in , ,

CADILLAC MAY GO ALL-ELECTRIC BY 2025, COULD AFFECT V-SERIES BLACKWING MODELS

The CT4-V And CT5-V Blackwing May Be Very Short Lived

CT5-V Blackwing
Image via Cadillac.

Big changes are coming to Cadillac. According to a report by Reuters, Cadillac is planning to go all-electric by 2025, aggressively chopping five years off their previous plan to be EV only by 2030. During today’s automotive industry conference with Barclays, GM CEO Mary Barra didn’t comment on the claim that Cadillac will will be all electric by 2025, but announced they will indeed speed up their EV plans, and introduce at least five new EVs before 2025. These include the Lyriq SUV, flagship Celestiq sedan, a full size SUV (likely an electric Escalade), crossovers and “low roof entries.” She didn’t deny it, however. For us car enthusiasts, that spells trouble for the upcoming Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing, which haven’t even been fully revealed yet.

But fear not, the historic American luxury brand has been busy teasing the magnesium wheels and carbon fiber bucket seats that will find their way into the posh performance V-Series machines. They’re well on their way. However, with this aggressive EV timeline, their lifecycles may be shortened.

Blackwing

Cadillac’s push towards EVs, and report that the brand will be all electric by 2025, has two likely outcomes. Both of which affect the inbound Blackwing performance models. First, they could really mean they are phasing out internal combustion powered vehicles completely by 2025, and will only sell customers an EV from then onward. By the time the CT4-V and CT5-V Blackwing go on sale, these high performance Cadillac sedans will have around four years before the switch to full EV could allegedly go into effect. Cadillac could use this to build additional hype, being the end of the road for gas powered V-Series cars with a short lifespan of under four years.

But more likely is a gradual transition, where Cadillac won’t reveal a new internal combustion vehicle from 2025 onward. This would allow current vehicles to run their life cycles, such as the Escalade. It’s a hot seller, and has only just been introduced on a gas and diesel oriented platform. It’s unlikely Cadillac will cancel the current gas powered Escalade in just four years. Then there’s the fact the infrastructure and entirety of Cadillac’s customer base probably won’t ready to go all in on EVs this soon.

This would leave the Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing to last the duration of their respective base sedans, possibly past 2025. But no matter what, expect these vehicles to be the last gas powered V-Series models, pending the supercharged Cadillac Escalade-V Blackwing in the works.

CT4-V Blackwing

This also won’t be the first time General Motors has pumped massive R&D into a project with little time to reap the rewards. The first use of the Blackwing name comes from the Blackwing V8 engine. It was supposed to be Cadillac’s new flagship engine, a twin turbo power plant with a dual overhead cam and “hot V” turbo architecture. It reportedly cost over $16 million to develop, but only ended up in a limited run of around 1,500 CT6-V sedans.

It’s clear Cadillac has big plans for their upcoming EV models, and they will soon push the gas powered models out of the lineup. But that shouldn’t come before we can enjoy the long awaited Blackwing sedans, which will be a proper sendoff to everything V has represented. After that, it’s unclear if the nameplate will continue as high-performance electric vehicles, or be shelved to the history books.

Cadillac V-Series Blackwing Logo

Written by Sam Krahn

Sam graduated with a communications Degree from Wayne State University, where he was also a member of the swim team. He's interested to see how new technology will affect the American performance vehicle landscape.

One Comment

Leave a Reply
  1. There will be V Series variants for future EV models. Does not make sense to discontinue because there are no ICE models.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

HUMMER EV SUV GM Barclays Automotive Conference Doug Parks

HUMMER EV SUV TEASED DURING BARCLAYS AUTO CONFERENCE PRESENTATION

Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392

JEEP WRANGLER: HALF-DOORS CONFIRMED FOR 2021