New Cadillacs more proof plug-ins and hybrids mostly for the wealthy
The Cadillac ELR looks great, and expensive.
Just following Lexus, Infiniti and Acura
This week brought many new details on a number of new hybrid and plug-in vehicles, and like the Cadillac ELR, a Chevy Volt-based plug-in, and the Cadillac Ciel hybrid, most of these new battery-powered offerings are headed for the luxury segment.
While these new luxury offerings will help scale down the costs of battery-based powertrains, it’s still disappointing that there isn’t more competition at the lower end of the cost spectrum.
Already the luxury market is pretty loaded, thanks to Lexus, but soon Acura, Infiniti and Cadillac will each add several new plug-in and hybrid vehicles to their respective lineups.
Ironically; however, the hybrid that put hybrid cars on the map, the Toyota Prius, has still not faced much serious competition since it launched more than a decade ago. The Honda Insight was a decent attempt, but that’s really about it. The upcoming Ford C-Max might be a contender, but I’m betting it won’t undercut Prius pricing.
In fact, the most interesting Prius contender might be the C, the smaller and presumably cheaper Prius. But that’s not really competition.
Likewise, one might argue the Nissan Leaf or the Mitsubishi i are Prius-contenders — range issues aside — but only because of massive tax credits.
While Toyota has made some pretty bullish forecasts for hybrid sales by 2020, and Nissan for plug-in electric sales, both seem a little hard to believe based on today’s sales numbers and upcoming offerings. A focus on luxury is just no way to break out of the niches.
Maybe gas prices will top $5.00 soon, and make hybrids and plug-ins more cost-effective, but will anyone other than luxury buyers be able to afford to buy a new car?
rich folks buy solar panels too…!!!
around here, we have a gated community where the residents vie to see to have the most energy efficient 5000 square foot home!
Rich folk don’t care about fuel economy, nor do they care about the environment. A Cadillac Volt is even more doomed than the Chevy version.
But Toyota and Honda did not start hybrid with Lexus Prius and Acura Insight.
I think the reason they are doing Cadillac ELR is because Volt is in trouble. They need another car that would make the Volt more attractive in term of price. Both will get more media attention while doing that.
I think Voltec is going to fail unless the price of the Lithium become dirt cheap. The real problem with Voltec is the separation between gas and electric. Since they don’t work together (rather lug each other around), electric propulsion was oversized and overweight.
Volt is a 4 seater compact car yet heavier than Equinox midsize SUV. Does it matter if Volt can run on solar energy if it is wasteful?
Considering the higher cost of hybrid technology, the luxury market is the right fit initially. Historically, luxury cars are where automakers have introduced new technology.
The problem I have, especially with American automakers, is why did it take so long? Hybrid technology is in it’s second decade, and we are just now beginning to see this being introduced in American luxury cars. If hybrids had been in Cadillac’s and Lincoln’s for the past 10 years, maybe we would see more affordable hybrids today. But looking at how far we “have not” come along, it will be another 10 years before we see affordable hybrids…….
Economics 101. You sell your product in the market where it has the best margin, especially when production is limited. If what they learn from selling ANY hybrids moves them along the spectrum towards higher-volume, cheaper, more reliable systems, then more power to them, but meanwhile the opportunity is passing them by.