On our wishlist: An ‘Extreme’ Cadillac electric pickup truck

GM Design maintains an active Instagram account, regularly sharing sketches and renders created by its designers. These proposals aren’t actual projects, and more like ‘what ifs.’ An example is a picture of an unmarked model that appears to be a Cadillac EV pickup truck from late-2020, which even fueled media speculation about a working man’s Cadillac!

An Apocalyptic electric truck from Cadillac!

Created by Cadillac Exterior Designer Andrew McMillan, the Cadillac EV pickup truck, as the caption describes, looks mean. It resembles the Tesla Cybertruck, but is more conventional, which the Cadillac fanbase might find easier to digest!

The Cadillac EV pickup truck features a familiar grille and light design, and it is typically sharp with a chiselled look. However many elements such as the lamps, the windshield and the mirrors exude more aggression than the Cadillacs on sale today. The headlights are just vertical LED stripes with a blue hue, and their minimal form factor leaves space for air inlets unusually high up. The windshield is quite rakish, but not at odd levels, while the mirrors are slim-profile horizontal ones. The hood is quite high up, and there’s ample ground clearance suggesting off-roading capabilities.

A Cadillac truck with GMC sensibilities?

GM Design’s official Instagram handle shared a sketch (Instagram link) made by Benjamin Zavala, an automotive designer working for the American brand for the past decade, on March 13, 2023. Zavala’s render portrays a modern and muscular design that sits on butch-looking wheels with deep wheel arches and flared fenders, and it could either be a GMC or a Cadillac electric truck.

The sketch also shows the electric truck boasting a high ground clearance, short overhangs, and what appears to be a reinforced front bumper with underbody protection – welcome features for some off-road adventures. On the styling front, the electric pickup gets large but split LED headlights with two vertical & two horizontal elements, a brawny-looking hood, and an enclosed three-slatted grille – an EV design trademark. C-shaped LED taillights hug the outer edges at the back, with the dual-cab truck sporting a flat roof and stylish-looking rear windows.

GMC can, but it likely won’t do an electric truck model

With the power of the Ultium and the BEV3 platform, theoretically, GMC can develop an electric pickup truck. However, it depends on where the company wants to position the brand, what its consumers demand, and how they perceive the brand.

One of Mercedes’ biggest failures in recent years has been its X-Class, proving that less is sometimes more when it comes to product lines. With swanky new urban products like the Cadillac Lyriq electric SUV elevating the brand’s status and making it more relevant globally, GM might want to expand by taking calculated risks. The Cadillac pickup doesn’t feel like one.