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Expensive Cadillac ELR at least comes with free Level 2 home charger

"But wait, there's more!" Anyone who's watched late-night television is familiar with the telltale phrase of a spokesman looking to reel in a potential customer who may otherwise be disinterested in what's being advertised. Now, General Motors, faced with selling the first Cadillac extended-range plug-in vehicle to a public that may find it rather expensive, is throwing in a bonus. In this case, GM will give away a 240-volt home fast charger to "early" buyers of the Cadillac ELR, including professional installation. How early? Well, we're not finding that information in the press release below, so it may be a moving target. Earlier this month, GM said it would offer the ELR for a 39-month lease for $699 a month for qualified lessees. The deal requires $5,999 down and GM originally said it would only be good until the end of the month (though we assume that could change). It's also an "ultra-low-mileage" lease that allows for only 10,000 miles of driving each year, before per-mile surcharges of 25 cents kick in. Last fall, GM set the base price for the ELR at $75,000, before government incentives get factored in. Like its Chevy Volt sibling, the ELR can go about 340 miles using both the electricity in the battery and the gas-powered on-board generator. Check out our ELR First Drive here. Cadillac Enhances ELR Buying Experience Early adopters to receive complimentary home charger and installation DETROIT – Cadillac is offering a complimentary 240-volt home charging station and installation to early buyers of the all-new 2014 ELR electrified luxury coupe. "The ELR's blend of leading technology with provocative design and fun-to-drive performance is set to bring new buyers to Cadillac and to electrification itself," said Uwe Ellinghaus, chief marketing officer, Global Cadillac. "Professional installation of the fastest home-charging unit is a natural way to mark the introduction of ELR to the luxury market." Cadillac is offering the ELR on an ultra-low-mileage, 39-month lease for qualified lessees at $699 per month with $5,999 due at signing after all offers. The Cadillac ELR offers a convergence of luxury, electrification and sporty driving in a premium coupe with dynamic design and an award-winning range-extended electric powertrain capable of 340 miles of total range.

Infiniti Q50 Red Sport 400 priced at $48,855, AWD at $50,855

Infiniti's most powerful production model, the new Q50 Red Sport 400, now has a starting price. You'll need at least $48,855 for the rear-drive model or $50,855 for all-wheel drive. (Both figures include the $905 destination charge.) A fully loaded, rear-drive Q50 RS400 with Direct Adaptive Steering, navigation, adaptive cruise control, a heated steering wheel, and Infiniti's entire alphabet soup of safety equipment, tops out at $57,045. (Again, add $2,000 for AWD). When it comes to rear-drive competition, the closest base price to the Q50 is the 320-hp BMW 340i. This German undercuts the Infiniti by two grand, $46,795 to $48,855. But the BMW outprices the Q50 as soon as you start selecting options. A 340i with similar equipment to a loaded Q50 Red Sport 400 costs just under $60,000. All-wheel-drive German competitors also lose out in the price war. Like with the rear-drive models, the BMW 340i xDrive undercuts the Q50 RS400 by around $2,000. Add the options, and the Infiniti becomes a better value. The other two big German rivals, the Audi S4 and Mercedes-Benz C450 AMG start at a higher price and only get more expensive. Technically the S4 starts cheaper than the Q50, but only with the standard manual transmission. Selecting the S-Tronic dual-clutch model kicks the price from $50,125 to $51,125, and going for the top-end Prestige trim will bump potential Audi owners up to $57,025. Throw on must-have S4 options, including adaptive cruise control, adaptive dampers, and a sport differential and you'll be shell out $64,425 for the Audi. The Mercedes-Benz C450 AMG is the priciest choice in this group, starting at $51,725, or roughly $900 more than a base Q50 RS400 with AWD. Options, again, are the downfall here. Building a C450 to match a loaded Infiniti will drive the Mercedes' price up to $64,315. While it occupies something of a weird space relative to these vehicles, it's also worth mentioning the Cadillac CTS VSport. It's the only car in this impromptu pricing comparo that can outgun the Q50, with its 3.6-liter, twin-turbo V6 good for 420 hp and 430 lb-ft of torque. It also starts at $60,950, although that includes plenty of standard equipment. All this means that the Q50 Red Sport 400 represents a relative value. It packs more power than the Germans – 80 more than the 340i, 67 more than the S4, and 38 more than the C450 – and a more comprehensive list of options, too.

Weekly Recap: Car-pedestrian crashes remained elevated in 2014

The death of American Horror Story: Freak Show star Ben Woolf served as a reminder this week that car crashes involving pedestrians remain a problem, and a new study issued on Thursday reinforced that the situation isn't really getting better. The Governors Highway Safety Association found a slight decline, 2.8 percent, in the number of pedestrian deaths in the first six months of 2014. Fatalities dropped from 2,141 to 2,125 compared with the same period in 2013, though the association says it's a statistical wash when factoring in undercounting. Deaths are still 15-percent higher than in 2009. "The number of deaths remains relatively high and is cause for concern," wrote Allan Williams, who compiled the report and is the former chief scientist at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. This is the first look at data from last year, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will issue its full-year results later. The GHSA found some progress on the roadways, as 24 states and the District of Columbia reported drops in pedestrian deaths. In some states, the problem isn't even a problem at all: Nebraska and Wyoming reported one fatality apiece, though large population centers in urban areas are where most accidents occur. "This is a clearly a good news, bad news scenario," Jonathan Adkins, GHSA executive director, said in a statement. "While we're encouraged that pedestrian fatalities haven't increased over the past two years, progress has been slow." Other News & Notes Cadillac previews CT6 during Oscars Cadillac previewed its upcoming flagship sedan, the CT6, in commercials that aired Sunday during the Oscars. As expected, the creased sedan carries on Cadillac's recent design language, and the car in the commercial looks like a larger version of the CTS and ATS sedans. The CT6 will be revealed this spring at the New York Auto Show and launch late this year. It will be assembled at General Motors' Detroit-Hamtramck factory on a rear-wheel-drive chassis, and the CT6 is the first car to use Cadillac's revised alpha-numeric naming scheme. The commercials also kicked off Cadillac's "Dare Greatly" campaign, which is the first with its new advertising agency, Publicis Worldwide. Honda unexpectedly changes CEOs Honda unexpectedly announced this week that it will change CEOs. Current chief Takanobu Ito will step down in June and be replaced by company veteran Takahiro Hachigo.