Will the latest Cadillac ELR ad catapult the click counter into the stratosphere as quickly as the "Poolside" ad?

That ad launched Feb. 7 has over 1.06 million views and 2,100 comments, and now GM's new ad posted last Thursday, Mar. 20, is a bit more sedate, and less likely to be even close to as controversial.

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Essentially, the new ad has General Motor’s Executive Chief Engineer for Electric Vehicles Pamela Fletcher explain how the car can serve its buyers.

Everything she mentions, except the regen paddles, is basically true of the Volt.

Of course the ELR is more upscale, and finely appointed.

"Luxury is all about having options, without making compromises," says Fletcher.

Is it a "compromise" to have an all-electric car like the similarly priced 60-kwh Tesla Model S instead?

Arguably, sure. Others would say not so much.

Will this be an effective advertisement for the ELR?

 

Watch all the ELR ads that Jeff linked to. Noise cancelling microphones reduce the engine noise; what a great feature. The perfection of engineering and sophisticated advertising seem to be working. I got an email from my EV electrician. He requested information about using a Tesla HPWC to charge an ELR. Seems a California Model S owner made the switch to Cadillac ELR. That bit of news should make nasaman very pleased! Well done GM, continue to demonstrate Cadillac quality in the ELR advertisements. Be sure to include many of the ELR improvements in the next Volt.

 

All I can say is sometimes you get what you pay for and sometimes you don’t.
There are currently 83 Tesla Supercharger Stations in the U.S. with more to come. Each Supercharger Station has 4 to 10 Supercharger parking stalls. These Stations allow Tesla owners to charge their Model S for FREE for LIFE. What will GM offer ELR owners that’s FREE for LIFE?

NPNS! SBF!
Volt#671

 

"Free for life" I don't believe it. Look in the fine prints and I bet you'll find many restrictions. When someone tells me "free for life" many red flags pops up.

 

I assume this new ad will only be shown in California & Oregon?

 

I like the way Jeff put the 2 adds back to back. I thought Pam's add was OK to pretty good, but then we rolled into the "take a month off all you lazy Europeans" add and the latter definitely wins.

 

Mark Z :

The perfection of engineering and sophisticated advertising seem to be working.

Seems a California Model S owner made the switch to Cadillac ELR.

Good catch Mark Z.

 

Free for life translates into $600 per year for owners mandatory warranty program catch 22..much more than OnStar...can any Tesla owner confirm these owner expenses ? Is it some kind of extended warranty or charger use fee? GM should advertise the elr and volt on the fox network during the great new show #cosmos!

 

azm-volt : Free for life translates into $600 per year for owners mandatory warranty program catch 22

Where do you come up with "mandatory"?

http://www.teslamotors.com/service#/service-plans

 

joe ,

Sure, the restrictions are that you must own a Model S.

 

So, we have the "limited edition, low-volume" ELR getting an ad which actually explains how the car works, and another crafted to stick in your memory; while the "mass market" Volt gets downgraded to "niche:" with crickets, or seldom-aired sotto voce "dark-cloud" ads which promote ... what?

At the very least, I find this "odd."

 

Nelson : There are currently 83 Tesla Supercharger Stations in the U.S. with more to come. Each Supercharger Station has 4 to 10 Supercharger parking stalls. These Stations allow Tesla owners to charge their Model S for FREE for LIFE.

Free, yes. For LIFE, I wouldn't be so sure. It's pretty early in the game to say how sustainable free supercharging will be. And I'd prefer to wait and see if all the projected sites are actually built before even asking that question.

 

azm-volt ,

Please supply the link to the Tesla web page that mentions the "mandatory" $600 per year warranty program fee.

Below is the link to the Tesla web page that states’ charging is "FREE for the life of Model S" equipped with that option. A search for the word "Free" on that page brings up 9 matches.
http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger

Tesla's Supercharging option is standard on the 85kWh version Model S and optional on the 60kWh version. Kind of like the fast charging option on the Leaf but Nissan does not have a FREE dedicated Supercharging network like Tesla has.

NPNS! SBF!
Volt#671

 

Cadillac offered a free Level 2 EVSE for the first 1,000 customers. By now they have probably sold about half (500), so something for "free" is still true.
http://insideevs.com/cadillac-elr-buyers-get-free-240-volt-home-charger-includes-installation/
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2014/01/cadillac-elr-buyers-will-now-receive-a-complimentary-home-charging-station/

Although GM and Tesla Motors are competitors, they should negotiate an agreement to add the J1772 Fast DC station feature on the Superchargers for GM EVs and EREVs and for a cost per charge. Their future EVs will establish the path for increasing the fast battery charging. Having the two national leaders with the easier DC charging will convince other manufacturers to follow. Finally gas station owners can add Fast DC charging for both Tesla and GM vehicles to their services as private transportation migrates from gas to electricity.

If the "Big Two" start this, the other will not get left behind!

Raymond

 

kdawg : Where do you come up with “mandatory”?


http://www.teslamotors.com/service#/service-plans

I think it used to be required in order to maintain the warranty, but due to public outlash, they dropped that requirement.

 

Jackson : So, we have the “limited edition, low-volume” ELR getting an ad which actually explains how the car works, and another crafted to stick in your memory; while the “mass market” Volt gets downgraded to “niche:” with crickets, or seldom-aired sotto voce “dark-cloud” ads which promote … what?

Perhaps GM decided to spend Voltec ad money on the ELR with the thought that the Volt would get a trickle down effect? Highlight the ELR, knowing that many would end up buying a Volt instead?

 

Gary : I think it used to be required in order to maintain the warranty, but due to public outlash, they dropped that requirement

Yes, that is why I questioned his "mandatory" statement. This happened almost a year ago.

http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/creating-world%E2%80%99s-best-service-and-warranty-program-0

"$600 annual service now optional with no effect on warranty"

 

kdawg ,

If you don't get the $600 dollar a year warranty package your warranty is void that kinda makes it mandatory on an $80k ride ...

 

kdawg ,

Thanks kdawg ..I stand corrected . Tesla is now back in my good graces.

 

Horrible. Horrible. Horrible. What is with GM marketing? After more than three years they are STILL trying to explain how the car works. This does a good job of that. However, people don't care how it works. They want to know what it will do for them. Tell them that. Tesla uses "we're the fastest kid on the block". It works. With the power train it has, the ELR can't use that. But there is still the silent and smooth electric drive. A super quiet interior. Good handling. Great styling. A few techno bells and whistles like a self dimming console. You know, the greatest personal luxury vehicle ever. Sell that. Seriously, how hard can this be?

The Poolside ad is way better than this. However, as I keep saying, Poolside is not really an ELR ad. It's a Cadillac ad that happens to have an ELR in it.

 

Mark Z : "Seems a California Model S owner made the switch to Cadillac ELR. That bit of news should make nasaman very pleased!"
You know me well, Mark! ...and I expect many, many more "pure" EV owners/afficiandos to add "ER" to "EV" over the decades to come.

DonC : "...silent and smooth electric drive. A super quiet interior. Good handling. Great styling. A few techno bells and whistles like a self dimming console. You know, the greatest personal luxury vehicle ever. Sell that. Seriously, how hard can this be?"

 

DonC : Horrible. Horrible. Horrible. What is with GM marketing? After more than three years they are STILL trying to explain how the car works.

Why doesn’t GM just say the ELR is the quietest, smoothest Cadillac ever built?
Is that not the case?
What are they afraid of?

NPNS! SBF!
Volt#671

 

The ad is fine - informative, genuine, sober (in contrast to the excellent 'in your face' poolside ad) - but only as one of a series of ads promoting the ELR. It doesn't have the strength to create sales momentum all by itself. Cadillac needs to keep 'em coming. Switch up the tone a bit and appeal to the viewer's emotions in another ad - show the car flying down a curvy, rolling rural road with quick cuts to the driver touching the paddles and end the ad with the car pulling up to a cliffside overlook just as the sun is setting over the ocean.

The voiceover- "whoever said getting there is only half the fun?"

BTW, concerning the topic of Tesla and direct sales - we've seen a deluge of criticism poured onto GM/Cadillac for where they priced the ELR, with many unfavorable comparisons with Tesla. However I cannot recall any mention of Cadillac being horsetied having to sell through franchised dealers while Teslas get to be sold without dealer markups. It's not a level playing field kind of situation which isn't much taken into account by the critics.

 

Good luck to Cadillac is all I can say. Happy Monday guys. Have a great week.

 

Nelson :
All I can say is sometimes you get what you pay for and sometimes you don’t.
There are currently 83 Tesla Supercharger Stations in the U.S. with more to come.Each Supercharger Station has 4 to 10 Supercharger parking stalls. These Stations allow Tesla owners to charge their Model S for FREE for LIFE.What will GM offer ELR owners that’s FREE for LIFE?


NPNS! SBF!
Volt#671


Nelson :


'Free for life' sounds so great, until you realize most of the charging people do will be done at home. Which kind of dilutes whatever $$ savings there might be over the span of ownership.

Which then brings up the question - what is it worth to be able to drive anywhere, anytime without range anxiety and route planning?