To people who remember gas-guzzling land yachts with tail fins, Cadillac isn’t the brand that springs to mind when they think of electric cars.

Yet, thanks to a wave of new models, Cadillac has passed BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Porsche in U.S. sales of electric luxury vehicles. Nearly one in four new Cadillacs sold in the country is now electric, leading the brand to its strongest first half of the year since 2008.

“Cadillac has done an amazing job converting its traditional customers to E.V.s,” said Sam Fiorani, the vice president of AutoForecast Solutions.

Along with Chevrolet, Cadillac has helped its parent company, General Motors, rise to the No. 2 spot in E.V. sales behind Tesla. In the first seven months of the year, G.M. more than doubled its E.V. sales compared with a year earlier, to 78,000, while Tesla’s sales fell 11 percent to 272,000, according to Kelley Blue Book.

A once-stodgy brand that struggled to lure younger, tech-savvy car buyers, Cadillac is increasingly drawing customers from Tesla and other brands. About 70 percent of electric Cadillac Optiq and Lyriq buyers are switching from other luxury brands, according to G.M., and 10 percent of them previously owned a Tesla.

“We’re in a position of great momentum,” said Jon Roth, the global vice president of Cadillac. “We offer more electric S.U.V.s than any luxury manufacturer, all with more than 300 miles of driving range.”