Cadillac wants to predict the future

The auto industry is at an inflection point. Software has changed what consumers expect from today’s cars, and the increase in processing power opens up new possibilities. Displays, connectivity, advanced safety features, and autonomy are changing the way automakers think about and design the cars of tomorrow.

It’s certainly not an easy task for a car company to try to predict what consumers might want, or what its competitors might offer – but Cadillac He tries though.

Cadillac’s latest concept – the High Speed ​​- is proof of that. With cutting-edge technologies and far-reaching ideas, Cadillac aims to decipher what we, consumers, might want from our luxury vehicles five, 10 or even 15 years from now. It’s an interesting idea.

As electric vehicle horsepower becomes more democratized, the number of characteristics that can differentiate mainstream products from luxury products diminishes. Software allows automakers to customize their ownership experience, and Cadillac is considering every possible feature one might want in an autonomous future.

“We’re very interested in understanding, studying and solving how to create more value for the customer while the car is in self-driving mode,” Brian Nesbitt, GM’s vice president of global design, said during a media briefing on the concept in August.

The company wants to use technology to “unleash those experiences” for customers.

“At the same time, do they want to maintain some cheer?” He added. High speed It doesn’t remove the driver from the equation, it gives them a choice. Hopefully, this will not lead to a world where being able to drive your own car is a luxury in itself.

“Do they still want that hands-on experience and that thrill of being in control in that moment?” Nesbitt said. “We suggest that this looks like a very interesting combination, and that is a lot of what this exploration is about.”

“We are very interested in understanding, studying and solving how to create more value for the customer while the car is in autonomous mode.”

Cadillac’s latest study goes beyond just features and amenities. The automaker is also asking big questions about… What the future of mobility could look like.

Self-driving vehicle technology continues to advance, including GM’s Super Cruise hands-free driver assistance system. The high speed is a test for Cadillac to understand how it can allow drivers to repurpose their time behind the wheel when the computer takes over.

The concept, like that 2024 predecessorIt features built-in biometric sensors that track heart rate, oxygen, and stress. Cadillac designed this concept to aid breathing and relaxation while driving the car itself, but it’s easy to see how the company could repurpose this technology into an integrated health monitoring system.

There is a future in which your watch, your earphones, and your car remind you how bad your health is. But it can also save the life of someone who is having or about to have a medical attack while driving.

“We know we can collect biometric data,” Nesbitt said. “How can it really be used?”

Company Interior space concept Starting in 2023, it focused heavily on the in-car experience, featuring a huge panoramic LED display that obscured most of the windshield and allowed passengers to control vehicle functions and access entertainment.

At the time, Nesbitt said: “Electrification and autonomous driving will fundamentally change the role of vehicles and the experiences customers have with them,” something the automaker continues to explore to this day.

What might constitute a luxury feature in a decade or two is a mystery, and Cadillac doesn’t know that either. That’s why these concepts exist.

GM’s design chief said the high speed is an opportunity for Cadillac to get feedback, “to test the waters and see if people think this makes sense for the things we’re investing in now and the things we should maybe invest in in the future.”

There is a future in which your watch, your earphones, and your car remind you how bad your health is.

The Cadillacs we might see in the coming years could have some of the features previewed in this concept and other modern ones, like a steering wheel display and illuminated rims. Sure, the rims are closer to reality than the wheel, but Nesbitt has his team trying to turn the steering wheel display into a production piece.

Cadillac designed the wheel to display information, such as speed, time and battery, because the concept lacks traditional displays. While today’s automakers can’t cram enough screens into their cars already, Cadillac included, the brand is thinking about what comes next, like an augmented reality head-up display across the entire windshield.

Engineers still have some things to figure out before the steering wheel display appears in front of the driver, such as installing airbags. But once that’s done, and if possible, this could be the brand’s first step toward a screenless cabin, if buyers want it. No one knows, and that’s the great thing about Elevated Velocity and many other Cadillac concepts — we see a little of what’s possible today.

“How far can we take electricity and performance?” “How far can we take luxury performance as product experiences?” Nesbitt said.

Not surprisingly, Cadillac didn’t mention the concept’s powertrain other than that it’s electric, which the company still believes is the future. The brand has the horsepower formula already figured out – Lyriq-V is The brand’s fastest car everand starts at just over $80,000. That’s not cheap, but it gets you a family SUV with 615 horsepower and a 0-60 mph time of 3.3 seconds.

Future Cadillac models will have to offer more than just power and performance to stand out, but watching the brand try to predict that future in real time is fascinating in itself.