GM Is Dumping $81 Million Into Producing an Ultra-luxury Cadillac EV
The upcoming Cadillac Celestiq will be built using a unique mix of old and new techniques. Will the added human touch be worth the higher price point?
General Motors
(GM) doesn’t plan to leave Cadillac’s opulent appeal on the cutting room floor as it transitions the car brand
into an electric car producer. The parent company announced in mid-June that it will invest $81 million to make each of the luxury nameplate’s upcoming Celestiq EVs by hand. The high-end electric cars will be the first production vehicles to be built at GM’s design and tech campus in Warren, Michigan.
Celestiq: hand-built and electric
Building cars by hand is an old-school process rarely used in today’s market.
CNBC
says only uber-luxury brands like Bentley still sell handcrafted models to their high-rolling customers. Cadillac hasn’t done it since the last Eldorado Brougham rolled off the assembly line in 1960.But while rivals rely on the nostalgia of
revived model names
to connect their futures to their pasts, Cadillac is taking things a giant step further by bringing hand-held tools back into the workspace. High-tech supports like 3D printing will be paired with human craftsmanship to create the Celestiq, and the extra effort will be reflected in the EV’s production numbers and price. Only hundreds will be produced, and each one will cost at least $200,000.
GM’s Tech Center: future home of the Cadillac Celestiq
The Technical Center in Warren, Michigan has been the pride of GM since its doors opened in 1956, but it was never used as a
production factory
. Instead, it housed the future of the company. Across its 600 acres, designers and engineers experimented with the new ideas that eventually shaped the company’s production vehicles.
That history of innovation helps explain the plan to built the new
Cadillac EV
at the facility. The Celestiq will be Cadillac’s new flagship sedan, meant to represent where the brand is headed. Using the Ultium EV platform, the electric car will be used to introduce some of GM’s latest interior offerings, including a pillar-to-pillar digital display and a smart glass roof that allows each occupant to set their own level of transparency.
Owning a Cadillac Celestiq
Don’t get too excited from the recent noise about the Cadillac Celestiq. GM doesn’t plan to offer the luxury EV until 2024, and experts predict that its manufacturer-suggested retail price (MSRP) will likely sit between $200,000 and $350,000.
Car insurance for EVs might settle a little between now and 2024 as more of them end up on the road, but don’t expect the Celestiq to share any of those savings. Annual coverage for ultra-luxury electric vehicles like this will probably stay quite high.
That said, shopping for
car insurance quotes online
with Jerry will help you save, no matter the EV you buy. A licensed broker that offers end-to-end support, the Jerry app gathers affordable quotes, helps you switch plans, and can even help you cancel your old policy.
Compare Car Insurance Quotes For Free
Jerry automatically shops for your insurance before every renewal. Members save $872/year.
Start saving money!
You might also be interested
