The new Cadillac Escalade IQ rides on the Ultium platform from General Motors. It uses two electric motors powered by a monstrous battery pack. It boasts a 55-inch display screen that, for all intents and purposes, is the dash. It’s about as modern a vehicle as you’ll find in the halls of GM, but when it eventually goes on sale later in 2024, you won’t find a feature offered for free on the most inexpensive economy cars.
Of course, we’re talking about Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Lest we forget, GM announced in March 2023 that its future EVs wouldn’t have compatibility for this extremely popular item. The reason as stated by the automaker was one of complexity. In short, GM feels its advancing tech for EVs will be best served using an in-house interface instead of handing control to Apple or Android systems. The automaker will develop its Google-based Ultifi tech to be the sole interface between driver, passengers, and vehicle apps.
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“As we scale our EVs and launch our Ultifi software platform, we can do more than ever before with in-vehicle technologies and over-the-air updates,” said GM Chief Digital Officer Edward Kummer. “All of this is allowing us to constantly improve the customer experience we can offer across our brands.”
To say GM has faced some pushback on this decision is an understatement. Insideevs readers flooded the comments on our news post expressing displeasure, stating things like “seems a good way to alienate customers” and “this is an absolutely horrible idea.” Automakers have also made thinly veiled jabs towards GM in the months following the announcement, such as Ford CEO Jim Farley stating that 70 percent of Ford customers used Apple or Android, and that cutting it wouldn’t be customer-centric.
Curiously, GM’s decision to cut the popular feature is – for now at least – relegated to EVs. In an email to Motor1.com, a spokesperson confirmed this while further clarifying that there would be no differences in functionality between advanced driver-assist systems offered in EV and ICE models. GM also stated that, while Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality is blocked, people will still be able to pair their phones to the vehicle for calls, messaging, and music.
As for the Cadillac Escalade IQ, the large SUV will have a starting price in the neighborhood of $130,000 when it enters production in the summer of 2024. Full details on all its tech systems, including the user interface to access them, will be detailed closer to its on-sale date.
