Cadillac did more than just reveal a new crossover.
Tonight in Detroit, Cadillac did more than just reveal a new crossover. The brand showed off what’s coming next. Not next quarter or next year, but after their planned new model every six months until 2021 ends. Cadillac will be taking the lead when it comes to electrification for General Motors. That means new platforms, new style, and what the company calls becoming the pinnacle of mobility.
It starts with that all-new platform. Cadillac showed off an animation of the new modular system. An electric architecture that can scale from four-seat compacts all the way to three-row crossovers. The luxury brand will be the first in the company to get it.
More than just flexible bones, it will have flexible electrification too. One motor or two? No problem. Need more battery cells to give bigger vehicles more range? It can do that too. Thanks to a new battery module that Cadillac President Steve Carlisle likens to an ice cube tray. Every vehicle will get the same tray, in the same size. But whereas a compact crossover might only need a few cubes, the three-row can get all the cubes, or cells. “This is the canvas upon which we will paint an exciting and profitable EV program. We can build literally everything in the portfolio,” said Carlisle about the new platform.
With a fully electric platform comes new possibilities for the vehicle. Cadillac showed off the possibility of a steering wheel that could fold into the dash, something it’s hoping for with a future generation of Supercruise or whatever their fully autonomous feature ends up being called. They also showed a new seat back where the whole back was a screen, giving rear passengers much more in the way of connected and entertainment options.
Cadillac already has a look in mind for their upcoming electrics, and you’re looking at it at the top of the page. The first full electric from the brand. The vertical lights and grille shape take the brand’s current styling language and make it futuristic. But it manages to combine the super-futuristic concept look that we’ve seen with most medium-term EV announcements with just enough current styling to make us wonder if the real deal will still look like that.
Carlisle says that they’re working to turn Cadillac back into Cadillac. Working to make it “the height of luxury and innovation.” And this is where that plan begins.
Keyword: This Concept is Cadillac's First Full EV