Manoli Katakis 
Yesterday caught the world by surprise with a quick teaser video that confirmed the existence of the 2023 Cadillac Escalade-V. In the snippet, we got confirmation of a howling, growling, snarling supercharged V8 engine, promising the be the final say in regards to any and all three-row luxury utility vehicles, and the most powerful GM SUV with an engine. Today, we’re treated with the first official images of the Escalade-V, but the details stop short.
Cadillac has only released the following official information:
The 2023 Cadillac Escalade will be the first SUV to don the high-performance V-Series badge. With nearly two decades of racing-inspired prowess, the V-Series designation is reserved for vehicles that encompass the peak of Cadillac performance, bold, distinguished design, and innovative technology.
More information about the 2023 Cadillac Escalade V-Series, including full vehicle specs, will be revealed in spring 2022.
In a similar fashion, Chevrolet did this with the C8 Corvette Z06, where the world was shown a few pictures to confirm its existence, and left waiting in anticipation otherwise. But hey, we know what it looks like now.
2023 Cadillac Escalade-V: What The Photos Tell Us
You’ll need an eye for detail to tell the Cadillac Escalade-V apart from its brethren. For instance, it looks to be the same body style, width and length as the standard model. And it even looks like Cadillac left it out of the budget to change out the Bridgestone Alenza A/S 02 all season tires that are on the base model.
What we do see that’s different is the detail surrounding the LED “sideburns” on the front of the Cadillac Escalade-V – here in Infrared Tintcoat – are widened a bit, and even appear to act as functional air curtains for improved aerodynamics. The lower fascia opens up into a grille as well. And, if you look closely, you can spot the Lidar beacon for Super Cruise, suggesting that the Escalade-V gives up none of that semi-autonomous driving technology with its upgraded performance.
Out back we see the rear bumper redesigned to incorporate a very imposing set of exhaust tips, four of them if you can count. In between, a diffuser-style design detail similar to other V-Series Cadillacs. As for the wheels, there appears to be two different styles, and their smoked multi-spoke pattern appears unique to the Escalade-V, and they appear to be hiding a red set of Brembo performance brake pads.
As for the interior, we get a quick peak in the latest teaser video (embedded at the top of this article), showing a “V” badge at the bottom of the steering wheel, and a “V-Mode” digital display that emphasizes the tachometer. It’s likely that the color and trim patterns will be unique to the 2023 Cadillac Escalade-V, but we don’t really get to see what that looks like just yet.
Lastly, the body style in these official photos appear to be the standard wheelbase. Spy photos and videos have also pointed to the long-wheelbase ESV version of the Escalade-V, which means it’s configurable in two ways, like the standard model.
What Cadillac Hasn’t Confirmed Yet
With more details to come in the Spring, Cadillac won’t officially tell us everything about the 2023 Escalade-V just yet. But as the person who broke the news to the world back in 2019 that Cadillac was planning on this moment, I can tell you there’s a 6.2L LT4 V8 under the hood affixed to a 10-speed automatic transmission. This engine debuted in the late C7 Corvette Z06, and can still be found in the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing. Output range is expected to be between 640-668 horsepower. And while performance shops are sure to be chomping at the bits to tune one of these things, its Global B electrical architecture and encrypted engine and transmission control units will be major roadblocks for anybody who would make the attempt.
Long demanded by customers, pricing and production of the Escalade-V is TBD, but look for it to be the most expensive Escalade, most expensive Cadillac, and one of the most expensive GM vehicles that the automaker has yet to produce. And they’ll sell every single one of them.
Stay tuned for more details on the 2023 Cadillac Escalade-V in the coming weeks and months.
