The Chevy Volt Gets a Second Life as a Cadillac

When General Motors decided to make a plug-in hybrid several years ago, there was a lively discussion behind closed doors about whether the first model to showcase the expensive technology should be a Chevrolet or a Cadillac. The Chevy advocates won and the Volt was born. History suggests that may not have been the right choice. The Volt—the first car to mix all-electric capabilities with an auxiliary gas engine to extend its driving range after the battery’s depleted—has had disappointing sales. Republicans during the presidential campaign pilloried it as a symbol of the failings of President Obama’s auto-industry bailout.

GM has decided to take a second stab at Volt technology, and this time it’s heading upmarket, with the Cadillac ELR plug-in hybrid, introduced Jan. 15. “GM is saying to the world we’re committed to this extended-range hybrid system,” says Larry Dominique, executive vice president of auto sales tracker TrueCar. The electric-drive Cadillac won’t go on sale until 2014, and first-year sales will likely be small, but it’s important to Cadillac and to GM. The ELR will help freshen Cadillac’s image at a time when other luxury brands, which tend to have higher profit margins than less-expensive vehicles, have pushed Cadillac to the second tier. “The ELR puts us in a position to be provocative, to be a technology leader, to offer something that is unique and exclusive, and those sound like attributes that go back to ‘Cadillac’ the adjective,” says Bob Ferguson, GM’s executive in charge of the brand. Offering another plug-in model can also spread the cost of the expensive technology over more vehicles, shortening the time to break even.