Motoring Middle East: Car news, Reviews and Buying guides

Charged-up rakish coupe is a converter, at least for us, but would it work here?

By Shahzad Sheikh

I had an opportunity to try the sensational Cadillac ELR briefly whilst in the States and see if the concept of range-extender hybrids (hitherto an anathema to me) would finally make any sort of sense.

Thing is, new technology is always so much easier to swallow when it’s well presented. When it comes to visuals Cadillac has whacked it out of the ballpark with the ELR. Just look at it. It’s stunning. Crisp rakish lines, stocky wedge-shaped profile, arse-in-the-air menace, hot-rod elegance, space-faring futuristic stance.

The ELR appears to be a spiritual successor to one of Cadillac’s most striking cars of modern times, the 2011 CTS Coupe which is still a stunner, and rocket ship fast in CTS-V guise with 556bhp! That’s one of my favourite cars (read my review here), so straight away the ELR has won me over with its ultra-modern style.

And then there’s the interior – contemporary Cadillac, which is to say beautifully finished and thoughtfully executed. It’s a comfortable four-seater, more spacious at the front than at the back I’ll grant you, but familiar and welcoming. There is nothing alien or unusual in this cutting edge-tech car, nor do we even need a lengthy briefing before setting off on an exploratory 20-minute run.

In fact it’s only when you move off, whisper quiet, with only the sound of the tyres rolling on the tarmac that you realise this is something rather different. It’s not a concept of course, but a real car, currently on sale in the US for a somewhat hefty price tag of $75,000. The tech is far from experimental too, as it also sees service in the Chevrolet Volt, on sale since 2011.

So what exactly do we have here? The Cadillac ELR is a plug-in electric hybrid with a range-extender engine capable of 545km. The front-wheel drive two-door coupe with two electric motors putting out up to 181bhp and more significantly 295lb ft of torque enough to propel it to 100kph in under 9 seconds.

You can plug it in and charge it for up to 18 hours – or just five through a fast phase supply – or rely on the built in generator. This is a petrol 1.4-litre engine which I can tell you produces 84bhp but that’s irrelevant, because all it does is charge the lithium-ion 288-cell battery stack sipping fuel at a rate of just 2.9L/100km.

Our drive is too short to make any real road-test assessment. However I can tell you that as well as being serene to ride along in, it’s an easy steer with a good ride as you’d expect, but a deceptively quick pace if you put your foot down. There doesn’t seem to be much build-up, it just goes, the electric torque instantly propelling you at a speed you would not have thought possible.

The blistering acceleration without any engine or propulsion noise, but only increased road-roar and wind noise is eerie and totally astonishing.

So it looks fantastic, is suitably luxurious to be in, drives well and goes pretty quickly. There are no plans to bring it here, but should they? Sadly no. Not at that price. Our market remains reluctant to embrace even regular hybrid technology, let alone range-extender engineering, although it clearly does work.

However, the ELR is a beautiful and desirable car, so here’s what I propose Cadillac. Keep the price, rip out the drivetrain and replace it with that from the CTS-V. Then bring it over. You’ll be onto a winner for sure!