IMHO, Brian Cooley (the reviewer) is accurate with most of his review, but some of the snarkier comments are just him being a dick trying to convince the viewer that he's cool despite his age and nerd credentials:
"So what is the ELR? Well, it's a compact car; same class as a Honda Civic or VW Golf."
"While it is a sibling to the Chevy Volt, it's actually eleven inches longer; although you wouldn't know it judging by this stubby nose under that aluminum hood. The rest of the car seems to be a shrunken down CTS Coupe. Overall, the presentation's a little too much like a little bronze baby shoe. Do they still do that?"
"Now, under the stubby aluminum hood you've got basically a 'hotted' up Volt Voltec power system, here."
...and so on. I disagree with his initial assessment and conclusion, but everyone's entitled to his/her opinion...even when it's wrong. :wink:
Another quote:
"The first thing I noticed in the ELR is the most atrocious brake pedal feel I've ever driven. It kinda comes on in two stages that are both kind of hard to modulate smoothly. The first one is just operating re-gen, it feels like; and then as you push further, then the service brakes kick in. But they kind of kick on like *that* (snaps) like they go over a notch. I mean, really awful." I've definitely driven in cars with worse braking, and I don't experience
any problem at all with the ELR's braking, so I'm not sure what bent Brian so out of shape on that front.
In the review, Brian gets the acceleration wrong, stating that it's 7.9 seconds 0-60 without qualifying that the ELR can only achieve that in Extended Range Mode when the battery has been depleted by 12.0-12.5 kWh of charge. (The actual EV-only acceleration is 8.8 seconds.)
What I think is hilarious is that he complains about the 1.4L ICE when it engages halfway through his review, but
you can't even hear it! He says the vibration from the ICE can be felt through the accelerator and steering wheel (which I
do notice from time to time, so I have to agree with him on that a little), but seriously - you can't even hear it in the background when it engages. Frankly, you can barely hear
anything in the background the car is so quiet! He doesn't even have to raise his voice to record his verbal review. (He
does mention how quiet the car is before complaining about the ICE vibration, and sings the ELR's praises later on in regards to handling and luxurious driving.)
Later on, he says,
"Now, my other gripe is it just doesn't feel that fast. On paper, [the ELR] is two seconds faster than a Nissan Leaf; it just doesn't feel like it to me for some reason. I've run it through Tour and Sport mode, and there's never a crisp sort of a 'get up and go' from the electric power that I've come to know in so many EVs. It's definitely - how would I say? - spritely, but that nice sharp kick in...I guess it's there...I don't know; I wasn't impressed by that." I have to agree with him on those points, too. Just the other day a $33k Honda Accord thoroughly smoked me off the line at a light - I never had a chance in my $79k ELR.
He dismisses the back seats like I used to do, but now that I've driven friends around on several occasions, I realize there's more room back there than it seems.
Brian also makes the same mistake that a lot of professional (and armchair) reviewers do, which is stating that the Tesla Model S is a less expensive car. If one builds a
comparable Model S, it hits ~$88k (with some qualifications, of course, since it's
not apples-to-apples).
His review of the C.U.E. system is spot on, as well as his jibes about the powered cup holder cover, glove box button, and lack of any hard knobs (like 'Volume') or high-use buttons (like 'Back'). I would have eviscerated the C.U.E. system even more had I been the reviewer, but I see from a Google search that a
lot of Cadillac owners complain about C.U.E., so perhaps the dead horse has been beaten sufficiently on that front.
But when it comes down to it, I still love 90% of my ELR. Sure, the reverse camera sucks at night, but it's stellar during the day. And sure the C.U.E. system is buggy, sluggish, and unergonomic, but it's a heck of a lot better than the catastrophe found in the Fisker Karma or Rav4 EV! The driving experience, though not aggressive like a Model S, is serene, silent, and supremely luxurious. The audio system is aurally astounding (although not quite a Mark Levinson setup like you can get in the Lexus LS460), and the car - to me - is gorgeous all around, "stubby nose" and all!
Is it worth $76-84,000? As I've said before, if you can afford the ELR and it's the kind of car you want (2+2 coupe w/range extender), then it's 100% worth it. But if you need to stretch your finances to afford it, then go buy a Volt instead and breathe easy. The ELR is
not worth breaking the bank for, whereas some might argue the Model S
is worth going into debt since it's trending, brand new tech, and cool. I'm lucky that I got a fantastic lease deal that pretty much got me a $79k car for $60k, so perhaps I'm a bit biased due to the money I saved...
