Cadillac as soon as touted itself because the “Normal of the World,” a tagline that has carried weight by way of generations. And but, right this moment, the trendy ultra-luxury automotive is distinctly European. For years, the Escalade and the Lincoln Navigator represented the easiest the U.S. might supply. Need extra? Sorry, you’ll must look overseas.
It’s not for need of attempting. Join the dots, and also you’ll see that Cadillac’s flagship urge for food has grown steadily over the many years. In 2003, it was the Sixteen idea, a V16-powered grand tourer. It reappeared in 2011 because the Ciel idea, an open-top four-seater, ultimately morphing into the Elmiraj coupe in 2013 and the Escala sedan in 2016. Across the time, rumors circled {that a} supposed “CT8” would quickly enter manufacturing. Properly, you understand how that turned out.
Because the story goes, the American carmaker’s subsequent pivot in direction of an all-electric future introduced a chance. In the summertime of 2022, it introduced the Celestiq Present Automotive, an electrical four-door fastback with excessive proportions. Nonetheless, not like earlier makes an attempt, the manufacturing inexperienced mild got here later that fall, paving the best way for the 2025 Cadillac Celestiq, a flagship many years within the making.
As I stand outdoors the Pendry Resort in West Hollywood, CA, keys in hand, part of me stays shocked it even exists. The carmaker’s unique announcement set a 2023 goal for the beginning of manufacturing. Nonetheless, delays quickly pushed that timeline into 2024. Even because it appeared unexpectedly throughout final 12 months’s Monterey Automotive Week, it remained in pre-production kind, with information surrounding its official arrival remaining scarce. Now, in 2025, deliveries are lastly scheduled to begin halfway by way of this 12 months.
Images and movies do little to convey this automotive’s immense scale and its excessive proportions. For reference, the Cadillac Celestiq is 4 inches longer, 4 inches decrease, and practically 5 inches wider than a Rolls-Royce Ghost. Even the Phantom and Bentley Flying Spur Pace sport narrower dimensions, with solely the Escalade IQ matching the Celestiq’s broad figures. That is much less stunning when you be taught that it rides on a bespoke model of GM’s Ultium structure, sharing an equivalent 23-inch wheel and tire dimension with the IQ SUV.
Opposite to each different participant within the house, the Cadillac Celestiq incorporates a fastback design, each for stylistic and sensible causes. Its main physique panels, together with its hood, entrance fenders, rear quarter panels, and hatch, are carbon fiber. Its doorways as a substitute depend on an SMC composite on the rely of hiding sensors that must see by way of the fabric to allow their automated opening and shutting function.
Beneath the pores and skin, the Celestiq employs a construction of six massive sand-cast aluminum parts which might be then welded collectively to chop down on extra elements whereas growing torsional rigidity. Alongside these, Cadillac incorporates 115 3D-printed elements, with the steering wheel being the one largest metallic piece GM has ever printed in manufacturing. Components that may’t be printed are produced by way of a Flex Fabrication course of during which metallic is repeatedly folded over itself to create distinctive shapes.
As I stroll round it forward of my drive into the canyons north of Los Angeles, I’m not as excited by the Celestiq’s design as a lot as I’m in awe of it. A lot of what’s right here stylistically isn’t new. In any case, this flagship served as Cadillac’s aesthetic guiding mild lengthy earlier than the general public noticed it. As such, lots of its numerous visible cues have made their approach onto inexpensive fashions such because the Lyriq and Optiq.
Regardless of this, they tackle new life because of this fastback’s excessive proportions. Whether or not you recognize what it’s or not, the Cadillac Celestiq comes throughout as costly, a should contemplating this automotive’s over $350,000 base worth. Extra importantly, the vibe it creates in particular person helps it higher stand amongst rivals, shouldered by revered manufacturers, even when this sensation doesn’t translate to pictures and movies. Nonetheless, the Celestiq succeeds by drawing the attention with form, not simply styling bling.
As I depart the resort and switch onto morning LA visitors, my progress towards the canyons grinds to a halt. It’s the primary time I’ve gotten a correct have a look at the Celestiq’s inside, representing a major departure for the American carmaker. For one, there’s a transparent concentrate on materials high quality. Due to GM’s in depth use of 3D printing, the cabin is adorned with shiny metallic work, overlaying all of your core touchpoints.
This theme continues as you discover its steering wheel buttons, column stalks, and door switches. The remainder of the cabin employs an abundance of leather-wrapped surfaces contrasted by solely a handful of non-metallic trim panels. Its entrance and rear captain’s chairs sport equivalent adjustment functionalities, together with massaging, cooling, and heating options. Apart from being plush and huge, the seats open up additional customization alternatives, as this automotive’s cabin may be totally custom-made. Extra on that later.
Go searching, and also you’ll have issue recognizing what few plastic buttons and switches stay. As an alternative, the Cadillac Celestiq relocates these to 2 central touchscreens, one for the primary row and one other for the second. They’re an efficient approach to pack an incredible quantity of adjustment into one interface. Nonetheless, they detract from the feel and appear of an inside that in any other case facilities round its craftsmanship, with its trapdoor-style central cupholder being a specific spotlight. Above, its good glass roof measures 7.5 mm thick to higher isolate highway noise whereas permitting it to dim itself by way of 4 impartial quadrants.
Look simply previous the Celestiq’s steering wheel, and also you’ll discover a huge 55-inch pillar-to-pillar show. It includes two screens housed inside a single glass bezel and supplemented by two further 12.6-inch passenger screens within the second row. Like the remainder of GM’s lineup, its infotainment system provides direct Google integration and passenger leisure, achieved by dimming the suitable aspect of the show out of the motive force’s subject of view.
This huge display is a chic resolution for packaging a number of useful content material, though it has drawbacks. Its place is approach forward within the dashboard, making the show really feel fairly distant out of your eyes. Extra importantly, as elegant as its graphics are, it lacks Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. The liberty to decide on defines the ultra-luxury house, and forcing consumers to make use of the automotive’s native system isn’t the reply. As manufacturers like Aston Martin and McLaren beforehand discovered by delaying their smartphone integration, this lack of fundamental connectivity shortly turns into a major disadvantage for house owners, particularly these with bigger collections anticipating a constant expertise.
Lastly, on the freeway, the Cadillac Celestiq excels because of its hands-free Tremendous Cruise system, which stays one of many house’s handiest driver help techniques. This flagship enhances its tech suite with a complete of 42 audio system, with 38 of these dwelling inside its cabin. Whereas the outside items emit the Celestiq’s propulsion noise, the inside set blends a 3D-surround sound expertise with energetic noise canceling to make sure in-cabin noise stays as little as attainable. This AKG-sourced setup delivers spectacular sound high quality, though nonetheless not fairly a mind-blowing efficiency like Bentley’s $9,000 Naim system.
With its nostril pointed in direction of Angeles Crest Freeway and its sportiest drive mode engaged, the Cadillac Celestiq picks up velocity as effortlessly. You’d anticipate so, on condition that it produces 655 horsepower and 646 pound-feet of torque from two electrical motors, one in every axle. Though a 22-inch wheelset comes customary, my tester sports activities an upsized set of 23s and the bespoke Michelin rubber designed to accompany them.
Cadillac quotes a 3.7-second time to 60 mph, and regardless of this flagship tipping the scales at nicely over 6,000 kilos, it feels as fast as that stat would possibly recommend. But, because of its progressive throttle calibration, the Celestiq prioritizes smoothness over outright efficiency. There’s no aggressive kick such as you’d anticipate from a high-power EV. As an alternative, it rides a wave of torque extra akin to one thing powered by a big V12.
Nonetheless, as I flip right into a collection of tight corners, the whole lot I do know in regards to the Cadillac Celestiq seemingly shifts. Regardless of its huge dimension and weight, its steering quickens in its sportiest mode, that means that even delicate inputs end in immediate course adjustments. Due to its 48-volt energetic anti-roll system, it takes corners completely flat as its rear-axle steering setup helps just about shrink its wheelbase. It’s an analogous components to what you’d get on Bentley’s Dynamic Trip system and is simply as efficient.
Nonetheless, the Cadillac’s most important differentiator is its use of Magnetic Trip Dampers. Now of their fourth era, GM’s MR dampers are as shut as we’ll ever get to automotive witchcraft, permitting them to agency up or soften immediately. Within the Celestiq, they pair with a extra typical air suspension system, which mixes to create a flagship limousine that’s exceptionally well-damped and plush round city however concurrently agency and managed sufficient to successfully deal with a mountain highway. The result’s a fastback that’s fast in a straight line and nimble within the bends. A dual-purpose flagship.
As I settle again down for the drive into city, I flip my consideration to my electrical vary. Given how a lot the Cadillac Celestiq has happening, it’s simple to neglect it’s an electrical automotive. It’s an ultra-luxury automotive first. But, that is the place the Celestiq most clearly exhibits its age. In contrast to the lately launched Escalade IQ, the flagship fastback depends on a 400-volt electrical structure as a substitute of a quicker-charging 800-volt setup like its SUV sibling.
Whereas Cadillac estimates a wholesome vary of 303 miles, courtesy of its massive 111-kilowatt-hour battery pack, its peak cost charge stays low at 190 kilowatts, including a most of 75 miles in ten minutes. For context, the Escalade IQ bumps that determine as much as 350 kW. Efficiency EVs supply comparable stats, such because the $230,000 Porsche Taycan Turbo GT (320kW) and the $249,000 Lucid Air Sapphire (300kW). The $420,000 Rolls-Royce Spectre, which depends on a dated 400-volt system, provides a comparable 195-kW peak cost charge.
Pricing for the Cadillac Celestiq is difficult to pin down. Ask GM, they usually’ll inform you it begins round $350,000, with “begins” being the key phrase right here. In contrast to most ultra-luxury vehicles, all of this automotive’s tools comes customary. As an alternative, consumers pays solely for personalization extras.
Alongside its meeting line in Warren, Michigan, GM divided a portion of its Technical Middle to create the Cadillac Home. That is the devoted house the place Celestiq can go and configure their vehicles, a course of that may take anyplace between 12 to 18 months. Its size, nevertheless, is decided by the fee’s intricacy. The carmaker’s on-site concierge specialist tells me that each facet of this automotive, minus security options, may be altered at a worth.
Cadillac plans to make sure that no two Celestiqs are alike by locking a buyer’s configuration as soon as it enters manufacturing. Though GM doesn’t quote particular manufacturing numbers, the American carmaker plans to supply fewer than two each day items. Deliveries are anticipated to begin later this 12 months.
Pulling again into the resort at hand again the keys, I stay in awe of the Cadillac Celestiq. From a design perspective, it evokes all the proper emotions, immediately projecting the aesthetic of a luxurious merchandise. Inside, it continues the theme with glorious materials selections starting from its shiny metallic work to its huge leather-wrapped surfaces supplemented by an unlimited tech suite. Out on the highway, the Celestiq excels by combining a improbable journey and a quiet driving expertise with real back-road athleticism.
Nonetheless, a couple of particulars maintain the Celestiq again, comparable to its lack of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, its use of a normal plastic Cadillac key fob, and its over-reliance on touchscreens as a substitute of bodily controls. And though it provides an honest estimated electrical vary, its 400-volt structure makes it removed from the quickest charging EV in 2025.
There isn’t any query that the Celestiq is a flagship many years within the making, and a monumental effort that excels in key areas. What issues now’s whether or not the $350,000 Celestiq is compelling sufficient to sway consumers away from Europe’s finest.
