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As it prepares to launch the refreshed 2020 Cadillac XT5, Cadillac is hard at work on the next-generation of its popular crossover utility vehicle. In fact, the next-gen Cadillac XT5 could be the model that kicks off the EV onslaught as much for Cadillac, as for its parent company, based on Cadillac Society research and sources.

Setting The Stage

Official Cadillac representatives have stated on several occasions that Cadillac will spearhead the ambitious electric vehicle (EV) initiative planned by its parent company, General Motors. According to former Cadillac boss Johan de Nysschen, Cadillac will receive a “disproportionate share” of the 20 electric vehicles that the company will launch by 2023. Despite de Nysschen’s rather unexpected departure from Cadillac, those plans haven’t changed, as evidenced by recent comments by Cadillac and GM execs.

The timing for Cadillac EV onslaught can’t come at a more opportune time. Though electric vehicles represent a minuscule portion of overall automobile sales globally, the numbers are growing. In fact, some analysts are projecting that EV sales will begin to hit full force starting around 2023.

As Cadillac Society was first to report earlier this year, the next-gen Escalade will eventually derive a battery electric variant that is expect to deliver somewhere in the vicinity of 400 miles of driving range, with the next-gen Cadillac XT5 following as the luxury brand’s second BEV.

The Evidence

One of the primary signals that the second-generation Cadillac XT5 will star in the luxury automaker’s electrical offensive comes via official material from parent GM. The slide seen below, taken from a presentation to investors outlining the Cadillac parent firm’s strategy for its future EV platform, shows some of the vehicles that will be derived from the architecture.

The center of the diagram shows the term “Centroid Entries”, which represent the first models that the new EV platform, internally known as BEV3, will underpin. One of those two “Centroid Entries” is a “Lux 3 SUV”, which will be the “Lead entry” of the platform.

Here’s what all that actually means: the term Lux 3 SUV is internal Cadillac parlance that describes the luxury D-segment utility segment – the very same space currently occupied by the Cadillac XT5, while “lead entry”means that the model in question will be the first vehicle on the architecture.

It gets even better, since Cadillac leadership previously hinted at an electric XT5. During the 2018 Detroit Auto Show, de Nysschen told Bloomberg that one of the electric vehicles he envisions Cadillac having is “a five-passenger crossover sport utility like the current XT5.” It doesn’t get any clearer than that.

The Next-Gen XT5

According to Cadillac Society sources, the next-gen Cadillac XT5 is being planned for the 2022 calendar year as a 2023 model. This timeline coincides with previous statements by Cadillac parent, GM, in that it plans to complete development of the highly-modular EV platform by 2021. The majority of the vehicles that are planned to be based on the architecture are expected to launch around the 2022-2023 timeframe.

Our sources also tell us that the next-gen XT5 is tentatively planned to go into production in January 2022, that it is assigned program code 8DUL, and that it will be based on the new VSS-S platform (Vehicle Set Strategy – SUV).

In fact, Cadillac already gave us a glimpse of how the next-gen XT5 will look like in January 2019 with a concept EV crossover. Images of the vehicle, simply labeled as “Cadillac EV”, were shown during the Cadillac XT6 presentation at the 2019 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Cadillac never showed the physical concept car, but it has been showing the two images of the “Cadillac EV” at various auto shows around the world.

Look closely, the “Cadillac EV” concept seems to fit the bill for the next-gen Cadillac XT5, both in terms of its size and Cadillac styling direction.

Summing It All Up

Put all of the above together, and it becomes very clear that a future Cadillac SUV will be the first model to introduce the upcoming EV platform of the luxury brand’s parent company. The model will be positioned in the most popular luxury crossover segment in the world, and there’s a very good possibility that the vehicle in question will come to market as the second generation Cadillac XT5, or a variant thereof.

We’ll keep our ears to the ground and report as we learn more. In the meantime, be sure to subscribe to Cadillac Society for more Cadillac XT5 news and around-the-clock Cadillac news coverage.