After selling fewer than 3000 Cadillac ELRs since the model’s introduction, General Motors formally announced that it has ceased making the slow-selling plug-in hybrid coupe.
According to HybridCars.com, ELR production quietly ended in February, shortly after Cadillac president Johan de Nysschen stated that there were no plans to invest in a second-generation model; however, it wasn’t until this month that the division’s product communications manager, David Caldwell, confirmed that the car was no longer rolling off of GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck assembly line, which currently builds the Cadillac CT6, the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, the Chevrolet Impala, and the Chevrolet Malibu.
Although the Cadillac ELR’s unique exterior styling received high praise, not much else about the luxury coupe was well received by the press or the public. In our first review of the car we called out the ELR for failing to “push the technological frontier forward.” Despite sharing very little with the Chevrolet Volt, the Caddy was often referred to as a “$75,995 Chevy Volt.” It certainly didn’t help that the battery pack and powertrain were some of the few pieces the two cars shared. At roughly 2.5 times the cost of the Volt, we, as well as many consumers, found it hard to justify the cost of the ELR. Things only got worse for the ELR after Cadillac released its widely mocked “Poolside” ad, which portrayed the ELR as ...