DETROIT – GM plans to build an extended-range electric vehicle for its Cadillac brand, the new Cadillac ELR, the company’s General Motors North America President Mark Reuss stated. The automaker plans to begin production of this vehicle in late 2013 and is investing $35 million in its Detroit-Hamtramck plant to do so.

The ELR is a production version of the Cadillac Converj, a concept the company showed at the North American International Auto Show in 2009.

Based on GM’s description of the ELR, its powertrain will function similar to the Volt’s. It will feature an electric propulsion system that incorporates a T-shaped lithium-ion battery, an electric drive unit, and a four-cylinder engine-generator. The coupe will run on electricity until its level of charge gets low and then switch over to the four-cylinder engine-generator.

The automaker noted it’s building its lithium-ion battery at its Brownstown Battery Assembly plant in Brownstown, Mich.