Simona De Silvestro, IndyCar Driver, christened the first 2014 Cadillac ELR to roll off the assembly line at GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck plant on Wednesday. The ELR is sceduled to go on sale early next year.
The Cadillac ELR is based on the Chevy Volt extended range electric vehicle and uses a 16.5 kWh lithium-ion battery pack to travel up to 35 miles on electricity alone. After the battery pack is depleted, a 1.4 liter gasoline generator can extend the range up to 300 miles. The battery pack can be charged in 4.5 hours via a 240-volt outlet, or 12 hours with a standard plug.
Cadillac says total output power of the system is 207 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque.
No price has been announced yet for the ELR, but it’s rumored to be in the $60,000 to $70,000 range.