Cadillac promised that it would be renewing its focus on technology when the brand revealed the Cadillac Celestiq. The Celestiq not only came with an all-electric powertrain, insane rarity, and Rolls-Royce levels of luxury but also new technology that aimed to push Cadillac and its buyers out of their comfort zones.

The brand is now pushing that envelope even further with the Elevated Velocity concept. This latest concept represents an evolution of the brand’s technology and it could also preview some of the features that might find their way into production bound vehicles.

Elevated Velocity is the sequel we wanted

The Elevated Velocity is a sequel to last year’s Opulent Velocity concept car but Cadillac chose to reflect the strong presence utility vehicles will have in its showrooms and chose to style it as an SUV. The front end and the accompanying grille panel share some similarities with the Lyriq but the look is more extreme with the large showcar wheels and tires maximizing visual presence.

The side profile shows off the gullwing doors and the rear gets taillights that look like inverted fins with the Elevated Velocity also using the same basic style as the Opulent Velocity when it comes to that particular feature. The SUV also has the ability to keep itself clean through a novel dust-phobic vibration feature.

Elevated Veocity’s technology will stir plenty of debate

The bulk of the concept’s details focus on the interior and there’s plenty to talk about when you have a moment to take a closer look. The cabin is adorned in red accents with red leather and bocule fabric being some of the materials used to provide plenty of visual pop. The Elevated Velocity also doesn’t come with traditional screens and that’s because the brand is attempting to research and find new ways of presenting information to drivers.

A controversial feature that’s found in the concept is a steering wheel mounted screen. These types of screens have been talked about by other automakers from time to time and it seems Cadillac is actively exploring the possibility of putting such a screen into a production vehicle.

This idea has many hurdles to overcome with the first major challenge being the airbag and how the screen can avoid injuring people if the airbag deployed in an accident. The other one is driver distraction and how they may take their eyes off the road to view a screen on the steering wheel for various data and other information. The U.S. Government will also have something to say about it too and it remains to be seen how it would pass legal muster (camera operated side view mirrors are still illegal after all.)

Let the computer take the wheel

The rest of the technology focuses on autonomous driving with the Elevated Velocity featuring a new “Elevate” mode that puts the computer in charge of the driving with the pedals actually retracting away from the driver. Terra is the off-road mode while Velocity and E-Velocity modes give the driver complete control of the vehicle and allow the concept to perform at its best in on-road driving.

While we would love to tell you about the performance hardware that’s paired to the latter two modes, Cadillac chose to withhold this information with the brand not even revealing things like acceleration times and breakover angle with the only confirmation being that the concept is an all-electric offering.

This makes sense since the brand is using this concept as a rolling showpiece but in an alternate universe where such constraints don’t exist, look for the EV components to be an upgraded version of GM’s Ultium platform.

When can I see it?

If you’re looking to get a glimpse of the Elevated Velocity it will be making its debut August 15th at the Quail during Monterey Car Week. Cadillac didn’t reveal if the concept will be making production but look for the brand to pay close attention to what potential customers have to say.

Customer input has motivated automakers to pivot from the classic “not for production” statement in the past and this might apply to some fo the proposed technology the concept is putting on display including the controversial steering wheel mounted screen.

In the meantime, Cadillac is also rolling out the “Curated by Cadillac” service for buyers who want custom features and hand painted colors for their vehicles. It’s limited to the CT5-V Blackwing for now, but this might change if Cadillac gets feedback from customers which might encourage the brand to expand it to future EV models.