It’s not easy styling a massive SUV, but Cadillac has continued its Y branding strategy, where it offers both a luxury and a sport version for each nameplate. The Luxury models have the expected chrome and other bright bits. Still, the bling factor has actually been dialled back, and the result is a more sophisticated look for a maturing vehicle.
The luxurious full-size SUV offers several industry-first technologies and features that stamp Cadillac’s authority on the segment, elevating the Escalade to new levels of segment leadership. The 2021 Cadillac Escalade features exclusive, first-to-market technology advances including a curved, 4K Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) screen and the industry-first AKG automotive audio system. But that’s just the start of the Escalade experience; the all-new 2021 model has also been completely revamped from the ground-up to deliver improved driving dynamics, more luxury and significantly greater passenger and cargo capacities than ever before.
Stunning Cabin Design
Escalade’s new interior design is heavily influenced by Cadillac’s Escala concept vehicle and breaks new ground with the first-ever Gideon Whisper Beige trim combination. This high-performance, high-fashion available interior is centred on a custom-woven fabric that adds a new level of style and ambience to the Escalade’s cabin.
The first-ever curved OLED display in the industry is the centrepiece of the interior, enabling designers to integrate and customize the entire environment, rather than simply inserting a standard rectangular screen into a conventional instrument panel. The result is a completely fresh, integrated cabin look that seamlessly blends the technology with handcrafted details.
A mix of electronic controls and physical switches offer the intuitive operation of vehicle features. The display includes touch-screen control for the centre display, while the interior also includes a full-feature rotary dial controller and steering wheel controls. Additional touches include stainless-steel speaker grilles, intricate piping on the door panels and ambient lighting with a wide range of colour choices. The interior is further distinguished by no less than eight-colour and trim choices, which include unique seat designs, with custom perforation and quilting patterns.
The 2021 Cadillac Escalade is also the biggest Escalade ever. It offers more room for passengers and their cargo. New architecture and new chassis technologies have significantly expanded interior space, offering 40 per cent more third-row legroom (34.9 inches / 886 mm) and a 68 per cent increase in maximum cargo space behind the third row (25.5 cubic feet / 722 litres) in the standard-length model. The Escalade ESV, on the other hand, is now the best in class for cargo space behind the first, second and third rows.
Tech Galore
Armed with industry-first features, the 2021 Cadillac Escalade delivers a driving experience to remember. The standard and available features enhance driver vision, while its signature design evolves and strengthens.
Escalade’s industry-first curved OLED display offers more than 38 inches of the total diagonal display area, with twice the pixel density of a 4K television. The technology delivers bold imagery, perfect blacks and the largest colour range of any automotive display in production today. The system includes three screens: a 7.2-inch-diagonal touch control panel driver information centre 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 4K OLED is paper-thin, and its curvature positions the displays for optimal visibility.
All-new, available Augmented Reality-enabled navigation, which uses live street views with directional overlays and more to enhance driving directions, coupled with Surround Vision, a standard feature that employs four exterior cameras to provide a 2-megapixel bird’s eye view of the scene around the vehicle, makes parking a cinch.
Furthermore, an available Trailering Integration Package, which offers up to nine camera views (including rear camera guidelines) to support easier hitching. The package also includes an integrated trailer brake controller and a trailering app that offers trailer profiles, tire pressure and temperature monitoring, and an Extended Side Blind Zone Alert.
A new rear-seat entertainment, meanwhile, features a pair of 12.6-inch-diagonal independent touch displays with navigation as well as the streaming capability to play games, music and videos through HDMI and USB inputs. The screens can also mirror Android smartphones. Additionally, destination “suggestions” can be “sent” by rear passengers to the front navigation screen, for the driver to accept or decline.
For music lovers, the 2021 Escalade offers the Industry-first AKG audio technology, led by a 36-speaker AKG Studio Reference system, along with Conversation Enhancement using microphones and AKG speakers for front- and rear-passenger communication. This is coupled with Intuitive audio navigation prompts indicating distance and direction instructions.
The available AKG Studio Reference system is part of Cadillac’s exclusive partnership with AKG, which brings professional studio sounds to the Escalade. In addition to its crisp sound output, AKG technology enables additional advanced features in the Escalade, including Studio 3D, Surround creating a professional-level sound through the multichannel audio system, with strategically placed speakers finely tuned to deliver sound like being with the artist in the recording studio. Additional speakers in the headliner help create a 360-degree immersive listening experience and Conversation Enhancement for front and rear passengers as their voices are captured by embedded microphones and reproduced in the designated zone using the 36-speaker system.
Safety First
Unsurprisingly, the 2021 Escalade is loaded with a plethora of standard and available active safety features to ensure safe progress for all occupants. These include Front and Rear Park Assist, Automatic Emergency Braking, Front Pedestrian Detection and Braking, Rear Pedestrian Detection, Safety Alert Seat, Forward Collision Alert, Adaptive Park Assist, Head-Up Display, Lane Keep Assist with Lane Departure Warning, Lane Change Alert with Side Blind Zone Alert, Rear Cross-Traffic Alert, Night Vision, Adaptive Cruise Control – Advanced, Enhanced Automatic Emergency Braking, Reverse Automatic Braking and Automatic Safety Belt Tightening.
These are just some of the technologies that constantly monitor the road conditions and traffic around the vehicle and alert the driver of an impending collision, and in certain cases, even avoid them, if the driver fails to react in time.
Leading the way with enhanced safety and connectivity, the 2021 Escalade will soon also be available in select countries within the GCC with OnStar – General Motor’s pioneering in-vehicle safety and security technology. Backed by the human touch, OnStar is a first-of-its-kind subscription service. It will provide Escalade owners with a more protected and connected ride, taking peace of mind and the ownership experience to a whole new level.
With OnStar, customers can rely on features including Automatic Crash Response – whereby in the event of a severe accident, built-in sensors in the Escalade will automatically send an alert to OnStar, and a live advisor is immediately connected ensuring the right help is on the way. Another feature is the Stolen Vehicle Assistance – working closely with authorities, an OnStar Advisor can help customers retrieve their Escalade, bringing the vehicle to an idle speed and with a remote ignition block signal, the engine can be prevented from turning back on again once it has been switched off.
But that’s not all; customers can also benefit from the OnStar ‘Connect’ subscription plan and take advantage of the innovation that makes their busy lives just that little bit easier. With services like the Remote Key, Fob customers can control their Escalade from anywhere, and On-Demand Diagnostics gives them the option to run a real-time check on their vehicle’s engine, transmission, antilock brakes etc. Also, keeping the driver and passengers connected and entertained at all times, the 2021 Escalade comes equipped with a Wi-Fi data plan which can support up to 7 devices.
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