There are several levels of luxury. When Cadillac first unveiled the huge – and massively sumptuous – Celestiq electric car, it stated that it would be a hand-built affair with extensive customisation for each user. With the release of the production model, Cadillac appears to be embarking on one of its most amazing adventures yet.
A prospective owner must make a number of decisions before the Celestiq may be driven into their driveway. Each vehicle is produced as a personal commission, which means the user has complete control over a plethora of customisation possibilities, ensuring that no two Celestiqs are alike. The chosen bidder will design their Celestiq with the assistance of their preferred dealer, as well as a one-on-one concierge and a Cadillac designer.
To that aim, no two Celestiqs should be the same price; Cadillac only provided an estimate for the car's price, stating that it starts "north of $300,000" and will increase according on the choices made by each owner during the build process.
After making those difficult decisions, it's time to start building the car. Each Celestiq, as previously stated, would be hand-built at GM's Global Technical Center in Warren, Michigan. Only six will be manufactured at a time, and the production will take place in a facility called the Artisan Center, where only those working on the automobile will be permitted.
The Celestiq's shift from show car to production automobile didn't change much. It still has a tremendous presence and a massive footprint. See that gleaming substance on the outside? Yes, that is genuine metal. The grille, trunk lining, rocker panels, lighting trim, and fenders are all made of aluminum. The "flying goddess" hood ornament from vintage Cadillacs now rests in the fender, in a special crystal that permits LED light to stream through.
LED illumination is an important aspect of the Celestiq experience. Each car contains almost 1,600 separate diodes. The headlights and taillights reveal charging status at a glance, and there's a full show that happens every time a key fob goes within 15 feet of the Celestiq, starting with the Cadillac insignia on the grille and working its way around to the headlights.
Cadillac will equip each Celestiq with a four-zone electrochromic glass roof that blends ambient lighting and suspended-particle technology for a stunning overhead performance, in addition to the light-based dog-and-pony show. Because there are no visible door handles, this is probably best observed from within the car, which is accessed using a button.
The interior appears to be virtually unaltered from the exhibition car, which is excellent because it's a beauty. While the one pictured above has a brilliant shade of blue on practically every piece of leather, a customer will undoubtedly be able to customize the interior to their own preferences. Hand-finished metalwork can be found throughout, while the more complex components were constructed utilizing 3D printing. However, because no two Celestiqs will be the same, there is a considerable lot of customisation available, not only in terms of color, but also in terms of materials employed.
The Celestiq's showpiece is a gigantic 55-inch high-definition display that spans the whole width of the dashboard. The driver side displays standard car information, while passengers can connect gadgets and play media from their side of the screen. The traditional climate-control and other ancillary duties are handled by an 11-inch screen rising from the center console, while rear passengers have access to not one, not two, but three displays -- there's an 8-inch screen between the seats, but each rear passenger also gets a 12.6-inch screen attached to the front seatbacks.
If you enjoy a good sound system, you're in luck. The Celestiq comes with an AKG Studio Reference audio system with 38 speakers and three amplifiers spanning 30 channels. The powertrain should also sound great, due to a library of sounds that provide a unique twist to EV operation. That last element works not only within the vehicle, but also outdoors.
What is beneath the surface?
Now that we've discussed what you can see, let's move on to what you can't. The Celestiq is built on GM's Ultium battery-electric platform, which has previously been used on a few of models and will be used on many more EVs in the future. A pair of electric motors, one at each end, produce a total of 600 horsepower and 640 pound-feet of torque, allowing this huge luxo-barge to reach 60 mph in just 3.8 seconds.
The Celestiq has a 111-kilowatt-hour battery with a GM-estimated range of 300 miles. Owners will get the most out of their electrons with one-pedal driving, but when it comes time to charge, the Celestiq will receive up to 200 kilowatts of juice from DC fast chargers, which can add around 78 miles of range in 10 minutes.
Adaptive air suspension should provide a comfortable ride, and it will work in tandem with GM's magnetorheological technology to adapt to road imperfections quickly. A 3.5-degree rear-axle steering angle reduces the turning circle and increases speed agility. Active antiroll bars should keep undesired body lean at bay, while an active rear spoiler deploys at different speeds to improve aerodynamics and keep the vehicle rooted.
Then there's Ultra Cruise. The Celestiq will be the first vehicle from GM to feature this technology. It's essentially a beefed-up version of the already superb Super Cruise Level 2 hands-free driver aid, with the ability to operate outside of divided highways, extending those aids to city streets and beyond. However, GM isn't stating when this will be accessible, simply that each Celestiq would "be equipped with all of the necessary Ultra Cruise hardware to enable incremental feature growth via over-the-air updates in 2024." As a result, the Ultra Cruise may take some time to come up to speed.
That's a lot of sophisticated technology in one vehicle, but given the Celestiq's six-figure price tag, it's not surprising. If you want to add one of these to your collection, you'll need to act quickly; availability is limited to a wait list, and Cadillac won't make a trillion of these. Production is set to begin in December 2023.
