General Motors announced Thursday that it's investing $81 million into its Global Technical Center in Warren, Michigan to buy the necessary equipment to hand-build the Cadillac Celestiq EV. However, another notable aspect of this announcement may be the fact that the upcoming flagship electric sedan will reportedly boast more than 100 3D-printed parts—which is more than any other GM vehicle ever.
According to the company, some of the 3D-printed parts in the Celestiq will be of structural nature, while others purely cosmetic. Some will be made of polymer and others metal, but more importantly, it shows that Cadillac is willing to embrace new technologies and new manufacturing processes.
“Each [Celestiq] will be hand-built by an amazing team of craftspeople on our historic Technical Center campus, and today’s investment announcement emphasizes our commitment to delivering a world-class Cadillac with nothing but the best in craftsmanship, design, engineering, and technology," said GM President Mark Reuss.
GM also says the Celestiq is targeting the "ultra-luxury" market. Pair that with the whole hand-built thing and it doesn't sound like Caddy's big e-sedan will be very affordable or common. Like, well-into-the-six-figures, probably. Also interesting is the fact that the Celestiq will be the first production car to actually be assembled at the Global Technical Center, a facility that has been GM's central engineering and design hub since 1956.
Like the GMC Hummer EV and Lyriq crossover, the Celestiq will ride on GM's Ultium platform. Notable features will include a "four-quadrant, suspended-particle-device smart glass" roof as well as a "pillar-to-pillar freeform" dash display with "active privacy" to minimize driver distraction.
I've reached out to GM for more insight into what exactly Cadillac's hand-built process will entail here, and will update this story when I hear back.
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