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GM’s flagship Cadillac Celestiq luxury sedan spotted on the road

Credit: Cadillac

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The upcoming Cadillac Celestiq ultra-luxury vehicle was spotted on the road earlier yesterday.

According to Car and Driver, the anticipated Rolls-Royce competitor, the Cadillac Celestiq, was spotted on the road. The vehicle resembles previous graphic versions of the vehicle published earlier this month and only furthers Cadillac’s dedication to huge vehicles. The car is anticipated to have a ~$300,000 price tag and will be available for bespoke customer orders.

The Cadillac Celestiq is the brand’s new flagship vehicle, dedicated to a new level of luxury that hasn’t been occupied by General Motors previously. However, its level of luxury and sky-high price tag are not the only unique aspects of the vehicle.

The non-traditional hatchback shape, reminiscent of a very large Audi A7, is a body style that Cadillac hasn’t explored since the CTS-V Wagon they produced in 2014. Much of the same angular styling remains, and Cadillac’s dedication to enormous cars is again on full display.

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While the vehicle is hilariously attempting to hide under “camouflage,” it is clear from the other objects in the images that the vehicle is not only daunting and intimidating but incredibly large. Further, the blank rim protectors do little to hide the vehicle’s likely 23-24 inch wheels.

While few technical specifications are known about the vehicle yet, Cadillac has long been teasing the vehicle’s craftsmanship, use of rare and premium materials, and a premium suite of technology. Specifically, the brand’s previous interior pictures show a 2+2 seating arrangement, numerous interior screens for every passenger, and abundant leather work throughout the cabin. It is unclear what a production Celestiq will look like, as Cadillac has made it clear that customers will have significant freedom in design as they customize their vehicle.

Cadillac is quite serious about their new ultra-premium offering, so much so that they have dedicated an entirely new production facility exclusively for the vehicle. Yet it remains unclear if ultra-premium vehicles are the brand’s future direction as a whole, if other premium offerings will join Celestiq, or if this will remain a niche product of Cadillac. Nonetheless, this new product may offer fresh air to the brand that is now seeking to join the ever-competitive luxury EV space.

What do you think of the article? Do you have any comments, questions, or concerns? Shoot me an email at william@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @WilliamWritin. If you have news tips, email us at tips@teslarati.com!

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Will is an auto enthusiast, a gear head, and an EV enthusiast above all. From racing, to industry data, to the most advanced EV tech on earth, he now covers it at Teslarati.

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Tesla rolls out xAI’s Grok to vehicles across Europe

The initial rollout includes the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, France, Portugal, and Spain.

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Tesla is rolling out Grok to vehicles in Europe. The feature will initially launch in nine European territories.

In a post on X, the official Tesla Europe, Middle East & Africa account confirmed that Grok is coming to Teslas in Europe. The initial rollout includes the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, France, Portugal, and Spain, and additional markets are expected to be added later.

Grok allows drivers to ask questions using real-time information and interact hands-free while driving. According to Tesla’s support documentation, Grok can also initiate navigation commands, enabling users to search for destinations, discover points of interest, and adjust routes without touching the touchscreen, as per the feature’s official webpage.

The system offers selectable personalities, ranging from “Storyteller” to “Unhinged,” and is activated either through the App Launcher or by pressing and holding the steering wheel’s microphone button.

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Grok is currently available only on Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, and Cybertruck vehicles equipped with an AMD infotainment processor. Vehicles must be running software version 2025.26 or later, with navigation command support requiring version 2025.44.25 or newer.

Drivers must also have Premium Connectivity or a stable Wi-Fi connection to use the feature. Tesla notes that Grok does not currently replace standard voice commands for vehicle controls such as climate or media adjustments.

The company has stated that Grok interactions are processed securely by xAI and are not linked to individual drivers or vehicles. Users do not need a Grok account or subscription to enable the feature at this time as well.

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Tesla ends Full Self-Driving purchase option in the U.S.

In January, Musk announced that Tesla would remove the ability to purchase the suite outright for $8,000. This would give the vehicle Full Self-Driving for its entire lifespan, but Tesla intended to move away from it, for several reasons, one being that a tranche in the CEO’s pay package requires 10 million active subscriptions of FSD.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has officially ended the option to purchase the Full Self-Driving suite outright, a move that was announced for the United States market in January by CEO Elon Musk.

The driver assistance suite is now exclusively available in the U.S. as a subscription, which is currently priced at $99 per month.

Tesla moved away from the outright purchase option in an effort to move more people to the subscription program, but there are concerns over its current price and the potential for it to rise.

In January, Musk announced that Tesla would remove the ability to purchase the suite outright for $8,000. This would give the vehicle Full Self-Driving for its entire lifespan, but Tesla intended to move away from it, for several reasons, one being that a tranche in the CEO’s pay package requires 10 million active subscriptions of FSD.

Although Tesla moved back the deadline in other countries, it has now taken effect in the U.S. on Sunday morning. Tesla updated its website to reflect this:

There are still some concerns regarding its price, as $99 per month is not where many consumers are hoping to see the subscription price stay.

Musk has said that as capabilities improve, the price will go up, but it seems unlikely that 10 million drivers will want to pay an extra $100 every month for the capability, even if it is extremely useful.

Instead, many owners and fans of the company are calling for Tesla to offer a different type of pricing platform. This includes a tiered-system that would let owners pick and choose the features they would want for varying prices, or even a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual pricing option, which would incentivize longer-term purchasing.

Although Musk and other Tesla are aware of FSD’s capabilities and state is is worth much more than its current price, there could be some merit in the idea of offering a price for Supervised FSD and another price for Unsupervised FSD when it becomes available.

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Musk bankers looking to trim xAI debt after SpaceX merger: report

xAI has built up $18 billion in debt over the past few years, with some of this being attributed to the purchase of social media platform Twitter (now X) and the creation of the AI development company. A new financing deal would help trim some of the financial burden that is currently present ahead of the plan to take SpaceX public sometime this year.

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Credit: SpaceX

Elon Musk’s bankers are looking to trim the debt that xAI has taken on over the past few years, following the company’s merger with SpaceX, a new report from Bloomberg says.

xAI has built up $18 billion in debt over the past few years, with some of this being attributed to the purchase of social media platform Twitter (now X) and the creation of the AI development company. Bankers are trying to create some kind of financing plan that would trim “some of the heavy interest costs” that come with the debt.

The financing deal would help trim some of the financial burden that is currently present ahead of the plan to take SpaceX public sometime this year. Musk has essentially confirmed that SpaceX would be heading toward an IPO last month.

SpaceX IPO is coming, CEO Elon Musk confirms

The report indicates that Morgan Stanley is expected to take the leading role in any financing plan, citing people familiar with the matter. Morgan Stanley, along with Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase & Co., are all expected to be in the lineup of banks leading SpaceX’s potential IPO.

Since Musk acquired X, he has also had what Bloomberg says is a “mixed track record with debt markets.” Since purchasing X a few years ago with a $12.5 billion financing package, X pays “tens of millions in interest payments every month.”

That debt is held by Bank of America, Barclays, Mitsubishi, UFJ Financial, BNP Paribas SA, Mizuho, and Société Générale SA.

X merged with xAI last March, which brought the valuation to $45 billion, including the debt.

SpaceX announced the merger with xAI earlier this month, a major move in Musk’s plan to alleviate Earth of necessary data centers and replace them with orbital options that will be lower cost:

“In the long term, space-based AI is obviously the only way to scale. To harness even a millionth of our Sun’s energy would require over a million times more energy than our civilization currently uses! The only logical solution, therefore, is to transport these resource-intensive efforts to a location with vast power and space. I mean, space is called “space” for a reason.”

The merger has many advantages, but one of the most crucial is that it positions the now-merged companies to fund broader goals, fueled by revenue from the Starlink expansion, potential IPO, and AI-driven applications that could accelerate the development of lunar bases.

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