Cadillac Escalade electric: Tesla Killer!

[IdaX]

Uhoh the new Escalade is electric, and is being referred to as a Tesla Killer. They’ll sell maybe 20,000 a year with enormous 200kW-hr batteries. How is this going to kill Tesla — will they die laughing or something?

"2015 Cadillac Escalade Badge" by AlBargan is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.
Admin note: Image added for Blog Feed thumbnail

 

[Tam]

Uhoh the new Escalade is electric, and is being referred to as a Tesla Killer. They’ll sell maybe 20,000 a year with enormous 200kW-hr batteries. How is this going to kill Tesla — will they die laughing or something?

It's for a very affluent population:

VIP
status symbol
Those who got driven in a caravan with armed guards.
Limousine companies...

Those people have lots of money and a Tesla is just too small for them.

 

[The Lorax]

Mostly for government officials and celebrities to ride into town to attend a climate conference after landing their private jet.

 

[ewoodrick]

How do you get your brand, you car out in front of everyone?

You add the word Tesla to it.

They got you didn't they?

 

[kilpatds]

They made the Hummer EV. That's the platform.
Put a truck body on it (and decontent it): Silverado EV
Put a full sized luxury SUV body on it (and recontent it/change up the style): this.

I'm also expecting a Yukon version at some point?

It's a good platform, and if they can keep the prices down (200kWh battery says "ouch") I think they'll do ok.

 

[Tam]

They made the Hummer EV. That's the platform.
Put a truck body on it (and decontent it): Silverado EV
Put a full sized luxury SUV body on it (and recontent it/change up the style): this.

I'm also expecting a Yukon version at some point?

It's a good platform, and if they can keep the prices down (200kWh battery says "ouch") I think they'll do ok.

Tesla is starting to penetrate into some lower governmental departments like the police.

Cadillac Escalade is for a high-end market that Tesla currently has no chance to get a share of.

Higher government levels like FBI, Secret Service, and Presidential Convoy love Cadillac products.

They use a Cadillac platform and modify it into an armored vehicle such as "the Beast" for the US President.

Cadillac platform is also among the favorite to modify into a limousine.

The "killer" here is another totally different market for the rich and powerful that Tesla doesn't have a similar product to compete with.

 

[ChooseFreedom]

If you're going to bulletproof/convoy it, then it will need ALL of that 200kWh battery because that thing will weigh as much as a tank!
I pity the drivers. That thing will not be nimble. Forget about evasive maneuvers.

 

[tivoboy]

Probably will be the first FOUR TON Escalade (with occupants at least), let alone SUV… hopefully, they don’t crash into a civic.

 

[Abraham]

Don’t these things rollover easily? Model Y, X, or Cybertruck would be safer.

 

[zroger73]

Cadillac Escalade is for a high-end market that Tesla currently has no chance to get a share of.

I doubt Tesla wants a share of a market which comes across as the antithesis of what they stand for.

 

[ThomasD]

7 Top Secrets About ‘The Beast’ Presidential Limo

7 Top Secrets About ‘The Beast’ Presidential Limo

spyscape.com

 

[EbS-P]

I don’t see how they sell 20k a year units untill 2026 or 27. There will be other luxury options by that time. Maybe there will be some profit. But again at today’s prices we’re talking about 40k In batteries.

It’s not well engineered for efficiency if it needs a 200kwh battery. Buyers won’t care but fitting this product into an all electric production environment like Tesla has it will not benefit from economies of scale. Buyers at this income don’t care about price. So does price even matter?
They want a status symbol. Is Escalade still that? A model X certainly conveys a different image than an Escalade.

All electric extra large boxy SUVs will be a status symbol just because they are so inefficient as an EV and to be on par with an ICE counterpart will be more expensive.

 

[Midpack]

GM has such a good history with EVs, what’s not to like. How many Hummer EVs or Lyriqs have they sold now, at a loss? I assume GM will figure it out but they‘ve been wrong with every try so far…

 

[kpanda17]

We want EV adoption and it does not have to be a Tesla, I’m good with that.
If this EV Escalade moves those owners from ICE to EV, the S curve is working.
Good for GM

 

[doug]

This reminds me of a user we had back in 2012, @pguerra.
He was interested in the yet to deliver Model X, but was constantly asking how it would compare to his Hybrid Escalade.
Wonder if he'd get this EV Escalade.

 

[Midpack]

We want EV adoption and it does not have to be a Tesla, I’m good with that.
If this EV Escalade moves those owners from ICE to EV, the S curve is working.
Good for GM

I wasn't commenting on makes/models, just GM's failure to deliver on their most recent EVs. Lots of ads for VERY few vehicles anyone can actually buy or wants - my favorite is the Hummer EV sold 99 in Q1/22, 4 in Q4/22 and 2 in Q1/23.

 

[Konicom04]

If Cadillac is every bit same in car buying experience as what they did to me on the BlackWing, then they aren't any good at EV adopting, or any threat to Tesla ,

 

[kpanda17]

Think customers and Tesla are leading the causing the industry to evolve
Hence charging and customer buying experience

 

[zroger73]

Think customers and Tesla are leading the causing the industry to evolve
Hence charging and customer buying experience

Can you rephrase that please? This is how I read that.

 

[Konicom04]

Can you rephrase that please? This is how I read that.

View attachment 951801

incidentally - this is exactly what Mitsubishis look like these days