Cadillac Opulent Velocity Imagines an Electric V-Series Hypercar

• There’s a whole lot going on with this Opulent Velocity design study that pushes Cadillac into what seems like 20 years in the future.

• The concept with butterfly doors poses the question: Why can’t a car be both opulent and really fast?

• The familial connection to the now-in-production Celestiq is unmistakable, with its loooong coupe-like profile and a roofline that gradually tapers to the rear.

Just a few weeks after Cadillac revealed the dramatic Sollei convertible concept version of its production $340,000 Celestiq uber-luxury hardtop four-seater, the General Motors premium brand is unveiling yet another concept during Monterey Car Week that explores the possibilities of a sleek battery-electric road hugger.

The Opulent Velocity concept (forgive the pretentious name with seven syllables) is positioned as a sort of Swiss Army knife that does it all. It can dominate at the track with crazy speed and handling—and then coddle its occupants with the most comfortable of rides, groundbreaking technology, and the finest of materials for a night on the town.

Shown today in Monterey at the Quail Motorsports Gathering, the Opulent Velocity concept represents the all-electric future of Cadillac’s V-Series cars, which first arrived 20 years ago and today pull in Cadillac’s youngest, most affluent college-educated buyers.

For these customers, the Opulent Velocity poses the question: Why can’t a car be both truly elegant and really fast?

There’s a whole lot going on with this design study that pushes Cadillac into what seems like 20 years in the future—from the body color front end bathed in ethereal lighting and the steeply raked rear window to the wafer-thin seats that appear to float and the artistically rendered brake and accelerator pedals. The butterfly doors are mildly interesting compared to the rest of it.

There’s no mistaking the Opulent Velocity is a concept in every sense of the word. Seatbelts? Maybe we won’t need them in a collision-free future.

And we don’t know the dimension of the massive rims (are they actually lit?), but we can see rubber that’s about as thick as veneer and maybe a half-inch of clearance to the encroaching wheel wells.

If this car is about velocity, it will need to be demonstrated on a chassis dyno. But we’re told it is indeed a running prototype, even though it looks like it still resides in a sketchbook. We see that it’s opulent, but we have no idea how fast it can go.

Sharing some of its dramatic form with the Buick Wildcat concept, the Opulent Velocity certainly looks sharp, with ground clearance of maybe four or five inches, and a roof so low that any adult could reach the center with a soapy sponge on car wash day. But just be careful of those delicate webbed vertical lightbars that appear to serve as headlamps.

As outrageously futuristic and impractical as the Opulent Velocity appears, the familial connection to the now-in-production Celestiq is unmistakable, with its loooong coupe-like profile and a roofline that gradually tapers to the rear.

But there’s a big difference at the front, where the Celestiq has a longer front overhang and a cowl that is pushed much further back than on the Opulent Velocity.

While the Celestiq uses GM’s multi-purpose Ultium EV battery architecture, the Opulent Velocity relies on a future iteration of the Ultium platform, the design team tells us.

Cadillac is positioning this concept as the ultimate expression of a zero-emission hypercar that will also take us beyond Super Cruise to deliver hands-free “Level 4 autonomous capability” and multi-sensory modes “accessible via a full widescreen display and augmented reality head-up display.”

And when you don’t want to be driven, you can hit the Opulent Velocity controller. “Once Velocity is activated, the steering wheel and pedals present themselves and the user is prompted to take hold of the wheel. The concept’s front seats saddle the cantilevered Y-shaped console and are mated directly to the door, this helps secure the driver for high-speed maneuvering.”

The exterior styling team took inspiration from the shape of Cadillac’s V-Series.R hybrid racecars. The Opulent Velocity is intelligent enough to “teach you the line on the track,” instead of learning it while following a pro.

The interior is crafted like a cocoon to keep the driver well planted during spirited driving while also allowing the occupant to relax and do other things when stuck in traffic as the car handles the navigation.

They call it a “2+2 coupe” although that backseat is really just a decorative bench that looks really uncomfortable. Why not just make it a two-seater?

Bryan Nesbitt, executive director for Global Cadillac Design, says the point was to create a concept that could be driven to work, even for a Starbucks drive-through along the way, and then driven to the track on Saturday, with flexibility “for a third person” to come along.

“Can we capture the best of all worlds,” Nesbitt says, “with exotic appeal but with some practicality and luxury and also perform on track? Is it a practical proposition?”

In the conceptual, future world where Nesbitt and his team are paid to live, yes, it’s possible. But practical?

The Opulent Velocity is alluring, but is this what Cadillac needs right now as it lags well behind the sales pace of BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Lexus?

Brandon Vivian, Cadillac’s executive chief engineer, says the goal is to elevate the brand and to earn the respect of luxury shoppers.

“Why not have a V-Series vehicle at this level to elevate what Cadillac means, while not abandoning the rest of the portfolio,” Vivian says. “It’s a halo for the rest of the products.”

Do you see aspects of the Opulent Velocity concept translating into any future production Cadillacs? Please comment below.