Selling electrified Cadillacs has turned out to be surprisingly challenging for GM over the past decade. The first attempt was the slow selling and expensive Escalade Hybrid. Then there was an SRX plug-in hybrid that was cancelled before it ever made it to an assembly line. That was followed by the ELR, a concept that probably should have been cancelled before making it to the assembly line. Finally, we now have the car that probably should have been built years ago and it may now be too late to the party, the CT6 plug-in.
Cadillac’s tortured history with plug-in hybrids goes back 11 years. In late 2006 about a month before the much ballyhooed debut of the Chevrolet Volt concept at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show, GM announced that it would build a plug-in hybrid version of the Saturn Vue by about 2010. In the wake of the 2008 financial meltdown and the end of the Saturn brand, the Vue was to be rebadged as a Buick along with the PHEV powertrain.
By 2010, that plan was also abandoned and the gas-electric-plug propulsion system was shifted again to the Cadillac SRX. For reasons that remain unclear that program was cancelled as well. In retrospect, it might have been a good starting point for GM’s PHEV since it would have established GM as a leader in this space that now seems to be exploding.
In place of the SRX, Cadillac opted to produce the ELR, a slick, but diminutive coupe that was shown as a 2010 concept based on the production Volt. Unfortunately, GM opted to price the ELR to be profitable and launch it at roughly the same time the Tesla Model S was arriving on the market. As cool looking as the ELR was, it had the worst characteristics of the Volt, namely a somewhat cramped interior, wrapped in an even less practical two-door coupe body at a time when such cars were rapidly fading in sales. The ELR hit the market with a thud.
Take four. Cadillac launched what would be its flagship sedan, the CT6 into the market at the 2015 New York Auto Show. A few weeks later in Shanghai, Cadillac announced a plug-in hybrid variant that featured a repackaged version of the 18-kWh lithium ion battery from the second-generation Chevrolet Volt.
The CT6 is a lovely automobile that I’ve written about elsewhere on multiple occasions including the recent middle-America Super Cruise. It has positively lovely proportions for a big sedan and a cavernous interior. With a relatively modest mass for its size, it also handles surprisingly well and delivers more than adequate performance even with the base 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine.
The plug-in starts with that four-cylinder and adds an updated and more efficient take on GM’s original two-mode hybrid architecture for the transmission. Like the original that was present in the Escalade, this one again features two motor-generators, two planetary gear sets and clutches that enable direct mechanical drive power flow under higher speed and load conditions. In combination, the engine and the hybrid transmission can deliver 335-horsepower to the rear wheels.
That 18.4-kWh battery weighs in at roughly 400 pounds and together with the other electrical hardware and standard features, the curb weight of the CT6 Plug-In has grown by roughly 800-pounds to just shy of 4,500. Despite that, the instant low-end torque of the electric drive augments the already responsive engine for a total of 432 lb-ft. That’s enough to push this big sedan to 60 mph in just over five seconds.
Back in the days of the original two-mode system in GM’s full-size trucks and SUVs, they were not really calibrated for quick acceleration, but this car competes in a very different market segment against the likes of the plug-in versions of the BMW 7 Series and Volvo S90. Unlike those European luxury sedans, this Cadillac is carrying significantly more battery which is both a plus and minus. The extra electrical storage gives the big Caddie an EPA rated electric range of 31 miles compared to just 14 for the BMW and 21 for the Volvo.
On the other hand, the battery pack sits behind the rear seat and eats into the trunk room leaving just 10 cubic feet. The BMW pack is below the rear cargo floor leaving a shallower compartment with the same overall volume but it does have a pass-through into the passenger compartment for longer objects. The Volvo has a transverse engine, front-wheel drive architecture that leaves the central tunnel open for the battery while the electric drive is at the rear axle along with a 14 cubic foot trunk.
In my week with the Cadillac, I had to make several longer drives to meetings and conferences in the greater Detroit area. I plugged in the car each night for a full charge and easily got 32 to 33 miles of electric only driving, even with some highway speed running. Overall, the combined total of running on gas and electricity yielded 42 mpg. If like most Americans, your daily driving is less than 40 miles, you’ll probably have no problem matching the EPA’s 62 MPGe combined rating if you plug in each night.
That’s the key to buying a plug-in hybrid like the CT6. A PHEV has the advantage over a battery electric car like the Tesla Model S of being able to run long distances with relatively little advanced planning. You can fuel up at any gas station in a few minutes and continue on your way. But to get the most out of it, you do need to plug it in and use that battery to get mostly gas and emissions-free operation. If you do that, your daily commute will be as silent as a similarly priced base Model S in cabin that is far more refined and luxurious. The back seat is also far roomier although the Tesla has the advantage in cargo space.
If you don’t plan to plug in daily, then you should probably save yourself $10,000 and get a similarly equipped standard CT6. The plug-in means that you can’t get features like Super Cruise and all-wheel-drive. If you do have a plug, you’ll save about $2,500 a year in fuel costs compared to a four-cylinder gas only CT6 so the payback period is a fairly reasonable four years. In almost every functional respect, this CT6 is a far better choice than the ELR ever was at a similar price point.
Unfortunately, with gas prices being relatively low and declining demand from American car buyers for sedans, Cadillac doesn’t expect a whole lot of demand here for the CT6 Plug-in compared to other markets, most notably China. That’s why the plug-ins are actually only assembled in China and exported while other CT6s are made here in Detroit. In all likelihood, this is only an interim product until Cadillac launches the XT7 sometime in 2018. That full-size crossover will probably offer a plug-in hybrid to compete with BMW’s X5 and Volvo’s XC90 while having a lot more appeal to contemporary American consumers.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/samabuelsamid/2017/12/01/an-electric-cadillac-done-mostly-right-2018-ct6-plug-in/
2017-12-01T13:13:00+00:00