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The 2021 Cadillac Escalade's triple curved OLED screens are gorgeous

The centerpiece and crown jewel of the 2021 Cadillac Escalade is the triple OLED screen setup facing the passengers. It’s an imposing cowl with 38 inches of screen real estate in total, and itÂ’s a Cadillac Escalade-exclusive piece of technology. An interesting and unique feature like this has the potential to set Cadillac apart from the stiff competition in the luxury space.  Its appearance is just like that of the Cadillac Escala concept. We donÂ’t often get to see interior concepts carried into production, so thatÂ’s exciting on its own. The layout consists of a 16.9-inch touchscreen infotainment system, a 14.2-inch instrument cluster and a 7.2-inch touchscreen to the left of the cluster. All of the screens are curved and use OLED technology, which is commonly used on the screen of your Android phone, iPhone or TV. It allows for the deepest blacks, best contrast ratios and extremely vivid colors. In short, an OLED screen is going to look better than an LCD screen, and thatÂ’s why Cadillac is using it. We sat down with a few folks who could tell us more about it. Phil Kucera, Cadillac interior design manager, gave us some background on the decision to implement this tri-screen layout. “To be honest with you, it was a high-end leadership decision,” Kucera says. “There was a lot of, 'Hey maybe we donÂ’t put that on the base level. And why do you have to use OLED?' Because OLED is not the cheap way to go. So the fact that it stayed that size and remained OLED Â… I would bet that youÂ’re going to see other people doing something like this. There was a real push to try and get here first.” Sounds like the screen could have ultimately been a victim of cost-cutting measures. WeÂ’re glad it made it into production, because it looks promising. Sameer Gupta, GM's engineer manager responsible for infotainment, walked us through the new digital landscape. If you didnÂ’t like the old Cadillac software from before, youÂ’ll be happy to learn that this system is a completely new user interface, sharing nothing with any software before. Gupta told us that this is “a complete first-of use of this interface.” “When we started doing the system, we envisioned a system that had rich graphics, but was also simple and adaptive,” Gupta told us. After spending some time poking around in an Escalade, we can report that the new menus are full of rich graphics, pleasing animations and snappy transitions.

Combine a self-driving car with V2V, and here's what happens

Transportation engineers have started laying the groundwork for a traffic world in which cars communicate with other cars and infrastructure like bridges and traffic lights. How about an environment in which cars talk to pretty much everything and everyone? In a preview of its offerings at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show, Delphi Automotive will deploy just such a concept. Engineers have designed a system that communicates with traffic signals, street signs, pedestrians, cyclists, even to fry pits and parking garages along a driver's route. To date, engineers and researchers across the auto industry have focused on the technical and safety-oriented foundation of future vehicle-to-vehicle communications, which could help cars share information about everything from traffic tie-ups to upcoming road hazards. Beyond those building blocks, many have projected that V2V could also include more consumer-focused features. Delphi's system, dubbed V2Everything, might be the first that combines those sorts of features in a tangible package. At CES in Las Vegas, scheduled to begin the first week of January, company officials say they'll demonstrate in real-world conditions how V2V technology can be used in an autonomous vehicle to provide a range of critical safety information and leisure and convenience options for riders. The first V2V technology installed on a production car is slated to appear on the 2017 Cadillac CTS. "We imagine a world with zero traffic accidents," said Jeff Owens, Delphi's chief technology officer. "To get there, we will need a convergence of active safety, sensor fusion, connectivity platforms and advanced software." Such software might allow a vehicle to start searching for and reserving parking spots at a programmed destination long before arriving. It could allow riders to place their McDonald's drive-through order from the road and have the food ready for pickup along the route. For the drive itself, the Delphi-equipped car can stay updated on the status of traffic lights around Las Vegas, and can anticipate yellow and red lights. Using smart-phone technology, the car can detect pedestrians and cyclists that may otherwise be hard to see. It can send messages to friends or family to notify them of a driver's location. Some of those features have been available on third-party apps or individually developed by automakers. But this system marries them together in a single system that is tailored for use in self-driving cars.

Weekly Recap: 2016 CTS-V gives Cadillac new momentum for the new year

It's been a rough year for Cadillac. The historic luxury carmaker been in the news for all of the wrong reasons: Declining sales, ditching its advertising agency and the relocation of its headquarters from Detroit to New York. But in late December, Cadillac reminded everyone what it does best: Build some of the rawest and most compelling luxury sedans in the world, as evidenced by the 2016 CTS-V. This monster churns out 640 horsepower from a supercharged 6.2-liter V8. Sound familiar? That's the Corvette Z06 engine, and it makes this CTS the most powerful production Cadillac ever. It also puts the sporting divisions of the Germans on notice. The new CTS-V easily overpowers the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG S 4Matic and its 5.5-liter biturbo V8 rated at 577 hp, and the BMW M5 (with the competition pack) and its 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 that pushes out 575 hp. The rear-wheel drive Cadillac can sprint to 60 miles per hour in 3.7 seconds, which is close to the 3.5-second time turned in by the 4Matic-driven E63 S, and a bit quicker than the 4.1 seconds posted by the M5. With Magnetic Ride Control, General Motors' stout eight-speed automatic transmission (also used in the Corvette), Brembo brakes and a carbon-fiber option package that pretty much builds your car out of carbon fiber – it's clear this Cadillac means business. Truth be told, we expected this CTS-V to deliver. It's been a serious sports sedan for a decade, and the recent generation and its 556-hp arrogance have been particularly memorable. But notice what we're doing here? We're talking about product. Not who makes Cadillac's ads, or if the brand's headquarters has a mailing address in NYC. Like the 2016 ATS-V that's due in the spring, the debut of the 2016 CTS-V (on sale in late summer) is a shot in the arm for Cadillac, and its arrival comes during time of transition. The brand is trying to reinvent itself as a modern luxury maker. It wants new customers, a different image and obviously more sales. Those things are going to take time, but with a 640-hp sledgehammer of a sports sedan on tap for next year, Cadillac can still maintain some of its swagger through all of the change. Other News And Views 1984 Audi Sport Quattro heads for the auction block If you're into '80s rally cars, you're really a car person. But if you're into that stuff – and we are – this 1984 Audi Sport Quattro is sure to get your blood flowing.