have something worthwhile on fuel cells, Tesla, Nissan, and probably Chinese car companies, will be monster companies competing against them with real electric cars that have ultra-caps.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
GM should concentrate on making a better volt... Isn't the goal these days to do one thing right (twitter founder)?
Don't get me wrong, I love my Volt and I'm at +250mpg, but make the Volt a KILLER car, not only good...
My 2 cents.
I'm pretty annoyed at people trying to compare the ELR or the Volt to a Tesla, or Leaf, or any other pure electric. The biggest reason why I wouldn't buy a Tesla is because total electrics are still impractical. If you look on the Tesla website, you'll see that I'm basically limited to a 300mile radius to where I live. This is because at 300 miles, it'll take 4:43 to charge my 85kw battery with the supercharger. Bump that down to a 240v outlet, and its a 9:26 charge. And thats after spending nearly 95k for the car, because the 70k version only goes about 200miles. There are some tricks to get 80% 'fairly quick', but you're still adding hours onto each segment of a roadtrip.
Which is where the volt comes in. For -most- people, they only need 30-50miles a day in their car. BUT, if you want to take a road-trip just 5 hours away, you're going to want a way to get there without spending 4 hours charging. And at $299/mo lease, its cost isn't much different than some nicer compacts of its class, and for everyday driving you spend nothing on fuel.
I'm -my- use case, and driving style (where I go) -- I think given the choice of a Tesla or ELR, I probably would go with the ELR. At least then I wouldn't have to buy another car so I could goto the beach, out camping where there is no power, or any of the other places the 'supercharger' grid hasn't made it yet. But in reality, the volt is nice on its own, I don't have any desire to pay another 35k to have a neat badge and a blocky-looking car. Don't get me wrong, I think the Tesla is a nice car, but without the gas generator, its a non-starter for me. Now put a little Diesel TDI generator in there, and I'd buy a Tesla in a heartbeat!
I thought the whole point of regenerative breaking was to capture the energy lost to breaking. It should it be automatic? What's the point of a 'demand' paddle?
Vary for different same worthlees are having trouble
When GM came out with their first diesel car engine back in 1980-81, they basically took a gas V8 and did some minor tweaking to create the 1981 Old Toronado diesel. This car is widely considered to be one of the 10 worst in automotive history.
This reminds me of that.
Model S is the only "long-range battery electric luxury car" out there. In that, there is no competition. All the hybrids still retain their internal combustion engines, and with them all the added weight and complexity and breakage and exhaust and dirt and oil. So you cannot compare hybrids with battery electric vehicles, as they are completely different thing. Hybrids, even plugin hybrids, are not "long-range battery electric cars". All other battery electric cars are not long-range, and are not big/luxury cars.
If you are comparing "luxury cars", then you need to add BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Jaguar into equation, and compare it on things like performance, interior, feeling, ride, design etc. I doubt Cadillac would fare well in this comparison.
I wish Tesla cars got to Europe sooner...
--Coder
I'm not aware of any other production long-range battery car? The Model S is the only all electric car with a 200+ mile range that does not include an ICE, luxury or not.
I'm more impressed each press release by Tesla - not because of anything in particular, but because it seems so impossibly hard for every other manufacturer in the world to even get to half of the Model S range on batteries alone. In fact, if there weren't actual, on the road vehicles I would say - based on their marketing literature and the performance of every other manufacturer - that they were full of shit and may as well be hyping the Moller AirCar.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
"Hello, is that the 24 hour concierge?"
"Yes, speaking! How may I help you, sir?"
"This car is shit. Where can I trade it in for a Tesla?"
If you only have the resources to own a single vehicle, you're not the target market for ANY all electric.
As a side note, I find it impossible to imagine hauling a load of plywood in my Subaru sedan, 6 people and luggage to the beach in my truck, or take my minivan on snowy roads to go skiing. Amazingly, with three vehicles between me and my wife I can do all of those things *AND* average about 26-28 MPG combined on all the vehicles. It can't be done with a single vehicle, but that doesn't mean that any of the three are wholly impractical.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
You made sense until your last word. Ultra-capacitors aren't happening. As batteries steadily get cheaper, you can use a bigger battery. A bigger battery can handle more power, so it can cope with more braking regen and recharge faster (and deliver more horsepower); and it's not cycled as much as a smaller battery, so it lasts longer. That reduces the fast-charge and longevity benefits of ultracaps, which are still far more expensive and heavier than a lithium-ion battery of the energy. Ionova claims 10 Wh/kg for their ultracaps while li-on is over 100 Wh/kg. In theory you can recharge an ultracap in seconds, but the future fast charger to recharge a Model S battery in a minute has to deliver 7000 amps at 500V instead of ~240 amps, so it's going to cost a fortune.
Ultracaps still have a chance in hybrids, the Prius only has a 1.3 kWh battery. Only price keeps ultracaps from replacing that battery. But again, as batteries get cheaper, more people will expect to be able to plug in.
=S
A bit? :)
The 918 Spyder starts at $845,000.
It's more than ten times the cost...
Please help metamoderate.
It is unbelievable that this article is taken seriously. The writer refers to the shift paddles as "flappy paddles behind the steering wheel". This tells me that the person writing the article knows nothing about cars and did very little research to reach their conclusions.
Actually, you just showed you know less about the automotive world than they do.
"Flappy paddle" has been the derogatory term Jeremy Clarkson and the other Top Gear presenters have used for years upon years, and it's now in widespread popular use. It referred to three things, early on: 1)Automatics with paddles that simply said to the transmission "shift up or down now", which usually happened eons after you pushed the paddle and the transmission still has all the inefficiencies of an automatic 2)Automated-manual transmissions which had horrendous "creeping" functionality, poor usability/interface (ie 3 point turns were mind-numbingly hard/slow/complex), and broke down a lot because of the complexity of actuators/sensors/etc. 3)Sequential transmissions that were brutal in terms of comfort (having been adopted from racing applications) and poor creeping functionality.
Nowadays the term is mostly used by automotive fans who hate anything that doesn't have a manual gearbox, even if it's a perfectly reliable 7 gear, double-clutch transmission that shifts so smoothly you can do so mid-corner and not upset the car's balance, and can shift so fast it has to wait for the engine to match revs...
Please help metamoderate.
"Regen paddles?" Why should the driver have to control the power train at that level? Regenerative braking should happen during any braking, as it does on most other electric cars. For light braking, regenerative braking is enough; push the brake pedal down further and the brake pads engage.
This isn't a new concept; it appeared first in the PCC streetcar, from 1936. (San Francisco still runs a fleet of them.) The PCC cars had a whole hierarchy of braking. As the brake pedal was depressed, first the drive motors went to regen mode, dumping power back into the trolley line or into big iron resistance grids on the roof. Then the brake shoes were applied to the wheels by compressed air. Next, four big rubber brake buffers pressed down against the rails at four points. Finally, if you floored the brake pedal, the sander came on and dropped sand ahead of the lead wheels for extra grip. The operator didn't have to think about this - just step on the brakes.
Sillier things have appeared in high-end electric cars. There was one European prototype which not only had "shifting", but an engine noise generator feeding the car speakers. You actually had to shift as speed increased. All this did was feed an input to the control electronics, but it gave the illusion that the driver was doing something "high performance".
Finally! It's about time Cadillac has come out with the successor to the mighty Cimarron!
God I hope so. The first batch of cars that catch on fire or just fall apart in a thousand miles will be awesome.
Well, what should happen when you lift off the accelerator? In a conventional car, the engine brakes the car, and engine braking increases in lower gears. So GM has reused the concept to adjust the amount of brake regen when you lift off. Other electrified cars coast, or apply a set amount of regen. I don't know what VW's new plug-in hybrids, with a conventional dual-clutch transmission, do.
Tesla hooks brake regen up to the accelerator pedal, so as you lift off more more brake regen increases, turning it into an accelerator/decelerator control. One-footed driving sounds like a blast.
=S
As Anonymous Coward points out elsewhere, sharing a powertrain is NOT a rebadge. The ELR looks nothing like the Volt, therefore it is not a rebadge.
=S
So GM is getting back to basics, returning to their old system of charging at multiple tiers for phony differentiation of a base model which is technically inferior to pretty much everything out there. I can't wait for AMC to return with coal-fired Pacers and Gremlins.
Gonna need to see the schematic and the source code, Cadillac. Same with you, Tesla. The elephant in the room on all new cars now, not just gasoline cars, is Michael Hastings.
This car will sell well. People are failing to understand the market.
There are plenty of wealthy folk who like the idea of a Volt, but don't want to be seen in a $35K car. These people will snap up the $75K ELR. It's got the cool features of the Volt, but allows them to drive a car that reflects their financial situation/status.
My God can beat up your God. Just kidding...don't take offense. I know there's no God.
This is one of the ugliest cars I've seen in a while. It looks like they took a nice car and pumped it up like a balloon. It looks short and obese and no rear doors makes it impractical for day-to-day use. The interior looks great though but Tesla Model S has a much much nicer exterior! The car I'm looking forward to is the Fisker Atlantic.
My other account has a 3-digit UID.
its gud to have ecofriendly car...
How can you compare a Cadillac ELR to a Tesla, when the Cadillac has an all-electric range of only 35 miles? You can't even compare this expensive Cadillac to a Nissan Leaf. All the Cadillac ELR is, is an luxury Chevy Volt.
Cadillac, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.