Cadillac unveiled the all-new 2021 Escalade, completely redesigned with pioneering technologies that add new dimension to the iconic luxury SUV.
Featuring exclusive, first-to-market technology advances including a curved Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) screen, the first AKG automotive audio system and Cadillac’s acclaimed Super Cruise driver assistance technology, the fifth-generation of Cadillac’s flagship expands on its more than 20 years of segment-defining leadership.
“The 2021 Escalade takes its leadership into a new era of mobility, with comprehensive upgrades that are transformative to the driving experience,” said Carlisle, Cadillac president. ”It’s more than a new Escalade. It’s a new experience.”
Bold exterior and interior designs
The 2021 Escalade features OLED and camera technologies developed to enhance driver vision, while its signature design evolves and strengthens, with added layers of craftsmanship and unique appearances for Sport and Luxury models.
Escalade’s industry-first curved OLED display offers more than 38 inches of total diagonal display area, with twice the pixel density of a 4K television. The technology delivers bold imagery, perfect blacks and the largest color range of any automotive display in production today.
The system includes three screens: a 7.2-inch-diagonal touch control panel driver information center to the driver’s left, a 14.2-inch-diagonal cluster display behind the steering wheel and a 16.9-inch-diagonal Infotainment screen to the driver’s right. The OLED is paper-thin, and its curvature positions the displays for optimal visibility.
The Escalade incorporates several other advanced, vision-oriented features, including all-new, available Augmented Reality-enabled navigation, which uses live street views with directional overlays and more to enhance driving directions.
Be seen: Escalade presence
Escalade maintains Cadillac’s signature vertical lighting element, but the new interpretation adds a sleek, horizontal headlamp to reinforce a broad, confident stance. The tall, vertical, rear light signature continues but adds deep three-dimensional layers and finishes with detailed etching. Twenty-two-inch wheels are standard and strengthen Escalade’s bold appearance.
Escalade’s new interior design is heavily influenced by Cadillac’s Escala concept vehicle — a design that also debuted an OLED display — and breaks new ground with the first-ever Gideon Whisper Beige trim combination. This high-performance, high-fashion available interior is centered on a custom-woven fabric that adds a new level of style and ambience to the Escalade’s cabin.
The interior is further distinguished by no less than eight color and trim choices, which include unique seat designs, with custom perforation and quilting patterns.
Known worldwide for microphones and headphones used by leading musicians in recording studios and live venues, AKG has brought its audio technology to the auto industry for the first time, exclusively for Cadillac. The result is the Escalade’s available AKG Studio Reference system, 36 speakers powered by three amplifiers that deliver 28 channels, offering a listening experience that is astonishingly crisp and immersive.
Super Cruise
The 2021 Escalade enters the future of mobility as the first full-size SUV with Super Cruise driver assistance technology. It enables hands-free driving on more than 200,000 miles of compatible highways in the United States and Canada, using LiDAR map data, high-precision GPS, a state-of-the-art driver attention system and a network of cameras and radar sensors.
The 2021 Escalade features an enhanced Super Cruise system with several new features and improvements, including automated lane change. Automated lane change will allow the driver to direct the system to perform a single lane change using the turn signal to indicate the direction of the desired move.
Super Cruise’s driver attention system helps keep drivers engaged by detecting and signaling when drivers need to pay more attention to the road; and recent technology enhancements include dynamic lane offset, which can adjust the Escalade slightly over in its lane for driver comfort when other vehicles are passing in close proximity. Additionally, new messaging on the driver information center alerts drivers when Super Cruise may not be available in certain instances.
Power to move you
Confidence-inspiring performance remains a hallmark of the 2021 Escalade, with a new 6.2L V-8 engine offered as standard. With variable valve timing, stop/start and Dynamic Fuel Management technologies, it balances performance — 420 horsepower (313 kW) — with comparative efficiency.
For the first time ever, the Escalade is also offered with an available 3.0L turbo-diesel engine, which is designed to produce strong torque across the power band for confident performance and trailering capability. In fact, its 460 lb-ft (623 Nm) of peak torque matches the 6.2L V-8.
Both engines are matched with a 10-speed automatic transmission with electronic shift control; and a trailering package is standard on all models. An enhanced trailering experience is offered with the available Trailering Integration Package.
