The Celestiq is built on a very elongated (it’s longer than an Escalade) variant of GM’s Ultium EV car platform, which sits underneath cars as varied as the upcoming Honda Prologue and the new GMC Hummer EV. While the specifics of the Celestiq’s drivetrain haven’t been fully revealed, it’s likely the motors and power electronics will be similar to the Cadillac Lyriq’s, at least in some way.
The Drivetrain And Charging
Cadillac did provide some basic specs about the drivetrain, performance, and range: Like the legendary Cadillac’s of old, it seems the Celestiq is focused on a specific sort of ride comfort, the kind that feels like you’re being whisked along on a mattress made of marshmallows and optimism, the kind that let you go over a speed bump at 51 mph in your Sedan DeVille in 1967 and not spill a drop of the old fashioned you had in your hand, next to your cigarette. Unique among Ultium-based EVs are CELESTIQ’s 11.59:1 front and 11.63:1 rear gear ratios, which were specially calibrated to optimize range and performance. In addition to the impressive horsepower and torque, the vehicle is also projected to deliver one of the quickest 0-60-mph acceleration in the segment of 3.8 seconds. This level of comfort is accomplished with a lot of tech like this:
Adaptive Air Suspension: CELESTIQ makes use of an air suspension system, rather than the coiled springs used in a traditional suspension system. Compared to traditional suspension systems, air suspension offers a softer, more isolated ride for greater ride quality. Active Rear Steering: CELESTIQ will offer up to 3.5 degrees of out-of-phase rear steering, in which the rear wheels turn in the opposite direction of the front wheels for greater maneuverability at low speeds. At higher speeds, the rear wheels will turn in-phase with the front wheels. Magnetic Ride Control 4.0: A signature Cadillac engineering innovation will find a new home in CELESTIQ. Originally developed for the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing, the system is the world’s fastest-reacting suspension technology, which allows for greater responsiveness and enhanced isolation from road imperfections.
Advanced AWD: CELESTIQ offers a two-motor electric drive unit. These motors work with torque optimizer modules that analyze torque requirements for given vehicle inputs. These modules turn the front or rear motors on and off as required to provide optimal torque to enhance ride quality and electric driving range. Active Roll Control: The Cadillac-first Active Roll Control feature is a significant contributor to the vehicle’s nimble handling. It employs stabilizer bars embedded at the front and rear of the chassis to mitigate the rolling force exerted on the vehicle during turns and other maneuvers, enhancing the feeling of stability, control and occupant comfort.
The Celestiq has a 200 kW DC fast charging system, and Cadillac claims 78 miles of range can be added in 10 minutes, via an appropriate fast DC charger.
The Look
Of course, it’s the design of the Celestiq that’s getting everyone excited, partially because that’s all we can really experience at the moment and partially because it is quite striking. It’s a long fastback design, an interesting choice on its own, and there’s a lot of really arresting details, like the hockey-stick shaped taillights that they seemed to like so much they included an extra set, inverted and below, the long rear overhang, the simple window graphic, the novel herringbone not-grille front end, the dramatic lighting, you get it.
Whether or not you like it, you have to admit the thing has hectares of presence, something that will likely be even more imposing in reality when you’re confronted with the whole massiveness of it all. This is, of course, very on-brand for Cadillac, which has been building massive slabs of presence for decades. The press release specifically mentions the 1957 Eldorado Brougham as an inspiration, and I think that feels pretty accurate.
There are a couple of odd details, I think, like that jutting rear bumper that to me feels like a modernized, black version of the old El Camino/GM station wagon bumper with the inset taillights, and there’s a little swoosh of what I assume is a character line that kicks forward under the A-pillar that I haven’t decided if I like or not. Maybe I like it? I need to see that in person.
There’s one obvious thing that the exterior design of the Celestiq needs, and thanks to Cadillac’s promise of incredible levels of bespoke owner personalization, I suspect this should be possible. Here it is:
That’s right, this needs a proper Brougham vinyl top, complete with gold BROUGHAM badging and an opera light. Now it’s a real Cadillac.
Color selection seems to be up to the buyer, but Cadillac did provide a few options, complete with absurd marketing-speak taglines. See if you can match which tagline is for which color: Oof, right? Here’s the answers, in the order I listed: Aurora, Mist, Magnetic, Vale. How’d you do? “An avant-garde view of traditions driven by visionary possibilities.” “An ode to infinity inspired by the mystery of the cosmos.” “Ultra-luxury minimalism reimagines movement as a state of rejuvenation.”
The Super-Swank Interior
The interior is, as you’d expect, absurdly luxurious. And pretty huge.
I like the use of color there, all of which I’m sure is customizable to the owner’s most secret and lurid chromatic desires, and the roof is something called Fixed Smart Glass that doesn’t require a sunshade or headliner. The interior is for four people only, with large individual airplane-style seats at the rear, and, interestingly, no visible division between the passenger and cargo areas. That’s pretty unusual for a luxury vehicle, and while I like how it makes the interior feel even more open and airy, I wonder if that is the only arrangement possible of the interior. I imagine there’s people who like to compartmentalize their luggage. Also, what if you’re hauling bags of peat moss or a bunch of gravel in this thing? You’d want to keep all that out of the back seats, right?
Unsurprisingly, there’s more acreage of LCD screens in here than your average office cubicle, with Cadillac describing it as: So, that’s one huge screen all across the dash, but the passenger’s side can be obscured from the driver’s prying eyes, so you don’t have to worry about your driver seeing how your OnlyFans is doing or get distracted when you watch the finale of What We Do In The Shadows.
3D Printing And An Easter Egg
Oh, hey, look, I think I found an Easter Egg!
It looks like on the side of the drink holder cover are the silhouettes of three cars; I suspect three Cadillacs, one from what I’d guess to be the 1930s, one from the late ’50s or early ’60s, and the Celestiq. Neat! I also suspect that buyers can specify details like these, thanks to the fact that so much of the interior trim is 3D-printed:
The steering wheel center is the largest metal part GM has printed in production, combining the show surface and the structural B-side of the part, while the seat belt adjustable guide loop is GM’s first safety-related 3D printed part. Other 3D printed parts include: window switches, grab handles, console decor and structural pieces under the vehicle’s surface.
With so many 3D printed parts, customization of these elements should be easier than ever before, which provides a lot of interesting possibilities. If you’re like most of us, you won’t even consider a car until you hear what Lenny Kravitz has to say about it, so I’m pleased to report that Cadillac has anticipated this desire and has provided you with a video that should help:
The Celestiq is set to start production at the end of 2023, and will be in the Middle East by 2024. And I have a prediction: the next U.S. Presidential limo, the “Beast,” will be based on one of these. Or will at least be made to look like one. That’s my guess. The customers beyond collectors then only consists of rebels: “Sure, I could have had a Rolls, but chose Cadillac instead because…. (because what?) I wanted something different.” Okay……sure. This worked so well for the VW Phaeton, didn’t it? * Even as a halo car to draw people into the showrooms, I can’t see much value. It’s a gap too far to bridge between this halo piece and the rest of the Cadillac line. You come to admire the CELESTIQ and inspired by it but not willing to pay that much you settle for an ?Escalade? I think Cadillac would have done much better to build something similar but depriced to perhaps $150,000 -$175,000. Sure you can can always sell anything flashy to NBA and NFL stars, but I don’t think there are enough of them even at today’s salaries to constitute a viable market for car. America is in an inflationary bubble, where the average upper middle class worker at the golden end of their career is seeing shrinkage of assets, and no upside to luxury purchases. The average price of new cars has been rising so fast, that a price which once would buy you a nice new Mercedes, is what you need to pay for a small business work truck. Not only that, the design language here is out of touch with reality. People who associate luxury with Cadillac will want something that harks back to a time when Packard or Cadillac truly compared to Bentley and Rolls. This thing looks way too much like another iteration of the CT5. To justify such a stratospheric price, it has to look as solid as a bank vault, and ooze luxurious materials. I don’t think this design strikes that mark If I were king of GM, I’d put a “GM” badge on something like this and let Cadillac slowly wither or do whatever it’s going to do ’cause I’d never buy one. The point of the Celestiq is to be a symbol. The jet-age and space-age designs of that time were forward-looking and filled with optimism. Is it a good car? Is it worth the money? Does it even LOOK good? All subjective. I wouldn’t buy one. I can’t even conceive of spending $50k on a car, much less six times that (even if I could, which I can’t). The people who buy six-figure cars don’t give a sht about “value for money” because money is no object. As a symbol of “the future” it obviously fails on a few points. It’s ungodly massive and consumes a lot of resources to construct, undermining (har) the benefits of the EV transition. It puts HD pickup levels of stress on our roadways. And although it’s not the worst offender (looking at you, private jets) it’s still a reminder of the increasing wealth gap and increasing difficulty of upward mobility in this country. All that said, its existence as a handbuilt, balls to the wall, limiters-removed project appeals to me. It’s all emotion and narrative regardless of its reality. (plus it’s a liftback like my volt, yay) Will the glovebox door have a manual latch on it? If I can order my Celestiq bespoke, is this an option? If not, what the hell are you even doing, Cadillac? Plus, what is with the illuminated boomerangs?!? Nothing says made in the good ol’ U S of A like a uniquely Australian bit of kit. Someone should let Toyota know that there is a good opportunity to sell some 3d printers while we’re at it so that Celestiq owners can print more reliable parts. Finally, what in the Jumpin’ Jimminy Torchinskys was the inspiration for the name Celestiq? Was someone eating some hot wings at lunch when they realized that the meal ALSO came with celery sticks? And then that obviously mega-brained crayon eater was all “Eureka!”. To think that we bailed out the company that brought out this polished turd 14 years later. Imma go clutch my pearls and find a convenient fainting couch to occupy while saying “Why, I never!”
