Cadillac’s first series-produced EV, the Lyriq, made its debut online in August 2020. Executives hinted it was just the tip of the iceberg, and they kept their promise by announcing more EVs — including one that flies — at CES 2021.
As it electrifies, Cadillac will gradually move upmarket. It will peg the Lyriq on the luxury end of the industry spectrum, and it will reach new heights when it releases a range-topping sedan named Celestiq that will be largely built by hand. The model will be fully electric, it will share battery technology with other electric members of the General Motors family, and it will stand proud as one of the most high-tech models the carmaker has ever released.
While we don’t know precisely what the Celestiq (shown above) will look like yet, Cadillac previewed one of the model’s coolest features at CES 2021. The sedan will offer a four-part glass roof that will give each passenger the ability to dim the panel above them by pushing a button on the center console. All-wheel-drive and four-wheel steering will come standard, too. Additional details about the Celestiq will emerge in the coming months.
Both models will break new ground in the technology department, but neither one will stretch the definition of what a Cadillac should be. One is a sedan, and the other is a crossover. If you want to check out a side of the brand that you’ve never seen, take a look at the flying taxi and the box-like EV briefly introduced during its CES presentation.
Details are few and far between, which suggests that these concepts aren’t getting fast-tracked to production. Cadillac nonetheless pointed out that they’re built using powertrain parts shared with some of the aforementioned EVs, and that they illustrate its vision of how commuting could evolve during the 2020s, in a post-pandemic world.
Cadillac parent company General Motors shared information about some of the other EVs it’s working on. It notably created a business unit named BrightDrop focused on electrifying the commercial transportation industry. Its first two products will be an electric delivery van named EV600 (shown above) that will compete directly against the model that Rivian is developing for Amazon. BrightDrop’s cargo hauler will offer up to 250 miles of range, and the firm has already received a 500-unit order from FedEx. Deliveries are tentatively scheduled to start in late 2021.
At launch, the BrightDrop range will also include an electric storage cabinet named EP1 designed to carry packages. Built with a 200-pound capacity, it was developed to operate in warehouses, but it can also navigate sidewalks.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.