2025 Cadillac Celestiq

The 2025 Cadillac Celestiq is much more than just a luxury electric car. It’s a show of bravery, a bid to reclaim the ultra-luxury ground that was once Cadillac’s domain. Every one will be built by hand and appointed according to each buyer’s wishes.

Cadillac intends to go all-electric with its entire portfolio by 2030. General Motors (parent company of Cadillac, in case anyone has just landed on Earth) is putting $81 million into its Global Technical Center in Warren, Michigan. This is where the company plans to produce about 400 Celestiq cars a year.

No more than six models will be built simultaneously to ensure painstaking quality control and attention to detail. They’re assembled in a lab-like “clean room,” with access restricted to the artisans carrying out the work.

The Celestiq is all-new for 2025. We expected it to arrive in time for the 2024 model year, but that didn’t pan out. There’s new tech, new manufacturing techniques, new designs, and a fresh approach as the Celestiq launches into a whole different realm for modern-day Cadillac. The company has around 300 approved or patented technologies. It’s also using 3D-printed components, including interior handles and switches.

We expect the 2025 Cadillac Celestiq to start at around $340,000.

The final price for each car will vary because of the different choices in materials, colors, etc. Buyers are walked through the build and selection process by their Cadillac concierge.

North of $300,000 is a lot to most of us, but not crazy money in the context of hand-built luxury conveyances. For example, the all-new Rolls-Royce Spectre is that marque’s first all-electric car, and it’s unlikely that buyers will get any change back from $400,000. They’ll probably end up paying more, quite happily. So Cadillac has found a niche with its new Celestiq.

Nothing as expensive but still intriguing, the Lucid Air has a range of 520 miles and is a fraction of the Celestiq’s price.

Cadillac claims a zero-to-60 mph time of 3.8 seconds for the Celestiq. Pretty quick, but there are faster luxury electric cars. For instance, the Porsche Taycan Turbo S can do it in 2.6 seconds for a much lower price.

That’s not the route the Celestiq is taking, however. Even though it has all-wheel drive (AWD) for excellent grip and traction, all-wheel steering for enhanced agility, and a swift-acting adaptive suspension as standard, the Celestiq aims for effective and engaging — not necessarily a white-knuckle experience.

Like other electric cars, though, the Celestiq also offers one-pedal driving, from which the level of brake energy regeneration is strong enough to decelerate the car and even bring it to a complete halt. The driver just attenuates the accelerator pedal unless a more urgent stop is necessary.

For those times when driving is a bit of a chore, the Celestiq comes with Ultra Cruise, an evolution of Cadillac’s Super Cruise hands-free system, which goes beyond the 200,000 miles of major highways and can even negotiate tight turns.

Self-sealing tires made especially for this car by Michelin have foam inside to reduce road noise. The Celestiq also has next-generation active noise canceling to keep the cabin exceptionally quiet.

There’s no little center seat in the back, so the Celestiq offers abundant space for four, with equally abundant luxury details. For example, the wood trim on the door panels is perforated to show LED backlighting.

The dashboard is one full-width unit, measuring 55 inches diagonally, with two screens beneath the cover. The front passenger can watch a video, but the driver can’t see it and be distracted. The unit is adjusted by a crystal controller in the center console. Rear passengers each have their own 12.6-inch displays.

Buyers can choose pretty much whatever color scheme and materials they want, making every Celestiq a one-off.

The Celestiq is a full-size flagship sedan with dimensions similar to those of a Mercedes-Benz S-Class. To give an idea of scale, it runs on massive 23-inch alloy wheels.

The styling takes inspiration from various aspects of Cadillac’s heritage, including the work of architect Eero Saarinen. He designed the Global Technical Center, where the Celestiq is built, the TWA building at JFK airport, and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis.

The roof is made of a smart glass with Suspended Particle Device (SPD) technology. Four separate zones can go from transparent to opaque or points in between, dictated by the whim of the occupant sitting beneath. It also eliminates the need for a headliner, maximizing headroom.

Every metallic facet of the body is made of the real stuff, often brushed for a classy finish. There’s no chrome-effect plastic or anything along those lines.

Power-opening and closing doors mean no handles for aerodynamic efficiency and the happy by-product of looking cool. The tail also houses an active spoiler that rises automatically at highway speeds, then retracts when the Celestiq goes slower, which keeps the lines tidy. Another little interesting fact — the LED headlights each have 1.3 million pixels.

Google Built-In
This infotainment system includes Google Assistant for voice commands, Google Maps with real-time traffic updates, and Google Play for various apps.

Connected Cameras
A system of cameras and a smartphone app provide owners with crash recording and theft alerts as well as information about what’s going on inside the car and immediately outside.

Climate system
Thanks to advanced airflow technology, heated/cooled seats, heated armrests, and a “neck scarf” that supplies warm air, each of the four occupants in a Celestiq can have the climate of their choosing.

AKG audio system
AKG is a Grammy-winning Austrian company that makes, among other things, studio-quality microphones. It supplies a surround-sound system for the Celestiq with 38 speakers.

Remote Auto Parking
This is an entirely autonomous parking system for parallel and perpendicular spaces. The driver can stay inside or get out and watch it all happen. The system will also drive itself out of spaces.

Lighting choreography
When the driver approaches (with the key), the Cadillac crest in the grille lights up, and then the headlights illuminate—as if the machine has awoken and is ready for action. With more than 450 LEDs, the interior also has several lighting animations and the ability to have a different mood for each of the four occupant zones.

Two electric motors provide the new Celestiq with a form of all-wheel drive and a total output of 600 horsepower and 640 lb-ft of torque. It is not quite in the same ballpark as the 1,234-plus-horsepower Lucid Air Sapphire or the Plaid version of the Tesla Model S, yet it is considerable muscle nonetheless.

These motors are energized by a floor-mounted 111 kilowatt-hour (kWh) lithium-ion battery. Although 111 kWh may not mean much, that’s quite a hefty capacity at this point in contemporary battery technology.

Cadillac claims a full charge can provide a range of 300 miles. Other electric cars can go further, but this is still a useful distance. Connected to a DC fast charger, the battery can take on 78 miles of range in 10 minutes.

4-Year/50,000-Mile Warranty

Cadillac’s usual new-car and powertrain coverage lasts four years or 50,000 miles, whichever happens first. Electric vehicle batteries have a warranty of eight years or 100,000 miles. These terms are typical for the luxury sector.

Safety

At the time of compiling this review, Cadillac had yet to mention any specific safety features for the 2025 Celestiq. But it’s safe to assume there’s going to be something like the company’s Smart System, which includes forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking and pedestrian/cyclist detection, plus some acoustic alert at city speeds for other road users. Blind-spot monitoring with active steering input is another safety feature that should be standard in the Celestiq.