General Motor as well as AOL Autos (the latter on its Facebook page – we don’t know the hows and whys) have shared photos of the first Cadillac ELR range-extended electric coupe as it was rolling off the line at General Motors’ Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant this week.
However, as pointed out by AOL-owned Autoblog.com, this is a pre-production version of the ELR not made for customers, but for GM engineers who will use these first examples for testing purposes alone. Series production of the ELR will begin towards the end of the year with sales to start in early 2014.
Revealed in final production guise at the Detroit Auto Show in January, the ELR shares most of its underpinnings with the Chevrolet Volt. Motivation comes from a hybrid powertrain featuring a 16.5 kWh lithium-ion battery pack, a naturally-aspirated 84HP 1.4-liter gasoline engine that functions as a generator and two electric motors with a combined output of 181HP.
The ELR’s powertrain is rated at 207HP and 295 lb-ft (400 Nm) of torque allowing for a 0-60mph (96km/h) time of around 8 seconds and a top speed of 100mph (160km/h), along with a zero-emissions range of 35 miles (56 km) that can be extended to 300 miles (480 km) when using the gasoline engine as a generator.
Photo Credits: GM and AOL Autos / Facebook
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