It’s not just about ‘Opulent Velocity’ — Cadillac is going for a lifted off-roader as well.
Monterey Car Week is a concept-heavy event, with several automakers, and pretty much every luxury automaker, throwing their latest creations into the ring (and onto the Pebble Beach lawn). Cadillac is no exception, as it just revealed the Elevated Velocity Concept: a follow-up on last year’s low-slung Opulent Velocity. This time, the brand is going in the opposite direction, creating a lifted car that’s about as unorthodox as it gets, from front-end design to gullwing doors and an otherworldly taillight design…to name just a few elements.
Granted, concepts are supposed to offer a futuristic look into where an automaker is thinking, and there’s plenty to feast your eyes on here. The front end alone is a lot to take in, though the features largely mirror last year’s Opulent Velocity. The large trapezoidal faux-grille returns, as does an illuminated Cadillac crest flanked by two triangular openings with LEDs moving in toward the center. At each corner, you get massive 24-inch wheels, which the automaker says contributes to a “lifted and elegant design” that “enables occupants to chart the most challenging terrains, while providing a refined and luxurious on-road experience.” I think tires matter more on that front, but the key here is to go bigger and bolder, isn’t it?
At the rear, you get a set of U-shaped LEDs visible through the glass tailgate, with accompanying layered LED taillights to help give that sense of velocity. This is a 2+2 setup, so while you only get two huge gullwing doors, the concept does also bring in four seats. Each of those seats comes in Morello Red leather, and the same material also appears on the headliner, pillars, door uppers, the rear compartment and the cargo floor. Garnet boucle fabric is on the seat uppers, armrests and instrument panel, while Cadillac uses even more cerise (deep red) fabric around the rest of the interior, while the doors feature a 3D-printed black crystal pattern.
The Cadillac Elevated Velocity doesn’t just bring a sea of red materials and a futuristic steering yoke to the party, either. There are also a few different “user experience” modes that aim to bring different sort of vibes to the concept. Welcome mode causes most of the vehicle lighting to illuminate in soft white on approach, while lifting the gullwing doors open and playing a welcome animation on the steering wheel of shifting desert sand (more on that last bit momentarily).
Elevate mode transforms the car into an autonomous vehicle, and turns the interior into a “recovery space” for the occupants. The pedals and steering wheel retract, while sensors monitor the driver’s body temperature and cabin temperature, the ambient lighting shifts to red, and the doors are backlit to synchronize breathing and movement to “promote the optimal performance” of each passenger in recovering after physically intense activity, like being out in the desert.
The last experience, Velocity mode actually focuses on driving, unlike the other two. The interior lighting changes to cool white, the steering yoke screen displays speed, time, battery health and temperature. Up on the cowl display, an augmented reality navigation head-up display also helps the driver out.
Cadillac took inspiration from desert polo pursuits, which is where various references to sand come from. Sticking with the interior a bit longer, the designers created a bespoke red-themed polo set to go with the Elevated Velocity Concept. The case itself is Vapor Blue like the exterior, while the helmet, gloves, mallet and kneepads are all the same red as the interior.
When it comes to driving, the Elevated Velocity also brings four different modes into the mix. e-Velocity mode is your on-road mode, meant to emulate the “V-Mode” found in various V-Series vehicles currently on sale, be they gas or electric. Terra Mode is available for better off-road performance activating the air suspension and lifting the car to handle tougher obstacles. “Sand Vision” builds on Cadillac’s night vision tech, and provides the driver better visibility in a sandstorm. Finally, there’s Elements Defy mode, that uses vibration to shake dust, sand and dirt particles off the exterior so the vehicle can arrive back on the street “in pristine condition”.
If pretty much everything about the Cadillac Elevated Velocity Concept sounds like a flight of fancy, well, that’s the point. The Elevated Velocity won’t go into production, though some of the styling elements may make their way into the brand’s future EVs. Past the current Optiq, Lyriq, Vistiq and Escalade IQ, we could see some substantially different looking Cadillacs in the next generation or two.
The Cadillac Elevated Velocity will make its official debut at The Quail, a Motorsports Gathering on Friday, August 15.
