Cadillac ELR | Fully Charged

A drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas in the very refined Cadillac ELR plug-in-hybrid. I'm joined in the car by Chelsea Sexton, Californian electric car advocate who was featured in the award winning documentary 'Who Killed the Electric Car?'
Engine. 1,400cc four cylinder petrol series hybrid withe 16.5 kWh lithium-ion battery
The all-electric range is around 35 miles, and total range is around 300 miles with a full battery and tank.
Top speed is 100mph - making it a similar performer to the Volt.
The ELR was going to be be sold from the sole UK dealer in Manchester but they went bankrupt so I don't think you can buy one here.
Subscribe for many more upcoming episodes of Fully Charged.

[@BigMoney23223]

Chelsea Sexton as the passenger in a plug in car, don't get much better than that

[@Dragonkrux]

ugh, American gallons, British gallons, and all I can think is: now I need to do TWO conversions into litres.

[@EngineeringNibbles]

+Dragonkrux the english need some metric :D

[@moreboost]

Awesome show great information you both held my interest to the very end.

[@Satscape]

Loving this "Hybrid" of Fully charged and Carpool, Robert! More!

[@lesbuckwalter8988]

Intelligence, beauty, and Robert in a new Hybrid. Thank you Chelsea for the ride along and great conversation. Buck

[@vap0rtranz]

BEST detail about what's actually go on behind the scenes. ty Chelsea Sexton

[@KenGreenBurridge]

Entertaining and Informative EV information....nice work Robert & Chelsea

[@freddotu]

That was a very pleasant entertaining episode. Your passenger is quite a charming conversationalist, as you are well aware. I'm not sure why the Mitsubishi iMiev was omitted from the "anywhere EV" list of vehicles.

[@Ben123466789]

I'm glad you're back, I've missed the show

[@zapfanzapfan]

I love that you brought Chelsea back (ok, not back since she was on Carpool, but still...), there are not many passengers I would rather share a ride with :-)

[@zapfanzapfan]

She has such a lovely smile and such an engaging laugh, and she's so damn cute it hurts! Bring her back again! :-)

[@zapfanzapfan]

EV-Angel EV-Chels.

[@davegray3746]

Another great FullyCharged episode! Thanks for the excellent general chat! :-)

[@The8BitGuy]

I'm surprised how easily you can drive on American roads being the traffic goes in the other direction. Whenever I go to the UK, I look at the traffic and immediately say "Nope.. not even going to attempt that.."

[@ArtOfHealth]

Hey, it's good to see you again. Been a while. I bought a right hand drive mail truck used and it was sweet! I actually felt safer when I thought about me the driver colliding with a driver that fell asleep or whatever. Maybe less direct impact. Take care iBook Guy.

[@Dr_b_]

yeah it's an insane thing, especially negotiating their round-abouts. I kept hitting the curb or rubbing up against the curb. Surprised they let you rent cars there not really knowing how to drive a right hand drive vehicle. Also, driving a stick was weird using left hand, kept grinding gears, felt like a total idiot. To survive, i looked both ways multiple times, then looked again, before attempting to pull onto a road.

[@quadpit]

We just purchased a 2014 Chevy Volt off lease with 39,000 miles for sticker price of $14,900 with leather and backup camera options. It's for my girlfriend to drive a 115 mile round trip to work each day and I can't believe she actually wanted it. After reading and watching reviews, like yours, I knew the key was to get her to test drive it and make a decision on that not from the electric part of it as she can barely operate her phone. She drove a Mazda 6, Kia Optima and Insight which are all cars she considered but driving the Volt impressed her so much there was only one obvious choice. (It was a base model Volt BTW not the one we purchased). Even if we never plug it in the car gets around 38-40 mpg and feel more solid and extremely quiet on the highways. I am afraid it has spoiled her though from ever getting a gas-only car as it is so quiet and comfortable. For any of you out there wanting a fantastic used car go test drive one because they are one of the best deals out there.

[@Zrosum]

Great conversation, Chelsea's innuendoes were hilarious.

[@Dontask443]

Awesome to see the 2 people who interested me in electric cars together on fully charged. After coming across the movie "Who Killed The Electric Car" and doing more research on the ev-1 program I decided to get a Nissan leaf... This was months ago and have been fighting just to get one ever since. It seems that to this day, obtaining an electric car is still a challenging process. Many nissan dealerships don't even stock Leaf's in my area and if you want one they charge you like crazy. Every dealer I go to tries talking me out of the leaf. One dealership went as far as telling me that the leaf is a "want" not a "need". Needless to say I walked away from them. Now there is only 2 Leaf's in my area available to buy. Unfortunately I have had nothing but the run around with both dealers. I'm not giving up though!

[@TrueReviewCA]

Your vids are the best

[@chrisb508]

Very interesting discussion. I wrote a paper for a college class ten years ago on hybrids and electric cars and it is wonderful how things are changing. I was living in Texas at the time and it was impossible to see a Prius or a Insight. It was blatantly obvious back then that they were not at all interested in actually selling a hybrid. I am most encouraged by how things are changing.

[@medman36]

wow, there's a word for almost everything!

[@AndrewBryantPianoTuner]

Bloody great !!

[@PaulShadwell]

I'm glad to hear you were at CES this year. Very interested to hear your take on what went on there as far as electric and fully autonomous cars are concerned. Looking forward to it.

[@danwat1234]

I wanted more info about the ELR, like if it is quieter inside on the highway than a Model S or Volt thanks to the active noise cancellation and special windows..

[@msyin9]

Great seeing another video after a bit of a long break. It is so exciting to see more coming and to see the progression of the show ( nice graphics) as well as the conversations. This video points of the ridiculous problem stated by car companies of demand not being seen versus the artificial creation of limitation to justify the lack of said demand from consumers when most of the country doesn't have access to cars made in price points and sizes that most can afford and want. The silly thing is, if Honda Fit was available for sale nationwide in it's EV version, sales of that model as an EV would grow and increase as it is a popular car across the US in its gas version. Manufactures argue their is no demand yet cannot and will not supply others outside of certain states with a car that they make an EV version of if they live elsewhere. Lets see what happens when Tesla comes to market with their mass market available everywhere affordable car in the next three years and look out for what Nissan and others will do in that time as well. My next car will be an EV after having a hybrid for almost 10 years. I can hardly wait.

[@deanmetcalfe1174]

The car companies can't complain about the lack of public demand if they are not doing what it takes to stimulate public demand. Sitting on the old duff wishful thinking won't promote too much.

[@BigMoney23223]

I drove one from Detroit to las Vegas, nice car

[@DuffyNightingale]

We LOVE our ELR!!

[@msul78]

4:00 all that vibration and banging noise, you can even see the door panel moving and vibrating. I see they are still keeping in with their traditional level of build quality.

[@jonathanwhite2303]

at last another vid, thought you'd forgot about us;)

[@folk.]

Saw her on WKTEC. Beautiful.

[@roymundy3688]

Another great episode of fully charged. I am looking forward to the Audi A3 Etron Review .........................Hopefully its coming soon?

[@Smidge204]

For a few years I drove a 1972 Cadillac El Dorado... 8.2 liters, 8 MPG. You could probably make three modern cars out of all the steel in that thing.

[@greyareaRK1]

Super episode! Loads of great information. Impressed by Chelsea Sexton. Not keen on the looks of the Cadillac, but I like the compromise of range-extended electric cars.

[@EdgyNumber1]

*Questions:* 1. What plug-in charging system does it use? 2. Is it the exact same plug-in charging system as the Vauxhall Ampere here in the UK? 3. Is the powertrain series or parallel hybrid?

[@ScottishNSRailFan]

Very entertaining.

[@IcyUpNorth]

It's been a while, I've looked forward to Fully Charged for a while now. It's like waiting for the next Top Gear episode :) Fun to see how the manufacturers are making progress in the making of new EVs or hybrid versions. Would be nice though if the plug was the same for every EV, we've got CHAdeMO, CCS and Renaults odd Chameleon, am I missing any? I'd love to see a plug in hybrid that used a wankelgenerator, but since car manufacturers wish to sell as many of their own combustion engines (I guess the ELR has got a reworked version of the 1.4 liter petrol engine found in the Opel Adam, it might also be running the Atkinson cycle here as well) which is why there probably won't be any. Manufacturers earn the most by using what they've already have and I feel like it's holding back new technology by waiting for the next Euro emission standard to come. I'd love to see the other benefit of having a EV/hybrid which is the smoothness of the driveline. That's why I'd like to see it coupled to a wankel. Smoothness shouldn't be achieved through adding parts, but by removing unnecessary ones. Have a great day Mr Lewellyn! Cheers from Stavanger, Norway!

[@rayj-ht4444]

I like this video and the female in the video is intelligent and communicates information clearly. I actually really enjoyed this very much. I like this car very much and it is VERY refined inside.

[@NAY2GAS]

I like it. A dealer near me had 14's for sale for 30K off. Which brought it down to 31K after the $7500 rebate. But me and my wife have only 2 years on our cars. Or we would have bought one.

[@lowerlevel2398]

Interesting to watch first hand the people behind trying to get around his blocking the left lane.

[@micheals1992]

please make more content! :)

[@Dave23547]

Why didn't you give us some video of the gauges? You know, battery range, mpg read-out, speed, etc.

[@Johnnisjohnnis]

More interviews please!! :) Politicians, manufacturers, sales people, researchers... What's happening out there? Can you ask them?

[@ScottishNSRailFan]

I have the GS450h and it is a great car. I obtain between 36 and 43mpg, UK gallon.

[@paulcummings55]

Most enjoyable, with perhaps my two favorite EV advocates;-) 'EV's with training wheels...' I like it! All in all, though, things are mostly the same- we still are waiting for the big battery break-through:-(

[@tellleoonce]

chelsea sexton why did you leave the Mitsubishi #iMiEV off the list of generally available electric cars? It should be included in the country-wide set of cars along with the LEAF and the Volt that go above and beyond compliance with the California #ZEV mandate ( at 7:10 ). Are there places where ***** doesn't make the i-MiEV available?

[@sickofliars7249]

Here's your answer on the iMiEV .... they sold less than 300 in 2014. insideevs.com/exclusive-look-whos-back-2016-mitsubishi-i-miev-arrives-for-us-in-march/

[@tellleoonce]

Sickof Liars right, and hundreds more in Canada. It's a car available outside of California and isn't a compliance vehicle.

[@sickofliars7249]

I think there's other states that they can get the credits for the compliance outside of CA. At any rate, this few of vehicles sold shows that Mitsubishi isn't pushing this car like anything but a compliance vehicle.

[@tellleoonce]

Sickof Liars I disagree. Mitsubishi has been directing their limited battery production to other markets where they have stronger sales, such as their PHEV Outlander in Europe. It's clear that the US market prefers the LEAF and Volt, but that isn't because the i-MiEV was meant as a compliance car.

[@sickofliars7249]

The US Market prefers the LEAF and Volt due to the availability of those vehicles. Did you even watch this video?!?!

[@Metal-Possum]

She is genuinely quite attractive without it punching you in the face, and then she gets her nerd on and talks about electric cars... Let's just say I'm going to have to stay seated for a few moments.

[@danwat1234]

And it's very easy to talk to her on Facebook. Awesome gal

[@Metal-Possum]

***** If you wish to be so direct about it. It's what I and many others were all thinking, but some of us have enough respect for her to not say it like that.

[@Metal-Possum]

Warrior Son Well, it was a little more subtle than "I'd bone her".

[@giybetcikodu5592]

WHAT is the GASOLINE consumption per 100 MILE?

[@micheals1992]

68mpg is about 3.5L/100km... I don't know what it is in miles though

[@giybetcikodu5592]

tx

[@LPyourplay]

+micheals1992 100km is around 60 miles

[@davidwebster2616]

+Giybetci Kodu You might have received your answer already, but your question implies a simple answer. These plug in hybrids have a wide spectrum of results, depending on how much the driver plugs it in. The most basic answer is to discount the plugin feature altogether and say it gets about 36-40mpg in gas only mode. If you drain the battery and run on the generator/engine, 36-40mpg. I own a Chev Volt so I can tell you the range is so vast depending on the driver and their commute. If you stay within the 35-42mile range of the battery....the sky is the limit on mpg.

[@micheals1992]

I wish people did hybrid conversion kits for cars (like they do with LPG)... even if they was 1 wheel drive kits with a top speed of 30mph I'd be really tempted to buy one for slow city driving. I can average 86mpg (I could probably touch 100mpg if I was on a straight, smooth and flat road with good weather and nobody around to worry about) on A roads in my petrol toyota aygo but once you get into the city or any traffic the numbers just start plummeting and I'd really like something which could keep up my economy figures in the city. Maybe we will see them once regulations force all cars that drive in congestion zones to be zero emission capable.

[@micheals1992]

68mpg (US) over 250miles?! wowza!

[@joshuasmith7369]

My first electric transport was an electric scooter. I have had 2 electric scooters since 2008.

[@1862henry]

Besides this car, the ferrari laferrari, Porsche 918 and Mclaren P1 are all hybrids and some of the fastest hybrid cars, so the technology can be used for two different purposes, speed and efficiency.

[@JD_Viddy]

I noticed she managed to avoid mentioning the #2 seller of plug-in cars in the U.S. last year - Ford.

[@kingofalldoughboys]

She has crazy eyes!

[@bicyclist2]

Chelsea Sexton was in the documentary "Who killed the electric car?". Doug Demuro did a review of this car and hated it.

[@AndrewBryantPianoTuner]

lots of background noise in that car

[@roidroid]

the roads do look pretty crazy, see all that traction grading on the road @ 6:55, that stuff is super noisy.

[@Keeper1st]

Andrew Bryant pianotunerbristol Welcome to California. The roads are horrible.

[@electrictroy2010]

Keeper1st CA roads are actually quite good compared to the roads in northern & northeast states (which get torn apart by ice) .

[@genesisfan72]

Kryton appears at 18:07!

[@landykid]

it is fantastic technology but coming from a mechanical background it must be looking at big money to fix anything that would go wrong with these type of electrical systems

[@landykid]

I can see maintenance costs being a hell of a lot of lower it is just when things go wrong the cost of replacing batteries motors the control units i can see that being big money

[@roidroid]

landy kid personally i'd expect most of the added cost to be simply in the inexperience of mechanics with this type of hybrid technology. I'd likely need to shop around for a bit before i found a non-dealer who knew what they were looking at under the bonnet. It's funny with *pure* electric cars tho, it seems they are quite easy to fix, as the world is full of curious electrical engineers who want to have a look.

[@d1oftwins]

***** Actually there are less moving and wearing parts than in an standard ICE engine drive train. At least that is what I know from a Toyota Prius. No clutch, less wear on breaks (regen breaking), no alternator (but two motors which can generate electricity or drive the car), no gears (only reduction drive), no v-belt and I am sure I forgot something here.

[@Grumpy_old_Boot]

Yes ... and no. If an electrical system is well proportioned, it can last for a very long time, a good example of this would be telephone landlines, which are often up to 50 years old and still going. But if you underdimension it, the wear and tear can go up, and you are also more likely to get a critical failure, such as a meltdown in electronics, or something like that. Also, after a while they will find the main culprits of failure, and split them apart from the other electronics, and it will end up being as easy as changing the coils on an ICE. There will be a learning curve for engineers and mechanics both, but I reckon that will be done sooner rather than later, simply because a company could loose a lot of reputation, if they make a dud. So both repair quality, but also the costs of parts will go down over time. The short, _short_, *short* version : It gets better. :)

Electric forklifts are used everywhere, they get driven by forklift drivers therefore electric propulsion systems are unkillable.

[@esaedvik]

Anyone notice how many HUGE SUV's pass them? :D (also Priuses passing on the right :D)

[@LPyourplay]

merica that country of Suvs and pickup trucks

[@toyotaprius79]

Someone, alert the Carpool fanatics!

According to Chris Harris BMW have said that in 10 years they won't be making any internal combustion vehicles.

[@Constantinus213421]

Have you people not seen the documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car?" Chelsea was the second reason I watched it, the first being the plot. As old as that movie is, my crush on her is still on...

[@SamBaughTV]

Ways Fully Charged could be improved: - Remove branding watermark which has the old logo, - New channel header with new logo - Specially made thumbnails and maybe more, who knows, it's the little things. Just suggestions :)

[@onoff314]

This is a chevorlet volt with a new shell on it and new interior, you pay 40,000 for that change. They are selling absolutely horribly in the US for that reason.

[@manoman0]

...what tells me that you have never ever driven an ELR.

[@onoff314]

manoman0 Nope, neither has America, sales are abysmal. This car will not get a refresh

[@danwat1234]

Did get a refresh for 2016, about 500-700 made, but production ceased, car cancelled.

[@manoman0]

If you have one, you have a future collectable.

[@danwat1234]

I don't have 1, yet. 1st gen Volt looks nearly as good, a lot of community support, mods. But not as much an investment as an ELR would.

[@BeeRich33]

37 miles? That's a difficult one to get over.

[@electrictroy2010]

***** 37 miles? No the range is unlimited... just keep refilling at a gasoline station .

[@BeeRich33]

electrictroy2010 OK that's different.

[@Dr.Speller]

37 miles on electric only, after that the internal combustion motor kicks in to charge the battery.

[@gryzman]

someone should tell the lovely lady that she will get quite bruised with the seatbelt fastened like this.

[@Poverty-Tier]

Unfortunately, Tesla's can't be sold in several states like Michigan because of lobbyists.

[@ekhaat]

Can't you go on their website and order it?

[@Omni315]

What? Why?

[@LPyourplay]

+Omni315 oil industry that's why

[@jwhdesign]

It has to do with states having laws saying new car must be sold at dealerships.

[@MonkeyKong21]

huhuhueuhueheuheuhu ...sexton

[@gregmcdougall]

I notice that just like the Ampera it only has two rear seats. I'm at a loss why this design issue would be allowed to persist through to final production - the cynic in me suspects that it's a way of limiting production demand by removing a large swathe of potential consumers.

[@Hirotoro4692]

I doubt a car company would - even for the purposes of a compliance car - willingly reduce potential demand when the deciding factor is the cost of a central rear seat. At the end of the day they're running a business and they want their cars to sell, otherwise they make a loss. It's fair to wager a lot of the automakers are producing the bare minimum regardless; enough to achieve the mandatory EV credits.

[@electrictroy2010]

Greg McDougall The ELR is just a Volt with luxury upgrades. They addressed the rear seat in Volt Generation 2 by installing a center rear seat (though it's sized for a child or teen, not an adult) .

[@Turtytreeandaturd]

Wow these roads in the US look shocking..

[@electrictroy2010]

Turtytreeandaturd It's a side effect of only paying 70 cents per gallon for the road tax (versus 3-4 dollar tax in Europe). Less money == less maintenance .

[@deanmetcalfe1174]

I saw an article about roads made with waste plastic built in and they say they don't develop potholes or crack with ground movement. In other words, very flexible roads. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_roads

[@bobysze]

Why did she buy an ERL? Does she work for GM? Why not a Tesla?

[@Mayhemm007]

It's funny how hung up people are on the price of a Tesla Model S. It even manages to pop up in this video (which isn't even ABOUT Model S), yet there was no mention of the $70K+ pricetag of the ELR.

[@electrictroy2010]

Mayhemm007 That's because the ELR can be purchased as a "Volt" for only $30,000 and still have an interior as nice as the stripped 70K tesla .

[@Mayhemm007]

electrictroy2010 Sorry, not even close. A friend of mine has a Volt, and while by no means ugly, it's not on the same level as Model S. The Volt materials are nice enough but the layout is a nightmare; buttons everywhere, small screens overcrowded with information. No thanks. Nothing on the market is on the same level as Model S for interior design language. Simplicity with high functionality. I look at the majority of vehicles with their "knobs and buttons" strewn everywhere, seemingly at random, and I just shake my head.

[@Jefff72]

Mayhemm007 you can't compare the Volt to a Model S. that's like company a Honda Civic to an Audi A8.

[@mikerock8177]

GM should we make but at a way lower price

[@_DixonCider]

GM will have to bring up their quality before I buy even an EV from them. Same with Nissan.

[@manoman0]

18:42 - A Tesla S drives by...

[@esaedvik]

I don't get why she calls the Model S a "hundred-thousand dollar car" when it starts at something like $70k minus grants and incentives etc. Yes, the average puchase price is probably higher, but that's an option people have and use, no one wants the base model.

[@rebelzombieco]

ANYWHERE in the US? Erm. Except buying a Tesla in Texas...

[@TheSuperMotoHooligan]

E to the L to the R...

[@Landrew0]

Bit noisy inside for a Caddie.

[@deanmetcalfe1174]

They have the audio cranked to overcome the sound of the engine and the recording of the engine and their voices are consequently amplified, methinks.

[@electrictroy2010]

I'm surprised that EV1 supporters like Chelsea have turned-round & embraced GM's Volt. They had pledged to boycott GM forever..... so much for the integrity of a pledge/promise .

[@pangrac1]

They stop production of ELR due very low sales. Bye, bye.

[@hackupboulders]

President Trump, please dump these EPA regulations! M.A.G.A.!

[@bokke7u7]

This vid is more boring than a smoothieblender in the electric Roller... Dayum..wasn't prepped for that. All that talk about brandspanking new cars...what counts is what them cars gonna do when they're "old". It's the new pollution...

[@deanmetcalfe1174]

Recycling has to evolve into a mean, clean machine.

[@vragec1230]

Was waiting for quite a while for the next episode, but in my opinion just useless rambling...probably the most boring episode of all.

[@amirglobo]

i bet you want to plug and charge her too.

[@mipmipmipmipmip]

you should extend your range of thoughts beyond things that turn you on

[@deanmetcalfe1174]

A query Mohammed, Allah's murdering, sex fiend prophet would endorse.

[@jurivlk5433]

Comparing This ugly shitty Baby cradle to 1959 Cadillac is a shame. This is not a Cadillac, it is an Opel branded Cadillac and very ugly. And too much tech inside for the poor results.