1991 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz Coupe 2-door 4.9l on 2040-cars

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2019 Cadillac Escalade Sport Edition goes dark for the L.A. Auto Show

Cadillac is taking a shallow swing at the L.A. Auto Show, which might have something to do with the churn and burn happening at the brand and at parent General Motors. The Escalade Sport Edition brings its dark hue to the West Coast shindig, a touch of anti-flash that's actually a pinstripe job. For $2,700, it installs Gloss Black Ice chrome on the grille, rear fascia, window surrounds, and body side moldings, and the otherwise optional 22-inch Midnight Silver wheels. That's the whole show. Available on three of the Escalade's four trims — Luxury, Premium Luxury, and Platinum — brand president Steve Carlisle said the Sport Edition comes "in response to customer and dealer demand for a dark and aggressive look." The least expensive 2WD Luxury model starts at $84,790, including destination, with orders commencing at the beginning of next year. For all that the package isn't, it is still a better deal than buyers got ten years ago, when the 2007 Escalade offered a similarly thin Sport Edition for $4,890. There are a few small changes for the Escalade line overall for 2019. The exterior colors Midnight Sky Metallic and Dark Granite Metallic leave the palette list, making room for Manhattan Noir Metallic and Shadow Metallic to join the list. In back, there's a hands-free tailgate with a logo light, standard on all trims. The Escalade Sport Edition represents both a beginning and an end for the model. The fourth-generation Escalade went on sale in 2014 as a 2015 model, and this is the first special edition it gets. This could be the last, too, since the fourth-gen money machine we called "Old, but not antiquated" in our Driver's Notes last month is expected to give way to a fifth-generation for the 2020 model year. Related Video:

Cadillac imagines the future of luxury transportation with a drone and a pod

Besides more screens and electric cars, GM and Cadillac made sure to pay tribute to the other darlings of the tech industry: autonomous cars and drones. Both concepts take familiar ideas but add a touch of Cadillac flavor. And don't expect either of them to show up in reality anytime soon. The most fanciful of the two is the Cadillac VTOL concept, which stands for vertical takeoff and landing. It's a fully autonomous drone meant for shuttling people, likely wealthy executives, from rooftop to rooftop in busy cities. It's a single-occupant aircraft with a 90-kWh battery pack and is fully autonomous. It has four sets of two rotors that propel the drone to a top speed of 56 mph. The exterior is unique in having the front and rear sets of rotors at different heights, whereas most seem to have the cabin hanging from the rotors. You can spot some Cadillac cues in the beveled, angled edges. The other concept is the Personal Autonomous Vehicle or PAV. It's a fairly generic-looking autonomous pod with a pastiche of Cadillac design cues such as slim lights and angular trimmings. Cadillac says it's meant to be a social space, hence the wraparound bench seats in the cabin. Cadillac doesn't seem to have forgotten personal comfort, though, as you can spot a single-person recliner. Comfort is key, and Cadillac says the PAV would have biometric sensors to read the passengers and adjust the climate control, humidity, lighting and scents to make the the environment as pleasant as possible. Passengers will have control of vehicle functions via voice and gestures. At the end of theses vehicles' reveals, Cadillac teased more far-flung concepts coming soon. One of them will be a two-seat vehicle and mentioned that it would be for "you and someone very special" for more "intimate" trips. Related Video:

GM CEO Mary Barra predicts mass electrification will take decades

General Motors is allocating a substantial amount of money to the development of electric technology, but Mary Barra, the firm's CEO, conceded that battery-powered cars won't fully replace their gasoline-burning counterparts for several decades. She stressed the shift is ongoing, but she hinted it will be slower than many assume. "We believe the transition will happen over time," affirmed Barra on "Leadership Live with David Rubenstein," a talk show aired by Bloomberg Television. She added that not every car will be electric in 2040. "It will happen in a little bit longer period, but it will happen," she told the host. She was presumably talking about the United States market; the situation is markedly different in Europe and in China, where strict government regulations (and even stricter ones on the horizon) are accelerating the shift towards electric cars. On the surface, it doesn't look like General Motors has much invested in electrification; the only battery-powered model it sells in America in 2020 is the Chevrolet Bolt (pictured), which undeniably remains a niche vehicle. Sales totaled 16,418 units in 2019, meaning the Corvette beat it by about 1,500 sales. In comparison, Cadillac sold 35,424 examples of the aging last-generation Escalade during the same time period. And yet, the company isn't giving up. It has numerous electric models in the pipeline including a slightly larger version of the aforementioned Bolt, the much-hyped GMC Hummer pickup, and an electric crossover assigned to the Cadillac brand. These models (and others) will use the Ultium battery technology that General Motors is currently developing. Its engineers are also working on a modular platform capable of underpinning a wide variety of cars. Bringing these innovations to the market is a Herculean task. EVs may not take over for decades, but Barra and her team must believe their 2% market share will increase significantly in the coming years if they're approving these programs. Autonomous technology is even costlier, more complicated, and more time-consuming to develop. Barra nonetheless expects to see the first General Motors-built driverless vehicles on the road by 2025. "I definitely think it will happen within the next five years. Our Cruise team is continuing to develop technology so it's safer than a human driver. I think you'll see it clearly within five years," she said on the same talk show. Her statement is vague but realistic.