The Cadillac Celestiq production car will go on sale in December 2023. There is still a lot of time before entering the market, but the exterior, interior and equipment will not change anymore.
Thus, Cadillac has taken a bold step and is launching a car on the market that would look appropriate in a fantastic movie.
The futuristic design, according to the creators, contains many references to classic Cadillacs from the 1930s and 1950s: mainly it concerns proportions. But details like the design of lighting equipment have a lot in common with the serial electric crossover Lyriq, presented last year. The cars are also divided by the Ultium modular platform, developed by GM specifically for electric cars — the GMC Hummer H1T, the Chevrolet Silverado battery pickup truck and the Blazer EV electric crossover have already been built on it.
The chassis of the Cadillac Celestiq is distinctive — with pneumatic cylinders, adaptive Magnetic Ride 4.0 shock absorbers, active lateral stability stabilizers and steerable rear wheels. As befits the flagship model, the main emphasis here is on comfort and smooth running, although the dynamics are also promised to be impressive. Two electric motors with a combined capacity of over 600 hp should accelerate the car to 60 mph (97 km/h) in 3.8 seconds, although the maximum speed will certainly be limited at a relatively small mark to save electricity.
And there is definitely a reason for this, because passport range indicators, frankly speaking, do not break records. The Americans claim that on a fully charged battery with a capacity of as much as 111 kWh, the Celestiq will be able to travel only 300 miles (483 km) on the EPA cycle, while the Tesla Model S has this figure reaches 650 km, and the Lucid Air sedan exceeds 800. Thus, a year before entering the market, the luxury Cadillac is already losing to competitors in purely electric car disciplines — at least on paper.
Another question is that in terms of the effect produced, even Lucid is not in any way comparable to “Celeste”. The huge, more than five meters, streamlined body flaunts absolutely smooth sides without door handles — they are not hidden, namely, they are absent, because sensors and electric drives are in charge of everything. The trunk is combined into one space with the passenger compartment, and a large lifting glass leads there instead of the traditional lid. Matrix LED headlamps contain 1.3 million micro mirrors forming a light beam, and the roof is made of four electrochromic sections that independently change transparency.
The interior would also suit the concept more than a production car: four separate seats with individual heating, ventilation and even neck blowing, and instead of the front panel, the Celestiq has two giant screens with a total diagonal of 55 inches. In addition, there are screens on the front console, in the backs of the front seats and between the rear passengers, and the AKG Studio Reference system with 38 speakers is responsible for the sound.
