Not much will make me haul my self to but checking out Cadillac’s new digs (and new concept EV at the GM Tech Center in Warren, Michigan was too interesting an invite to pass up. Cadillac showed off its charming luxury EV design concept on Friday to gathered journalist, the Cadillac Sollei. It’s a car that manages to be beautiful and playful at the same time—an ethos in short supply in the automotive world these days.
The company pulled the buttercream color straight from the archives to invoke a classic car feel, but the vehicle is far from stuck in the past. From a leather-like fabric made out of mycelium to its own set of bird calls for the birding-obsessed crowd, this concept is, finally, something fun in the automotive world. 2 / 15 You might notice there are no door handles on this concept.
Cadillac includes a small button on the top of the car that swings the door open or closed at a touch. 3 / 15 Cadillac displayed the Sollei concept at the Cadillac House at Vanderbilt on the GM Tech Center campus. The building was originally geared towards giving Celestiq customers a comfortable spot to design their new rides.
4 / 15 I just can’t get on board with these 23-inch aluminum wheels. Not only are they too busy for the car, but they’re huge! Just an eyesore on a really lovely automobile. 5 / 15 This yummy yellow leather covers almost every touchable surface.
6 / 15 It’s not just the grille that is firmly in Cadillac’s current design language. These cool wing brake lights, for instance, are lifted straight from the brand’s halo car, the Celestiq. All these familiar design cues certainly makes the Sollei look at least close to production ready.
7 / 15 I just dig these light blades. They’re sick. 8 / 15 The leather used inside the door pocket and in the pockets on the back of the seats was created by a company growing leather out of mycelium, of the root body of fungi.
That’s right, Cadillac made a beautiful luxury EV and said “what this thing needs is some mushroom leather.” It’s a fascinating material that feels quite close to actual hides. It certain does a better job than oil-based vegan leathers I’ve seen used.
9 / 15 The interior features the same 55-inch screens in the Escalade. The buttery yellow leather is perforated in such a way as to invoke sunbeams. It has an art deco quality I am famously a stone cold sucker for.
Almost everything else is wood or metal, as Cadillac is moving away from using oil-based plastics in its vehicle design as much as possible. 10 / 15 And from the driver’s angle! Unfortunately, because the vehicle was a concept car, we were unable to actually sit in it and get a feel from a driver’s point of view. It’s a little detail, but I love the lined windshield.
11 / 15 Cadillac used a variety of different woods to create the striped pattern, also meant to call to mind a sunbeam, throughout the cabin. 12 / 15 The center selector knob bears the Cadillac Goddess, and above the cup holders, are the silhouettes of three past Cadillacs, though the PR folks wanted us to figure out which. Any ideas, throw them in the comments.
13 / 15 The PR folks said there were a set of bird calls in the center console, as the kids love birding these days. But the real star of the show is this tiny bar. 14 / 15 The cute little glass has a cute little tray! Just no sudden stops.
15 / 15.
