Cadillac teases luxury ELR hybrid coupe

GM luxury division Cadillac has posted a shadowy teaser image of its upcoming 2014 ELR extended-range, electric luxury coupe.

The vehicle is slated to formally debut January 15 at the Detroit Auto Show, and is based much upon Cadillac’s Converj concept vehicle, which was first unveiled back way back in 2009.

Though you can’t really learn a lot from the image below, there’s already a lot of information out there about the ELR which can help one make some educated guesses on what this car will have to offer.

For starters, if it holds true to the concept it is based upon, one would expect the car to have a range of almost 40 miles before the four-cylinder gasoline-engine kicks over to act as the generator. This would add what Cadillac says is extra “driving for hundreds of additional miles.”

The system that drives this car is much like that of the Volt, and consists of the gas generator, a T-shaped lithium-ion battery and an electric drive unit. Production is scheduled to begin in 2013 on the ELR at GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant, and its addition to that facility represents what GM says is a $35 million investment. It also increases total product investment to $561 million since December 2009 and is the first two-door car built at the plant since the 1999 Cadillac Eldorado.

The facility this Cadillac hybrid is being built at is the only US automotive manufacturing plant to mass produces extended-range electric vehicles, according to GM. Not all of the vehicle will originate from here though – for example, the lithium-ion battery will be built at GM’s Brownstown Battery Assembly plant in Brownstown, Mich.

The ELR will likely have low production numbers, and no specific pricing has yet been mentioned. 

Nino Marchetti, EarthTechling