The 2014 Cadillac ELR: What the critics say

Road & Track

“GM has done this whole thing backward.” Three years after wowing the auto press with the hybrid electric technology that powered the pioneering Chevrolet Volt, the automaker’s Cadillac division has put a fancier wrapper on roughly the same platform and then doubled the price. That’s just wrong. If you want to charge a premium for something, “you load it with The Future and you sell it to people who have the means to buy tomorrow’s tech today.” Instead, the ELR “breaks zero ground.”

Car and Driver

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Except, perhaps, that it’s “mesmerizingly beautiful.” Appearance counts for only so much, but this futuristic luxury coupe manages the neat trick of looking even better than the concept car that inspired it. Its cramped rear quarters seem “more suitable for handbags than human beings,” but the front cockpit proves plenty comfortable, and it’s flush with “superlative” materials.

ConsumerReports.org

Granted, the ELR is also “a lot nicer to drive than a Volt.” Steering is “tight and responsive,” and you barely hear the gas engine kick in to extend the car’s 35-mile battery-only range. But it’s not nearly as -agile as Cadillac’s $40,000 gas-powered CTS, and its price tag means it has to compete in a whole different league. “That leaves us wondering, who will buy this car?”