As it prepares to launch the refreshed 2020 Cadillac XT5, Cadillac is hard at work on the next-generation of its popular crossover utility vehicle. In fact, the next-gen Cadillac XT5 could be the model that kicks off the EV onslaught as much for Cadillac, as for its parent company, based on Cadillac Society research and sources.
2020 Cadillac XT5 refresh
Setting The Stage
Official Cadillac representatives have stated on several occasions that Cadillac will spearhead the ambitious electric vehicle (EV) initiative planned by its parent company, General Motors. According to former Cadillac boss Johan de Nysschen, Cadillac will receive a “disproportionate share” of the 20 electric vehicles that the company will launch by 2023. Despite de Nysschen’s rather unexpected departure from Cadillac, those plans haven’t changed, as evidenced by recent comments by Cadillac and GM execs.
2020 Cadillac XT5 refresh
The timing for Cadillac EV onslaught can’t come at a more opportune time. Though electric vehicles represent a minuscule portion of overall automobile sales globally, the numbers are growing. In fact, some analysts are projecting that EV sales will begin to hit full force starting around 2023.
As Cadillac Society was first to report earlier this year, the next-gen Escalade will eventually derive a battery electric variant that is expect to deliver somewhere in the vicinity of 400 miles of driving range, with the next-gen Cadillac XT5 following as the luxury brand’s second BEV.
The Evidence
One of the primary signals that the second-generation Cadillac XT5 will star in the luxury automaker’s electrical offensive comes via official material from parent GM. The slide seen below, taken from a presentation to investors outlining the Cadillac parent firm’s strategy for its future EV platform, shows some of the vehicles that will be derived from the architecture.
GM Future Electric Vehicle Platform roadmap presented at the Barclays Global Auto Conference in November 2017
The center of the diagram shows the term “Centroid Entries”, which represent the first models that the new EV platform, internally known as BEV3, will underpin. One of those two “Centroid Entries” is a “Lux 3 SUV”, which will be the “Lead entry” of the platform.
Here’s what all that actually means: the term Lux 3 SUV is internal Cadillac parlance that describes the luxury D-segment utility segment – the very same space currently occupied by the Cadillac XT5, while “lead entry”means that the model in question will be the first vehicle on the architecture.
The positioning of the current Cadillac XT5 as Lux SUV-3 (left) vs. description of the future Lux SUV EV (right)
It gets even better, since Cadillac leadership previously hinted at an electric XT5. During the 2018 Detroit Auto Show, de Nysschen told Bloomberg that one of the electric vehicles he envisions Cadillac having is “a five-passenger crossover sport utility like the current XT5.” It doesn’t get any clearer than that.
The Next-Gen XT5
According to Cadillac Society sources, the next-gen Cadillac XT5 is being planned for the 2022 calendar year as a 2023 model. This timeline coincides with previous statements by Cadillac parent, GM, in that it plans to complete development of the highly-modular EV platform by 2021. The majority of the vehicles that are planned to be based on the architecture are expected to launch around the 2022-2023 timeframe.
Our sources also tell us that the next-gen XT5 is tentatively planned to go into production in January 2022, that it is assigned program code 8DUL, and that it will be based on the new VSS-S platform (Vehicle Set Strategy – SUV).
“Cadillac EV” concept vehicle
In fact, Cadillac already gave us a glimpse of how the next-gen XT5 will look like in January 2019 with a concept EV crossover. Images of the vehicle, simply labeled as “Cadillac EV”, were shown during the Cadillac XT6 presentation at the 2019 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Cadillac never showed the physical concept car, but it has been showing the two images of the “Cadillac EV” at various auto shows around the world.
Look closely, the “Cadillac EV” concept seems to fit the bill for the next-gen Cadillac XT5, both in terms of its size and Cadillac styling direction.
A Cadillac CT6 PHEV charging at a media drive
Summing It All Up
Put all of the above together, and it becomes very clear that a future Cadillac SUV will be the first model to introduce the upcoming EV platform of the luxury brand’s parent company. The model will be positioned in the most popular luxury crossover segment in the world, and there’s a very good possibility that the vehicle in question will come to market as the second generation Cadillac XT5, or a variant thereof.
We’ll keep our ears to the ground and report as we learn more. In the meantime, be sure to subscribe to Cadillac Society for more Cadillac XT5 news and around-the-clock Cadillac news coverage.
Johnls_39
So does the VSS-S platform for CUVs only will configure FWD, RWD & AWD? It should since it is a modular platform.
Alex Luft
Stay tuned. We’re working on a report on this very topic.
Greg
Thanks. I’ve been wondering about the upcoming modular platforms. I look forward to reading the report.
Do you know what GM vehicle will be built using the VSS-_ platform?
Greg
I meant to ask what the FIRST GM vehicle would use the new platform.
John Engelman
1st: I have no interest in any of this, I will never own an electric automobile.
2nd: The 1st 2 vehicles that were suppose to use the SSV platform were the CT4, and CT5, but that was not the case. The next generation Escalade is suppose to. The Escala, if it is still a go, is suppose to use an SSV variant of the Omega.
What is GM/Cadillac’s planned product lineup beyond the 2021 Escalade? My understanding was that we were suppose to see a new vehicle launch every six months from 2019, through 2022. So far it has only been the XT6, CT4, and CT5. Anything CT6 doesn’t count, since it was launched in 2016. The XT4, and XT5 also do not apply since they were ruled out previously by GM brass, and the all electric SUV is beyond the original time line
Soooo, what’s coming after the CT5? There should be at least 6 vehicles in all.
Keep in mind that GM/Cadillac has killed the ATS, CTS, XTS, and the jury is still out on the CT6…..sad.
Greg
No interest? Then why post?
Where did you read that the CT4 and CT5 were to ride on the new VSS platform? That doesn’t make any sense.
Why is Cadillac obliged to tell the world what their product plans are?
Raymond Ramirez
Take out the battery, starter, alternator, computers, displays, and all the wiring of your present vehicles so they will not be any “electric automobile”. Or even better, remove the battery of all your electronic devices, and install gasoline powered engines in them! You have become obsolete by rejecting any thing with electricity. And last, you can dump your whole body since all the atoms in it uses electricity!
Alex Luft
The first-gen CT4 and CT5 were never planned to use VSS of any kind… whether it’s VSS-R or VSS-S, F, or T. The 2020 CT4 and CT5 were always set to ride on Alpha.
Here the cadence:
1. XT4
2. XT6
3. CT4
4. CT5
5. Escalade
That leaves one more as part of the promised six vehicles by 2022 timeframe, and it could very well be the next-gen XT5 and the electric model or variant described in this article.