| Published
on 12
Dec
2013 |
All rights reserved.
|
|
|
Normally price is
not too big a concern at AutoZine because we see cars from enthusiast
rather than consumer's viewpoint. Nevertheless, we have to mention the
price of this car in the beginning of our discussion – US$76,000. Yes,
it costs as much as a mid-spec Tesla Model S, an Audi RS5, a BMW 640i
and a Mercedes CLS500. The new Cadillac coupe not just lacks
the fame of its rivals but it is also a lot smaller, slower and less
powerful. Worse still, it is built on the same underpinnings of
Chevrolet Volt, a car that sells for only $35,000. Is it mad?
No one understands what Cadillac and GM's top executives were thinking
when they decided the pricing and market positioning of
Cadillac ELR. I try very hard to imagine and come up with this version:
the General was not happy with the huge
loss Chevrolet Volt was making. To recoup the heavy investment in its
plug-in
hybrid technology, or so-called "Voltec", one bloke suggested to build
a
small Cadillac on the Volt platform so that it could earn back the
money lost on Volt. However, as sales volume of
Cadillac is likely to be smaller than Chevy, it should be priced a lot
higher, so high that it could easily match German luxury coupes from a
class or two above. Such a strategy didn't make sense, of course,
but then the General realized that Tesla was able to charge $100K
for each Model S Signature model. If a no-one-knows nameplate can
charge so much for an innovative green concept, why not Cadillac? In
this way, GM greenlighted the ELR program.
Apparently, they thought a beautiful design and a luxury interior are
what it takes to charge more than double of its donor car. The ELR is
undeniably very stylish. Sleek, sharp, clean and
elegant, it might be the best example of "Art and Science" design theme
to date. The sealed front grille hints its unconventional propulsion
system, but it doesn't shout different for the sake of it, unlike BMW
i3 and i8.
The styling is flawless, but the ELR still looks too small to be so
expensive. Although it has already added considerable length to its
overhangs and extra width to the shoulders, it is
still obviously built on a compact car platform. The wheelbase is 10 mm
longer than Volt's but still shy of 2700 mm. This reflects in its
interior space – while the front seats are comfortable for most people,
the rear seats are restricted to children, and very small ones. They
lack both head and legroom to accommodate adults. Cadillac agrees, so
it calls the cabin 2+2. Expect most drivers will fold the rear seats to
place hand luggage. As for the boot, it is quite narrow and shallow.
The interior packaging is quite classy. It uses too many varying
materials, but the leather, woods and fabrics are high quality items,
as in the case of new CTS. Not so great is the center console, whose
lacquer black surface is easy to catch fingerprints (that's why piano
black plastic is popular on cheaper cars) and the touch screen of CUE
infotainment system is again a nightmare to operate.
However, most absurd is that it carries over the floorpan and
propulsion system from its Chevy cousin. Yes, there are
some significant changes, such as the front MacPherson struts have been
replaced with torque-steer-killing HiPer struts that was originally
designed by Opel. Unfortunately, suspending the rear axle is still that
Astra-derived torsion beam axle with Watts link. That should not have
happened on a Golf GTi, let alone something asking for $76K! Even
though continuous adaptive damping (from Opel Astra again) is equipped
as standard, it is not a substitution for a proper independent rear
suspension.
The powertrain hardware is exactly the same as that of Volt. It
consists of a pair of AC electric motors which drive the front wheels,
a
1.4-liter petrol engine which works as range extender and a planetary
gearset CVT that link them up. The electric motors produce up to 181 hp
and 295 lbft of torque, higher than those of Volt (149 hp and 273
lbft). The differences lie on the current supplied to them rather than
the motors themselves. The
petrol engine is rated at 86 hp and 94 lbft, but this is irrelevant to
performance, because it revs at a constant 4800 rpm as long as the
battery is exhausted. The total system output is 217 horsepower, an
excellent figure if you: a) wind back 30 years ago, when a Corvette had
much the same horsepower; b) overlook its 1830 kg kerb weight; or c)
used to drive a Prius and have never heard of Tesla.
If neither cases fit, you will find the ELR underpowered. It might be
able to do 0-60 mph in 7.8 seconds, thanks to the instant electric
torque delivered right from idle, but the initial sensation fades out
as speed rises. By the time 107 mph is reached, the computer stops it
from accelerating. This is to say it could feel quite brisk in town,
but it never feels like a coupe, let alone one so expensive.
Like Volt, the 16.5 kWh, 200 kilograms of lithium-ion battery is placed
on the floorpan in T-shape. It is housed within the transmission
tunnel and under the rear seats. It offers an EV range of 35
miles, far less than a proper electric car's, thus its usage is limited
to short commutes. When the battery is drained, the petrol engine fires
up. Boy, it is so noisy! GM should have found a more refined unit or
added more insulation around it. As it didn't, the Cadillac suffers
from a very unpleasant transition between the super-quiet EV mode and
unrefined range-extending mode, and the latter usually sustains until
the end of the journey. This damages the luxury pretension of the
Cadillac. You might start questioning why you have spent so much money
on a hybrid instead of a pure EV like Tesla or a refined Germany luxury
coupe.
The same question can be asked for its chassis dynamics. By the
standard of luxury coupes, the ELR's road-holding, braking, body
control and ride quality are all mediocre. Its 245/40R20 rubbers might
look sporty, but they are low-rolling resistance design thus the grip
they afford is relatively modest. Low speed maneuvering feels agile and
stable enough, but push harder the car in corner and it will give up
gripping, washing into early understeer. The steering is precise but
the effort is too light and short of communication. On poorer surfaces,
the semi-independent rear axle fails to settle down, so you have to
back off.
After all, we should not forget that it is derived from a small hybrid
car platform that was originally designed to excel in efficiency and
use as many existing parts as possible. Comparing its driving dynamics
with the aforementioned premium rivals is not fair. Unfortunately, its
price tag says otherwise. If it cost half the price, it could have
earned a lot more favourable comments. The problem is, the car cannot
be built at a reasonable cost. Maybe the Voltec concept is wrong from
the beginning. 3 years ago I thought it might be turned into a success
given more time and further development. Now with Tesla showing the
light, perhaps we don't really need plug-in hybrids to be the interim
solution of the ultimate EVs.
|
Verdict:  |
|
