2008 Cadillac Escalade $15.500 on 2040-cars

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GM to announce second U.S. battery plant, in Tennessee, with LG Chem, sources say

General Motors and South Korean joint-venture partner LG Chem will announce a second U.S. battery cell manufacturing plant on Friday, revealing plans for a $2.3 billion factory in Spring Hill, Tennessee, three people familiar with the matter said. The plant will use a different, more cost-effective battery chemistry than the one the companies will offer from the joint-venture plant they are building in Lordstown, Ohio, the sources said on Wednesday. The battery will be for the Cadillac Lyriq electric crossover vehicle that GM will begin building at its nearby Spring Hill assembly plant next year, the sources said. The timing of the Tennessee battery plant's opening is unclear, but there will be a period when the battery is supplied for the Lyriq by another LG facility until the Tennessee plant opens and it will not come from Lordstown, one of the sources said. GM would not confirm the details and declined further comment, and a spokesman for LG did not have an immediate comment. A Tennessee economic development spokeswoman also declined to comment. The No. 1 U.S. automaker previously said it was exploring the feasibility of another U.S. battery cell plant with LG's battery unit, LG Energy Solution, via its Ultium Cells LLC joint venture. Sources previously told Reuters that GM and LG Chem were in advanced talks with Tennessee officials, and that the plant there would be similar in scope to the $2.3 billion Lordstown plant. GM said in October it would invest $2 billion in Spring Hill to build EVs. The Detroit automaker said last year it was investing $27 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles over the next five years. Sources previously said GM would need more battery plants beyond the Tennessee one to meet aggressive EV targets. GM has set a target in January of halting sales of light-duty gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles by 2035. LG Energy said last month it planned to invest more than $4.5 billion in U.S. battery production over the next four years, including plans to build at least two new plants. LG had been embroiled in a high-profile dispute with rival South Korean firm SK Innovation in the United States after LG alleged SK stole trade secrets, but the companies settled that and other disputes with SK agreeing to pay $1.8 billion to LG. (Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Ben Klayman in Detroit; Editing by Matthew Lewis) Related Video:

Here's how Cadillac made its Magnetic Ride Control suspension quicker and smarter

Bugatti makes the world's fastest car, but Cadillac claims it has developed the world's fastest suspension. Its fourth-generation Magnetic Ride Control technology receives hardware and software tweaks to deliver a more comfortable ride and sharper handling. It's offered on some variants of the CT4, CT5 and the Escalade. Introduced in 2002 on the Seville STS, this self-adjusting suspension is not as complicated as it might sound. It relies primarily on electromagnets that emit a magnetic field, and a magnetorheological fluid whose viscosity changes depending on the strength of the magnetic force. Sensors scan the road up to 1,000 times per second and send the information they gather to the electromagnets, which then alter their magnetic field as needed to modify the fluid's viscosity. The fluid is in the shocks, so making it thicker returns a firmer ride, and vice versa. In simpler terms, Magnetic Ride Control leverages chemistry and physics to make the ride sporty, comfortable, or somewhere in between -- all in the blink of an eye. By reacting to the changing magnetic field, the fluid-filled shocks filter out road imperfections and maximize tire contact with the road to deliver more precise handling. Cadillac began developing the fourth-generation system by improving the hardware. The in-wheel accelerometers are more accurate than before, the inertial measurement unit is more precise, and the damper fluid formula was changed for quicker response times and a smoother ride. Engineers then turned their attention to the system's software. They notably gave the sensors the ability to process a wider selection of input and output signals, which translates to a wider spread between comfort and sport. And, they made the response time up to 45-percent quicker. All told, the fourth-generation Magnetic Ride Control technology performs better under heavy braking and hard cornering, it delivers more consistent performance, and it reads the road more accurately. Cadillac proudly notes these are the most comprehensive updates it has made to the system in nearly two decades. Magnetic Ride Control comes standard on the 2021 CT4-V and the 2021 CT5-V, and it's bundled into the CT5's V Performance package, which also includes a mechanical limited-slip differential. It's also standard on the Sport and Platinum variants of the 2021 Escalade, and it's part of the Premium Luxury trim's Performance package.

Cadillac CT6 loses the entry-level 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder

General Motors continues its engine rationalization among product lines. A few days after Chevrolet dropped the old-generation LTG 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder from the Traverse, Cadillac has jettisoned the new-gen LSY 2.0-liter turbo four from the CT6 range. Given a look at the dealer ordering system, Cadillac Society said the 2.0-liter option shows "built out" or "no longer available," and the online configurator at the Cadillac site confirms the omission. The retired engine can be had in the XT4 crossover, rated at the same 237 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. This means a couple of things for the big sedan. The CT6 entry price was $50,495 before destination, but fitted with the now-base 3.6-liter six-cylinder, the entry price has gone up to $55,495. The other change is that rear-wheel drive is no longer available; the three remaining engine choices come with all-wheel drive. Those engines are the NA 3.6-liter V6 with 335 hp and 284 lb-ft of torque, a 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 with 404 hp and 400 lb-ft, and coming in a few months, the detuned 4.2-liter Blackwing twin-turbo V8 with 500 hp and 574 lb-ft, down from 550 hp and 627 lb-ft. Cadillac Society thinks one of the possibilities for making the move could be that GM is having a hard time meeting demand for the 2.0-liter. That might be, but we think no matter the reason, the result puts more logical pricing between the midsize CTS/CT5 and the full-size luxury flagship. We don't know how Cadillac will price the coming CT5, but there's now an $8,005 difference between the CTS and the CT6, instead of the $4,000 gap when the 2.0-liter was a CT6 option. Mercedes-Benz, for instance, puts a $12,000 gap between the C-Class and the E-Class, a $38,000 gulf between the E-Class and the S-Class. There's a $19,000 difference between an Audi A4 and A6, a $25,000 difference between an A6 and an A8. It isn't clear if this will affect every other market where the CT6 is sold. The Canadian, Mexican, and French Cadillac site configurators don't list the 2.0-liter turbo, but the Chinese Cadillac site does.