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GM admits goal of 500,000 EVs by 2017 won't be met

After a little over four years of Chevy Volt sales, General Motors has a better handle on how many people it expects will buy cars with plugs. And it's less than the company thought back in 2012, when then-senior vice president of global product development, Mary Barra, said that GM expected to sell 500,000 "vehicles with electrification" by 2017. In a sustainability report released this week, GM says that half-million vehicle target will not be met but that it still, "believes the future is electric." In the report, GM says that, "For our commitment to electrification, our forecasted outlook currently projects us, along with the broader automotive industry, falling short of expectations for 2017. ... We continue to aspire to our stated goal." GM's electric lineup includes the Volt, the recently popular Spark EV, the slow-selling Cadillac ELR and upcoming Malibu Hybrid, CT6 plug-in hybrid and eAssist technology in the Buick LaCrosse and Regal. GM says it has 180,834 electrified vehicles on the road in the US today. In 2013, it had 153,034; 95,578 in 2012, and 39,843 in 2011. The company's next big plug-in vehicle will be the second-gen Chevy Volt, which is coming to market later this year, followed by the 200-mile Bolt EV coming, we think, in 2017. GM Employees on Mission to Transform Transportation Sustainability report outlines vehicle and manufacturing progress; sets new targets 2015-05-07 DETROIT – General Motors' just-released sustainability report chronicles efforts by the company's 216,000 employees to live out GM's newly defined purpose and values by earning customer loyalty, applying meaningful technology advances and improving the communities where it does business. These actions – led by CEO Mary Barra – further drive sustainability into the company's culture through building safer and smarter vehicles with less environmental impact. "GM will take a leading role in the auto industry's transformation as it undergoes an unprecedented period of change," said Bob Ferguson, senior vice president, GM Global Public Policy. "From GM's labs to its assembly lines, our people are driving the world to a better place through improved mobility." The company believes the future is electric, with billions of investment to support an all-in-house approach to the development and manufacturing of electrified vehicles. It now counts 180,834 on the road in the U.S – up from 153,034 in 2013.

Cadillac flagship, possible production Elimiraj, caught testing

One of the biggest debuts at the Monterey car week, both literally and figuratively, was the Cadillac Elmiraj Concept. The massive coupe made quite a splash with the show's well-heeled guests. Now, we have what might be the very first images of the Elmiraj, or whatever it may be called when it reaches production, out testing.
Don't let that modified Chevrolet Caprice body fool you, this car is about four to six inches longer than Chevy's US-spec cop car, from the A-pillar forward. According to our spy, with the Caprice at 203 inches and the concept at 205, adding a few extra inches here and there fits the bill for the four-door Elmiraj that was hinted at in Jay Leno's Garage.
There are a number of other classic mule signs on this car, including a cover over the fuel door and heavily modified front and rear fascias, each of which serves to hide some significant change from the standard Caprice. Using a Caprice for development also, hopefully, hints at something that big Cadillacs like the XTS have lacked - rear-wheel drive.

How Cadillac improved power output in 2016 ELR by 25 percent

Earlier this year, Cadillac announced that the 2016 ELR would come with a big price drop and a powertrain that packs 25 percent more power output. That's a lot more oomph, but it didn't sound like the Caddy engineers made any major changes to the engine or motors. So, what happened? Let's refresh our memories with the numeric details. The 2016 car is 1.5 seconds quicker to 60 miles per hour than the 2014 model (there was no 2015), down to 6.4 seconds. The 2014 put out 295 pound-feet of torque. For 2016, it will be 373 lb-ft. The specific breakdown of the various components in the powertrain has not been disclosed, but from what we can tell, the two electric motors and the 1.4-liter inline-four engine in the new ELR are not that much different than those in the old one. Sam Abuelsamid, senior research analyst at Navigant Research (and former writer here at Autoblog) said that any of the unspecified upgrades would be difficult to tell on a part-by-part basis, but the overall effect will be noticeable. "The changes to the ELR as I understand them are analogous to getting more performance out of a 1965 Mustang with the entry version of the 289 cubic-inch V8. You can replace the carburetor with a larger version that enables more air and fuel to flow into the engine, thus producing more power. The basic engine hasn't changed, but power capability is being unleashed by feeding it more." "Cadillac has changed components in the power electronics to enable more current flow into the motor and thus produce more torque. When you do this in the Mustang, you probably need to replace the rear axle gears and use a beefier clutch to transmit the power to the wheels. Similarly, the ELR probably has some upgraded clutches, bearings, and gears to withstand the increased total output." Cadillac spokesperson David Caldwell told AutoblogGreen in an email that the new ELR does indeed have more than just new lines of code. "One could not 'reflash' a previous ELR to get the performance of a 2016," Caldwell said. "If one only changed software you would not get the performance upgrade fully, as the 2016 creates higher current, more power. So these have been upgraded physically – hardware.