2014 Cadillac ELR

The Chevy Volt is a unique car with an impressive pedigree and an intense production schedule. Chevy's team had to put a brand-new power train in a new car basically, all under par where time and budget where concerned. There wasn't a lot of room for error or extension. This worked fairly well, but GM caught some flak for a kind of dumbing-down of the concept car.

The 2014 Cadillac ELR uses that same super-efficient drive train, just with a little more gestation time. You may, in fact, recognize it as a concept car GM displayed to great acclaim four years ago, the Converj. With the Volt's successes and criticisms in mind, then-Chairman Bob Lutz made maintaining the Converj's style a clear priority. If you look hard enough, you can see a few sharp lines that have been smoothed down. Still the sharp wedge shape and aggressive styling have remained mostly intact. This can be seen in the higher drag coefficient of the ELR compared to the Volt: 031 to 028. Lowered efficiency or no, the ELR has a sense of style and presence that's gratifying to see in a mass-manufactured car, let alone in an ecologically-minded one.

Where the Volt missed the mark, the ELR hits a clear bullseye. One shining example is the interior quality, featuring two kinds of wood, various luxurious leathers, and sleek carbon fiber. It is a Cadillac, after all, and carries with it the sense of opulence the brand is famous for. An underbody brace and active dampers keep the ride Caddy-smooth, too, even offering multiple ride settings. It also comes with the price tag Cadillacs usually bear, with MSRP estimated at $70,000.

Those looking for a classy expression of the ecological car will probably be happy to note that this is basically the suave version of the Chevy Volt. It incorporates the ground-breaking drive train, and the electric motor, gas engine, and battery are nearly identical to the Volt, just tweaked with the experience a few years of road experience provides. The ELR does boast a nearly 40% boost in horsepower and an accompanying, and impressive, 400 ft-lbs of torque, compared to the smaller Volt's 365 ft-lbs. The ELR does take a small hit in mileage, however it is fairly minimal: just under 80 miles.

Those looking for true and real innovation in the 2014 Cadillac ELR will be disappointed. It retains many hallmarks of the Cadillac brand: a sharp sense of style, immense comfort, and that all-important luxury. A price tag as large as the ELR's usually comes paired with something more than a souped-up version of last year's cutting edge. If the only thing preventing you from buying a Volt was the slightly dumpy design, well, now you have the ELR. To be fair, it is more exotic hardware than most SUVs, and those looking to blend sensible gas consumption with high style and comfort have finally found a pairing with GM's new offering. It's just a bit of a heft price tag to swallow.

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