Accelerate Mpls

While I have already posted my review, I wanted to share my quick video overview of the 2011 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid Platinum.

Full Disclosure- The review vehicle was provided by General Motors

Cadillac latest advertising campaign pegs the brand as “The New Standard of the World.” But are they really? Over the past 10 years, there is no question that they haven’t been. But do vehicles like the Cadillac Escalade Platinum stand to change that?

The Cadillac Escalade Platinum stands for all the right things at the wrong time. With 22″ wheels, three TV screens and a 6.0-Liter V8, the Escalade is what many would say is wrong with America. Wait a second, what’s this? It’s a hybrid!

GM launched its two-mode hybrid system in the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon full size SUVs. Both of those full size SUVs share the GMT-900 platform with the Cadillac Escalade, making an Escalade hybrid model a no brainer.

The exterior of the Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid and the GMC Yukon Hybrid both feature slightly tweaked exteriors for enhanced aerodynamics. The Escalade hybrid does not feature a different front end or body work, but the Platinum edition does.

The grille is an egg crate-like design that is more in-line with the rest of the Cadillac line-up. The headlights are fully LED with a unique design exclusive to the Platinum edition. I actually like the grille design on the Platinum better than the regular Escalade.

While the headlight design is certainly unique, I’m not sure if they are better or worse. The LED headlights flood the road with natural blueish white light. This clashes with the yellow light that hits the road from the halogen fog lights. I wish Cadillac has fitted LED lights in the fog lights along with the headlights. This would give the front end a much more cohesive look at night.

The Platinum also features 22″ chrome multi-spoke wheels which put the Escalade up in the air. To help get into this land barge you have automatic step bars. They deploy as soon as any of the doors open. Around back, the Escalade Platinum features all-LED lighting.

Visually the Escalade is already an in your face, over the top vehicle. The Platinum edition takes that all one step further and in reality it looks better than the regular Escalade in many regards.

The interior takes the regular Escalade to the next level. Everything is pretty much real wood, real aluminum or one of two different kinds of real wood. The doors and top of the dash are both wrapped in leather while the center stack and anything on the dash that isn’t wood is aluminum.

The steering wheel features a nice combination of all three materials. While the Platinum features a heated steering wheel, the Hybrid Platinum does not. Cadillac decided to forgo this feature due to the energy draw. Too bad, with aluminum and wood on the steering wheel, chilly doesn’t begin to describe the feeling in your hands when it is zero degrees outside.

The fist two rows are covered in a very nice aniline leather, while the third row settles for nuance leather. In all reality, both are very nice looking and feel great. As mentioned before, the Platinum Escalade features two different types of wood inside. Both olive ash and walnut burl adorn the dash with an intricate yet tasteful break to switch from one to the other.

The gauges are white with blue needles. Chrome surrounds the gauges, which I might have thought would be distracting in sunlight, but I am happy to report it is not.

Navigation is standard, though slightly dated. The system is DVD-based which means it is not instant when changing map views and such. The navigation system does have live traffic,which is provided by XM. The main navigation screen is also home to most of the settings, the sound system and the hybrid drivetrain graphic, which shows you where the power is being routed and from what source. The sound system is Bose branded and sounds alright, but it isn’t mind blowing by any means. The Harman Kardon and Pioneer sound systems that GM has been using in other vehicles sound better.

The Escalade Hybrid Platinum features a rear seat entertainment package. This consisted of not one or two, but three screens. Why three? Because this is the Platinum. Two of those screens are seven inches in dimater and are mounted in the front two headrests. The third screen is eight inches and drops down from the top of the Escalade. There were remotes and headphones galore.

If you haven’t already decided from the pictures and all the above, the interior of the Escalade Hybrid Platinum is definitely a nice place to both be for both the driver and passengers. I would go as far as to say, the interior of the Platinum is exactly what a Cadillac should be. Granted I would give it a technology update, but that is beside the point.

The Escalade Hybrid’s powertrain is a 6.0-liter Vortec V-8 with active fuel management paired to two 60 kilowatt electric motors. The power goes through a 2-mode transmission, which is essentially a four speed. Two speeds are for city speeds, while two speeds are for highway speeds. The cutoff is at 40 miles per hour for switching from city to highway mode.

I was highly impressed with the system. It is smooth and overall very seamless. During the week I had the Escalade Hybrid it was around zero degrees the entire time. This meant that the battery pack had to work harder to hold a charge.

The engine stop-start function didn’t really kick in until the vehicle and battery were both thoroughly warmed up. So short drives did not get the full benefit of the hybrid powertrain. When I had the Tahoe Hybrid it was spring and warm. I saw an average of 19.6 mpg in mixed urban/suburban driving. With the Escalade Hybrid Platinum I saw an average of 15.3 mpg. While the weather definitely impacted my mileage, this is better than the 12 mpg I probably would have seen with the non-hybrid version.

The Escalade Hybrid Platinum I had for a week had a sticker price of $89,090. That is a lot of coin for an SUV, or any vehicle for that matter. The Hybrid Platinum is the highest trim model of Escalade that you can purchase. Is it worth nearly $90,000? Probably not. Then again I wouldn’t spend nearly $90k for a BMW X6M either, and that has 555 horsepower. The price tag seems a bit unreasonable.

With all that said, this is absolutely without a question the nicest Cadillac Escalade available, and it is a little greener to boot. There is no question that the Hybrid is more fuel efficient, especially when it is not 0 degrees outside.

I’m going to stick with my statement from earlier, defining this vehicle as what a Cadillac should be. A really nice interior filled with leather, real metal and wood, and a powerful yet somewhat green powertrain. If Cadillac can build vehicles like this and push the boundaries of technology further, they might have a chance at yet again becoming the standard of the world.

Full Disclosure- The review vehicle was provided by General Motors

Spotted by none other than the great Mark Boyadjis in Columbia Heights, MN, this mid 90′s Chevrolet Silverado has a second generation Cadillac Escalade front clip grafted onto it. Paint is for suckers. Either the front clip is still just primed and not painted, or else the front clip is black and the donor truck is white. Either way it is hideous. For the awesome blend between luxury and redneck, the GM Escalado is the only way to go.

Thanks for the tip Mark.

You know what they say, money can’t buy happiness. Well, it seems sometimes it can come darn close. This short video shows how you can get peace and quite in your house with a simple purchase of one Cadillac Escalade. While I do not support or condone this type of gift, I can say, this is quite hilarious.

Source – YouTube

“Go big or go home.”  This saying was something I learned at a early age as ‘the American way.’ The American way has had many trends, and many of these trends move over to the auto industry.  The winds are changing at our doors again.

1984 Dodge Caravan

In 1984 Dodge introduced the world to the Dodge Caravan.  These were an instant success as they were a better option than driving around in a station wagon.  The concept of a minivan appealed to families hauling the kids with lots of gear.  With decent fuel economy and the ability to haul lots of people and luggage, it is no wonder why the minivan was a hit.  Once the initial fad wore off, the minivan started getting the soccer mom name plate.

1991 Ford Explorer

Once the minivan was no longer the ‘cool’ vehicle to be pulling up to soccer practice in, something had to took its place.  This was the birth of the SUV fad.  Having a vehicle that sat up higher made people feel like they were the king of the road.  The higher seating position and the four wheel drive capability gave people the sense of safety and security.  With poor fuel economy and un-necessary running costs for most people, the SUV was truly a symbol of what Americans thought they needed.

1999 Cadillac Escalade

In 1999, Ford’s premium brand, Lincoln, introduced the Navigator. The Navigator was essentially a rebadged Ford Expedition.  Sales were successful enough that General Motors felt it was necessary to rush something into production that would compete with the Cadillac badge.  General Motors immediately rebadged the GMC Yukon Denali to become what was known as the first generation Escalade.  This is when SUV’s became the status symbol in America.  It was no longer cool to just have a SUV. You needed a large, premium badged SUV.

Now we skip forward to last summer.  Gas prices hit an all time high in the U.S. and people stopped their love affair with SUV’s as quickly as it started.  People started switching the SUV status symbol to hybrids.  It is always amazing to see how short term American’s memories are.  Now that gas prices have gone down significantly from last summers, we are getting back into buying SUV’s.  That said, something else has happened since last year and it is larger then just the auto industry.  The economy has been hit hard and so have people’s pocket books.  This has hurt auto sales across the board. Everything from the Toyota Prius to the Chevrolet Suburban, no one was immune to the down turn.  Sales are starting to pick up again, and people are going back slowly.  The main factor seems to be that people still like SUV’s but they want them more fuel efficient.  The new 2010 Chevrolet Equinox is rated at 32mpg on the highway.  This is very good milage for a crossover SUV since the first SUV’s were averaging 17mpg on the highway.

It seems the tides have turned once again, and people are now in love with SUV’s and good fuel mileage.  The old adage “go big or go home” seems to have turned “go green or go home”.