I’ve refrained from covering this story in the past couple weeks since the story was told as ‘the Volt may be badged a Cadillac instead of a Chevrolet’ – originally reported by MotorTrend.com – which I found patently ridiculous.

Now we have a more feasible report from Automotive News.

In the past months, we’ve heard that GM was considering not only a gas/electric version of the Chevy Volt, but also a fuel-cell/electric version. Now, a fuel-cell stack would be a pretty expensive piece of tech that might not only push the Volt into a price point that is considered too high for Chevy but might also over-complicate marketing/sales of the Volt. So, what GM may actually be considering is a Cadillac version of the Volt architecture that would the the home for the fuel-cell version of the E-Flex drivetrain.

For those that haven’t been following the Volt…it is a series hybrid/plug-in electric car. It drives the wheels only through an electric motor that is powered by a lithium-ion battery pack. When the batteries discharge, a suplemental power supply (range extender) kicks in to both run the electric motor and charge the battery pack. In the Volt, the extender is a 3-cylinder gasoline engine connected to a small generator. In the rumored Cadillac version, the range extender would be a fuel-cell stack combined with a hydrogen storage tank.

GM’s marketing name for this technique (electric car with range extender) is ‘E-Flex’. The advantage is that, for folks that take shorter trips, they may never burn a drop of gasoline (or use any hydrogen in the case of the fuel-cell range extender).

If GM is truly looking to take the E-Flex system to a Cadillac, expect to see a concept car in the next year or so. Also, expect the Cadillac version to be more luxurious and possibly more utilitarian or sporty than the Volt, in keeping with Cadillac’s brand image.

Automotive News (via eGM Car Tech): GM Plans Cadillac Version of the Volt, new baby RWD Caddy confirmed

Categories: News, Rumored Models
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The folks over at Kicking Tires decided to compare sales of the CTS for August vs. September to glean some insight into how the new model is doing.

They did this in order to get a month without the 08 model vs the first full month with the new model on dealer lots (this is because manufacturers don’t break out 07 vs. 08 sales – they just list the nameplate).

August showed sales of just short of 3900 cars while September sales were over 6400, quite a jump no matter how you slice it.

It certainly appears that the new CTS and its great reviews are really help move the product.

Great job Cadillac!

Source: Kicking Tires

Categories: News, CTS
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The Hollywood Extra automotive blog has snagged this rendering of what we might expect the rear-drive, BLS’ replacement to look like.

Again, this car would be, unlike the current BLS, rear-drive and based on GM’s new smaller-sized rear drive chassis – the Alpha.

This platform will be shared with the new, rear-drive replacement for Pontiac’s mid-sized sedan/coupe (the G6). Given that the Pontiac that Alpha will replace is currently available in sedan, coupe, and convertible – it is likely that an Alpha-based Cadillac could see a similar range of body styles (the better to compete against the BMW’s and Mercedes in this segement that are available in at least sedan, coupe, convertible, and wagons.

THE: New small Cadillac for 2011

Categories: News, BLS, Rumored Models
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The good folks over at Turtle Wax sent the Caddy Edge a sample of their new ICE car care system to try out.

I figured this would be a great time to give my old stand by, Zaino, a run for its money.

Check out our comparison test at:

Caddy Edge Care Care Review: ICE vs Zaino

Categories: News, Site News, Reviews
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