General Motors has a lot invested in the Chevy Volt, both financially and as a model for the company's vision going forward. Now that they've got this whole fancy hybrid electric drivetrain figured out, they're starting to find other things to stuff it into, and first up is a fancy new Cadillac concept made real.

Originally, this car was a 2009 concept called the Cadillac Converj, but GM has seen fit to take it all the way into production mostly unchanged, a rarity for concept vehicles. When it goes into production in 2013 or thereabouts it'll be called the Cadillac ELR, and unlike most upscale hybrids, it'll be borrowing the Chevy Volt's plug-in hybrid powertrain (with some tweaks to provide a little extra oomph). This means that you'll get some amount of pure electric plug-in rechargeable driving (somewhere between 20 and 40 miles), and a small gasoline engine will kick in after that to extend the range to several hundred miles.

The Volt itself is not intended to be a luxury car, but it still costs somewhere between $30,000 and $40,000 after government tax credits. The Caddy, on the other hand, is definitely a luxury car, and its price (as yet undisclosed but probably around $50k) will certainly reflect that. But apparently this won't be a big deal, since people who go out and buy Cadillacs are generally expecting to pay a lot for their car anyway.

Via Autopia and Gizmag