I kinda feel bad for the Cadillac ELR. It’s not a bad car at all, really, it’s just a victim of a too-high price tag that puts it in competition with the Tesla Model S, compromised packaging, and a notorious marketing campaign that probably didn’t help to sell cars. It’s been refreshed for the 2016 model year, and now it’s cheaper and better.
Cadillac today announced a raft of improvements to their extended-range plug-in hybrid. First, it’s $9,000 cheaper, bringing it down to a $58,495 starting price after federal tax credits. Second, a reprogrammed Sport Mode makes better use of the 1.4-liter engine and electric motors to give it a 1.5-second better zero to 60 mph time. Third, the steering and suspension has been stiffened and re-calibrated to make it a better handler.
There’s also better regenerative braking, about 39 miles of electric-only driving, and standard OnStar 4G LTE with WiFi so you can do Internet shit in the car. Hell, there’s even a Performance Package now with front Brembo brakes and summer sports tires. It’s a better deal than before.
Is it enough to save the ELR? Dealers have been offering insane price cuts on the existing models, dropping them down to the mid-$50k range already. One Opponaut even scored one for $47,500 after tax credits, which is really not bad, all things considered.
I don’t know if it will be sticking it to the man (i.e. Elon Musk) anytime soon, but there’s no question that it’s a big improvement over what it was.
Contact the author at patrick@jalopnik.com.