The Cadillac CT6 PHEV Is A “Volt On Steroids”

The first 100 Cadillac CT6 PHEV cars are in the country and are on their way to dealer showrooms. All hybrid versions of the CT6 are built in China and imported to the US. The car features an electric only range of more than 30 miles from its 18.4 kWh battery. Hmmm….isn’t that the same size battery GM uses in the Chevy Volt? Yes it is, but it is not the same battery. Instead of being T shaped like in the Volt, the battery for the CT6 is more rectangular and fits between the rear seat and the trunk.

The CT6 PHEV builds on the Voltec technology GM developed for the Chevy Volt but there are significant differences between the two powertrains. For starters, the CT6 PHEV has rear wheel drive; the Volt is front wheel drive. The Volt uses a 1.5 liter normally aspirated 4 cylinder gasoline engine. The Caddy has a 266 horsepower turbocharged 2.0 liter 4 cylinder under its hood.

The transmission for the CT6 is similar to the Volt transmission in that it uses two electric motors — one is an induction motor, which requires no rare earth materials to manufacture. The second is a permanent magnet motor. Combined they add 183 horsepower for a total of 449. The motors are enclosed in the transmission housing that sends power to the rear wheels.

Cadillac tried and failed to make an upmarket clone of the Volt called the ELR but it was a dismal failure. More than anything else, it was deemed too slow off the line to be a “true” Cadillac. For the CT6, the company has remedied that weakness by stuffing  3 planetary gears (two simple, one double-pinion) and 5 clutches into the transmission, which now has four continuously variable transmission modes with 3 fixed gears.

“Basically, that gives you a Volt on steroids. It gives you tremendous launch torque. It’s actually a 6.8 step down in the EVT low. You look at some of the EV effort we have here, you’re almost above 5,000 Newton/meters. You have that EV launch feel,” says Tim Grewe, GM’s general director of electrification. As a result, the 4,431 pound CT6 PHEV slingshots to 60 mph in 5.6 seconds. The 3,543 pound Volt takes 8.4 seconds to accomplish the same feat.

Starting price for the CT6 PHEV is $75,095 plus a $995 destination fee. That’s about $15,000 more than the base price of the conventional CT6, but it comes with more equipment standard and includes the cost of installing a 220 volt charger. The CT6 PHEV is rated 117.7 MPGe by the EPA.

Will buyers flock to Cadillac showrooms to buy the CT6 PHEV? There are other plug-in hybrid luxury cars on the market, including the Mercedes S Class 550e and the BMW 7 series iPerformance sedan. What none of those cars offers is an SUV body style, a glaring lack in a world where SUVs dominate the passenger car market. But Cadillac may have a plug-in hybrid crossover SUV with all wheel drive known as the XT4 in the works. It will likely be a twin to the FNR-X Chevrolet which will debut at the Shanghai auto show later this month. There is no word at this time about price or availability.

Source: Hybrid Cars  Technical details via Green Car Congress