First pre-production ELR rolls off the line

As many of you already know, a certain Cadillac everyone has been waiting for is now a reality.

The first extended-range electric 2014 ELR rolled off the line May 29 at General Motors’ Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant.

As pre-production models, these will be used for testing purposes by engineers, with consumer models slated for later this year.

News of this occasion was released as GM prepared for this weekend’s Belle Isle Grand Prix, and racers including Chevrolet-sponsored IndyCar driver Simona De Silvestro were in attendance.

De Silvestro drives a Volt, and has said she genuinely likes the car, and sees it as a viable bridge technology toward future automotive electrification.

The photo the young racer took above was posted to Facebook, and is being circulated around the Web, as are other photos from AOL Autos.

 

I could tell you a lot of stuff you already know, such as the ELR utilizes a Volt-based powertrain with 16.5-kwh battery that’s rated with 58-more horsepower and 23 more pounds-feet of torque – 207 horsepower, and 295 pounds-feet to be exact.

The AER, as most of you also know, is 35 miles, and 0-60 mph should be about one second quicker.

Prices are believed to be somewhere in the $60,000 range.

The ELR has been described as a “technological halo” for General Motors.

Aside from it, GM says it is working on electrified solutions, and a gen-two Volt is believed pending.

 

Given that GM has said it does not plan on selling lots of ELRs, will this otherwise help create market reception for more mainstream Voltec cars?

Without a doubt the Volt offers benefits regular hybrids cannot touch – such as many Volt owners are able to run on zero gas for enough daily distance to avoid needing to stop at a gas station for months on end.

While the Volt has been a top-seller as a plug-in car, it has never sold more than 3,000 units in a single month. This is in part because of politicized obfuscation, and otherwise due to just-OK market reception despite it being number-one in owner satisfaction, and winning all kinds of awards, and being overbuilt besides.

We know these things and all the Volt’s other positive attributes as well.

So, now ELRs assembled at Dham exist, and it will soon enough be in regular production.

Source: GM-Volt.com