Cadillac Elevated Velocity bows in California with fancy tech features

Cadillac’s booth at the Monterey Car Week featured a luxury SUV EV concept meant to give us an idea what the company plans for the next few years. As you’d expect from a fancy electric show car, it was full of original electronic gimmicks.

Before we proceed, though, let’s take a look at the exterior. The Elevated Velocity has rather normal-looking proportions with a long hood, short overhangs and a cabin that sits closer to the rear axle than the front. You’d be challenged to call it an EV at a glance or based on the proportions alone. 3D taillights and fancy illuminated 24-inch wheels may tip you off, but neither is a dead giveaway.

Giant gullwing doors swing up to provide access into a four-seat cabin. Cadillac proudly points out how small the panel gaps are: it’s hard even just to discern the door outlines on the body of the SUV, which looks like a monolith from a distance.

The interior itself is fairly laconic. It houses four sport seats divided by a partition wall running down the middle and has a sporty-looking yoke wheel with mode selection. The trim makes generous use of leather, cloth and polished metal accents.

One of the drive presets, dubbed Elevate, retracts the steering wheel and the pedals and switches on red ambient lighting to notify everyone inside that the car is now driving itself. Those not in the mood for autopilot may choose Velocity instead. This preset gives you back the wheel and the pedals in addition to flooding the cabin with a soft white light that Cadillac argues is good for focusing on the road.

The current acceleration and battery temperature are displayed on the wheel. A heads-up display uses Augmented Reality to superimpose sat-nav guidance marks onto the road.

A preset called e-Velocity is meant for cruising on good asphalt. Terra raises the ground clearance for some cross-country driving. Sand Vision improves visibility during sandstorms, and Elements Defy engages dedicated vibration motors to shake any remaining sand, dust or dirt off the body of the SUV.