Cadillac Opulent Velocity: Here's Where Ultium Could Go Next

Cadillac Opulent Velocity Concept

We've been waiting for an electric take on Cadillac's V-Series performance cars. And this concept has a lot to say about what's next.

• Cadillac's "Opulent Velocity" concept debuted today at Monterey Car Week. It promises "zero emission hypercar luxury performance."
• It's an electric 2+2 coupe with "butterfly doors," augmented reality inside and more advanced automated driving functions than current iterations of Super Cruise.
• A working prototype, it could preview future electric Cadillac V-Series cars, as well as updates to GM's Ultium electric platform.

General Motors promised a do-over year for electric vehicles in 2024, and it certainly seems to be delivering there—especially when it comes to Cadillac. The Lyriq has seen explosive sales, and we're about to see the debuts of important models like the Escalade IQ, Optiq and Vistiq. But if you're like me and you still admire the old-school performance cars like the CTS-V and ATS-V, you may be wondering: Where's the electric Cadillac V-Series?

Now, a new concept making its debut at Monterey Car Week shows that the V does have a battery-powered future. Meet the Cadillac Opulent Velocity concept, which GM says will hint at where things could go next.

“Opulent Velocity is an experience-based design study,” Bryan Nesbitt, executive director of Global Cadillac Design, said in a statement. “It's the future vision of luxury performance, incorporating Cadillac’s leadership in hands-free driving capabilities, electrification and performance excellence. Opulent Velocity expresses the most artful integration of technology, luxury and exhilaration characterized by Cadillac’s halo V-Series variants, and future electrification design expressions.”

As with many concepts, this one is being called a design study, meaning it's less a direct preview of an upcoming actual model and more an indicator of where design and technology could go next at Cadillac.

But on a call with reporters last week, GM officials indicated that this concept is a working prototype—and that it shows off where the Ultium platform is going next as well.

"When we look [at], let's say, the power that's required, we're studying how best to deliver the performance aspirations of this vehicle," said Brandon Vivian, the Executive Chief Engineer at Cadillac. "It will be a version of Ultium that is yet to come."

Beyond that, actual specs—battery size, range, power and so on—are MIA for now. But here's what we do know.

In a refreshing change of pace from the endless sea of electric crossovers out there, this is a two-plus-two coupe featuring "butterfly doors" that's long, wide and low. In overall design, it apes the low-volume, ultra-niche Cadillac Celestiq ultra-luxe sedan, but looks about 10 years ahead of that.

The name is intentional, apparently. "Opulent" refers to the luxury-focused technology at work here, including Level 4 autonomous driving—meaning fully self-driving, something no commercially available car is capable of yet—augmented reality displays that blur the lines between windshield and dashboard and "curated art, entertainment and ambient light" when you're driving hands-free. Which you will have to do, because in that mode, the steering wheel and pedals seem to disappear.

But it's meant to be driven, too. "Velocity" engages the hand and feet controls and uncorks "Cadillac’s Blackwing track-proven engineering." There's even a "ghost car" that appears on the HUD for you to follow or try and best on your track days, Gran Turismo-style. "Furthermore, Velocity mode visualizes the capability to dictate driving enhancements, including road overlays, active information about road conditions and complete control over active aero and suspension dampening settings," Cadillac officials said in a news release.

So will this concept yield anything real? Down the line, it seems like that's very possible. While it's a departure from Cadillac's current EV language, the Opulent Velocity does seem more future-focused than the current crop of cars that are very heavily ICE-derived in design.

"There are some ideas in here that are kind of foreshadowing things we're interested in looking at," Nesbitt told reporters last week. Those include "moving the surface vocabulary of the vehicle and the integration of the tech of the vehicle, and some of that graphic kind of execution married to that surface development."

If this is what's next for Cadillac, I like what I see so far. What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

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