- Cadillac teases concept previewing V-Series design language
- Concept to be named Opulent Velocity
- All Cadillac V models to go electric
The era of manual transmission sport sedans from Cadillac is coming to a close as the American luxury brand teased what it calls the “Future of Zero Emissions Performance.” In a single teaser image, Cadillac showed the first look at a new electric concept car called Opulent Velocity. The car is meant to celebrate the past, present, and future of the V-Series performance brand.
“Opulent Velocity is designed to foreshadow a zero emissions expression of performance and modern luxury leadership,” said Bryan Nesbitt, executive director of Cadillac Global Design. “We will share more later this year, so stay tuned.”
The 2025 Cadillac CT5-V and CT5-V Blackwing models, which were just recently facelifted with updated styling and more technology, will be among the brand’s final gas-powered performance models. The CT4-V and CT4-V Blackwing models, as well as the Escalade-V, will soon be phased out to make way for EVs.
What Is Opulent Velocity?
Cadillac only showed a vague image of Opulent Velocity, but the flat face could indicate a crossover. This isn’t exactly shocking, considering that sedan sales are slowing around the world, although Cadillac has had recent success selling them. At the front is either a central emblem in the form of an illuminated Cadillac crest or perhaps even a headlight.
Whatever we’re looking at, it’s unlikely that Opulent Velocity will be a production-ready model and will instead be used to show off a future design direction for all of Cadillac’s electric V-Series models.
Given the car’s name and mission, we imagine it will be revealed at a prestigious event such as Monterey Car Week in August. Of course, Cadillac may choose to save some money by doing a virtual reveal on its own time, but that would not be in keeping with such a grandiose name.
What Will Happen To V?
General Motors hasn’t given many hints about what to expect from future electric V-Series models. Cadillac EVs like the Lyriq, Celestiq, Optiq, Vistiq, and Escalade IQ may all be eligible to receive the V treatment with more powerful electric motors and other performance upgrades. Names like Lyriq-V and Vistiq-V sound ok, but Escalade IQ-V seems a bit convoluted.
As for the Blackwing models, those already seemed out of place since neither of them actually had the OG Blackwing engine under the hood. It seems unlikely that Cadillac will continue to make them as EVs, at least not right away, but we’ll be able to make more accurate predictions once we see what direction the brand is taking with this new concept.