I spotted this clean Cadillac ELR on the 405 near Laguna Niguel.
Wrapping up a week-long stay in the OC, Calif. I’m reminded why I love this place so much, beautiful scenery and uncommon car spotting more often than in NorCal and definitely the Central Valley where I live. On the way to Santa Ana for some coffee, I spotted this clean Cadillac ELR on the 405 and urgently told my brother to snap some photos for all ya’ll to enjoy.
Check out my tweet below.
Cadillac ELRs will be a huge hit at #Litwood. Spotted on the 5. pic.twitter.com/uRzBC8CyV0
— Paulo Acoba (@ferio_252) January 7, 2020
I’ve seen at least a handful of ELRs in my lifetime since they ended production in 2016 and every time my reaction and thought process is the same. “That CTS-V looks real good. Wait, that’s too small to be a CTS…is that an ELR??? *zooms in to electric plug-in door near the driver’s side fender* It IS a CELR, how cool!”
One friend on Twitter categorized the ELR under the Mandela Effect, “a psychological phenomenon where a person recalls something that did not happen or that something happened differently from the way it happened.” It’s understandable since the ELR was only made and sold for three years from 2014-2016.
Less than 3,000 ELRs were sold in the United States and Canada combined so coming across one, while not rare, is uncommon.
Before incentives, ELRs sold for $75,000, more than twice on which the car was based on, a Chevrolet Volt.
For that extra $38,000 over a Volt you got one of the best looking plug-in Hybrids made in modern times and if you waited until 2016, you got an ELR with enough sporty credentials to differentiate itself from its Volt cousin, mainly a boost in power from 217 HP to 233 HP and 295 lb-ft to 373 lb-ft.
Like Volts, you got an electric-only range of around 39 miles, more than enough for 80 percent of your trips around town. A gas engine means range is 350+ miles.
Even though depreciation hasn’t been kind to ELRs, there are so few that, even today, they still demand a pretty penny. I Bing’ed around and most ELRs are selling in the low 20s, still out of reach for someone who wants a fun project for not a lot of money but probably within reach for someone who wants a car that’ll make them stand out of the crowd.
My first impressions of the ELR were shaped by commercials like this, a classy plug-in hybrid with that signature Cadillac styling.
Seeing ELRs drive by today, the styling still holds up. I can’t wait to see where ELR prices are in a couple of years, they just might be right for someone like me to scoop up.
