Cadillac is positioning itself as GM’s luxury EV brand, and has pledged to abandon internal combustion entirely by 2030. But that mission won’t stop Cadillac from getting as much bang as possible from high-output V8 combustion engines while it still can. We saw Cadillac unveil Blackwing versions of the CT4-V and CT5-V sedans earlier this year; now, it appears the Escalade may be about to join them.
The all-new Escalade already comes in combustion V8 and diesel forms, and an electric Escalade is rumored to be on the way. But as Car and Driver recently revealed, spy photographers have spotted what may be an upcoming V version of the Escalade testing, boasting quad tailpipes that look not-so-coincidentally like those found in the CT4-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing.
The Escalade V could come with the supercharged 6.2-liter V8 from the CT5-V Blackwing which puts out 668 horsepower and 659 lb-ft of torque. (Cadillac would presumably only offer the 10-speed automatic and not the six-speed manual, much as we’d like that.) Those power figures might sound like absolutely monstrous overkill — we’d be talking a nearly three-ton Escalade that could scoot from 0-60 mph in approximately four seconds — but then again, Mercedes-AMG has a comparable full-size 603-horsepower GLS 63 model that does that.
Leveling up the power for an Escalade V would also, one presumes, level up the price tag. But with the average Escalade buyer currently paying north of $100,000 for the current models and Cadillac moving them like crazy, the demand for a super-powerful performance version would probably be there.