Cadillac's New Rally SUV Concept Has Gullwing Doors, Light-Up Wheels & A Lot To Prove

Cadillac has a new concept and in typical Cadillac style, it's a head-turner. Form wise, it's an electric lifted rally-esque SUV coupe called "Elevated Velocity" with big gullwing doors ripped right out of CyberPunk 2077. It's a 2 + 2 configuration, meaning it seats two in the front and two in the back. As with most concept cars, it's not sneak look at a production car, but instead more of a test bed for future technology and a design study for what Cadillac might be working on in the future. As such, there aren't any performance specifications or mechanical features to talk about, aside from the very noticeable 24-inch light-up wheels.

If it was just a proof of design, Cadillac knocked it out of the park. A big lifted Caddy-coupe meant for thrashing around the desert seems like an idea that doesn't have any downsides. Additionally, the gullwing doors and long nose are staples in luxury cars that definitely fit the vibe for what Cadillac is trying to convey aesthetically. However, what the Elevated Velocity is attempting to accomplish goes much further than being something cool to look at.

One feature of the concept is something that Cadillac calls "Elevate Mode": It essentially transforms (complete with retractable steering wheel) into an autonomous vehicle in an effort to be a "recovery space for occupants." If you want to take the helm, "Velocity Mode" gives control back to the driver for thrashing around dunes and the dirt. Cadillac wants it to be the ultimate work-hard-and-play-hard car. Given that truly autonomous driving is still in its infancy, this idea is still far out in the future. 

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What's interesting about Cadillac's take on autonomous driving is that it hasn't forgotten that some people actually enjoy driving, and so fully autonomous operation might not appeal to them. Giving the wheel to the driver when they want is a philosophical choice that other electric vehicle makers aren't putting front and center (cough, Tesla). 

With that driver's focus in mind, the Elevated Velocity concept is billed as a Cadillac V-Series car in the same manner as the Lyriq-V and Optiq-V. Cadillac might try its best to be a refined luxury company, but it's still an American company at heart. There are few vehicles more American than huge luxury SUVs with a lot of power.

Whether or not that driver-centric ethos will translate to future production vehicles and subsequent future sales, that's anyone's guess at the moment. Cadillac is a General Motors company after all and GM has a nasty habit of pulling the plug before ideas get off the ground (I say this as a life-long GM fan). Cadillac still has to sell cars as any car company should. It would be a waste of time, money, and effort to make the Elevated Velocity concept, show off all of these innovative ideas — a display screen built into the steering wheel, anyone? — and then go back to making yet another version of the Escalade, even if that's a vehicle that just flat out sells better.

"Elevated Velocity seeks to demonstrate our interpretation of an uncompromised performance luxury experience," Bryan Nesbitt, GM's VP of Global design says of the concept, "where one can repurpose their valuable time by commuting fully autonomously, then unlock a true hands-on high-performance experience." 

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That duality will be hard to nail down in whatever future cars Cadillac will be debuting. However, cars like the Escalade V-Series and pretty much every car fitted with a Blackwing V8 have managed to walk that line pretty well. so don't count Cadillac out just yet.