The 2014 Cadillac ELR will be an entirely new kind of Cadillac: not only a compact personal coupe, but the first-ever plug-in model for the luxury brand. It's a high-style, premium range-extended electric car, with a likely battery range of perhaps 35 miles and then a range-extending gasoline engine that kicks on to generate electricity for unlimited miles thereafter.
If that sounds suspiciously like the rather less glamorous or luxurious Chevrolet Volt, there's a reason for that: The two cars share underpinnings. Cadillac promises, however, that the driving characteristics of the ELR electric coupe will be different and distinct, to befit the luxury brand that's making a serious effort to take on the German trio of Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz. None of those makes have anything like the ELR on the drawing board, though the BMW i3 electric urban car may approach the ELR in price once it's fully optioned up.
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