Cadillac's New ELR Is Ready To Battle Tesla For The Luxury Electric Car Market

"In October, General Motors announced its entry into the luxury electric car market with the Cadillac ELR.

That market — for customers who want electric cars but are not overly concerned with the price tag — has to date been cornered by Tesla's Model S.

With the ELR, GM will work to steal away those customers. The largest American automaker has several advantages over Tesla, especially infrastructure to design and produce cars, which Elon Musk has struggled to build over the past decade.

On top of that, Cadillac has a lot of momentum. 2012 was a good year for the brand, languishing just a few years ago.

The successful introductions of the XTS and ATS sedans culminated with the announcement at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit that the ATS won the North American Car of the Year award.

Now GM CEO Dan Akerson has global hopes for Cadillac.

We were on hand at the show and got to see the ELR first hand, and were quite impressed by the look and feel of the car.

It may not match the remarkable Tesla Model S, but a solid, luxury electric car from an established automaker will pose a formidable challenge to Elon Musk's company.

The ELR will go into limited production late this year and go on sale early in 2014; pricing has not been announced."

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/cadillacs-electric-elr-at-naias-2013-1?op=1

American Automakers Are CRUSHING Their Japanese Rivals At The Detroit Auto Show

1000s of GM Workers Get Company Cars & Gas

"General Motors continues to slash costs. But even as the company asks for more taxpayer loans, there's one perk GM refuses to give up: a company car and company-paid gas for about 8,000 white-collar employees.

Kleinbaum says it's one thing for a company to offer such a generous perk when it's making tons of money, but GM lost more than $30 billion last year. The company has already received more than $13 billion in taxpayer loans to avoid bankruptcy and is asking for up to $16 billion more.

GM insists its employees appreciate the impact of high fuel prices, but one current GM staffer interviewed for this story said the perk does blind some people. He recalled that when gas spiked last summer, a colleague complained.

It wasn't because of the cost. It was because he had to swipe his credit card twice to fill up the tank of his big SUV.

A former GM economist estimates that last year alone, the automaker spent nearly $12 million on fuel for its staff."

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Will the Chevy Volt save the world?

NEW YORK (Fortune) -- Given the prolonged drum roll of publicity that accompanied the unveiling of the Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle last week, it isn't surprising that any number of onlookers got caught up in the enthusiasm. 

When people begin referring to it as a "game changer" and a "paradigm shift," it's time to inject a bracing dose of reality.To put the Volt in perspective, it is an expensive, low-volume automobile that will have no visible impact on GM's market share, CAFÉ average or profitability. One cynic calls it "a Viper for tree huggers."

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Detroit Finally Gets It!

During the past two weeks, General Motors reported a $15.5 billion quarterly loss (including special items), following Ford Motor's $8.7 billion loss the week before. I shudder to think how bad it is at Chrysler. Auto execs claim they were giving Americans the products they wanted. Really? For proof to the contrary, look at their U.S. market shares, which are slumping to historically low levels as Japanese auto makers gain ground. In a recent meeting with Ford executives, CEO Alan Mulally dared to challenge the Detroit gospel that you can't make money on small, fuel-efficient cars. At last Ford appears to be making bold moves to design and sell vehicles that people want. So with Fords EcoBoost and Verve at least there is some promising news from the American auto-industry, but is it too late?

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Electric car shootout in London

WhatCar? Britain's Biggest and Best Car Buyer's Guide has a Electric car shootout in London. They review the NICE Mega City, the Smart ed, the Micro-Vett Fiat Doblo, and the Reva G-Wiz together for a group evaluation on the streets of London town to "...decide whether or not they do make a practical alternative to urban transport.".
Now before you start drooling these electric cars can currently be purchased in Europe and hopefully one day a broad spectrum of electric cars will be sold in the USA.


Even "Beautiful beaches and a perfect climate are not enough for the citizens of the South Pacific islands of Fiji. Apparently, they desire cars that are quiet and don't emit pollution as well. If the Korean electric vehicle maker, CT and T, gets its way, that desire will be fulfilled."

Mitsubishi plans to sell iMiEV electric car from 2010 to mid 2009 in Japan about 4 million yen or US $37,496. Sadly currently there are no plans to sell the car in the USA.

A very interesting looking car is the Opel Flextreme and the upcoming Volt will be badged as a Chevrolet or an Opel across "the pond has been decided. The first Euro-bound EV's from the General will be Opels, though we are not sure how much in common the vehicle will share with the Flextreme concept."

In an amusing statement Rick Wagoner, head of General Motors, at a recent conference in Dallas, Texas in response to why GM didn't begin offering hybrid cars earlier is because nobody wanted them. So next time you wonder why the American auto industry is doing poorly look no further then their upper management. Kudos' to Toyota on the foresight to build hybrid cars earlier. In frustration Hank and Joe built their own electric car rather then waiting on the big automakers. While these guys have actually made a working product there are no end of retarded gas saving devices for sale on the Internet that will not save any gas at all.

Last but not least BMW is planning sell 500 electric Minis coming to California.