News Roundup: 2024 Cadillac Celestiq, Lotus’ most powerful production car, and more

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Welcome to our roundup of the biggest breaking stories on Driving.ca from this past week. Get caught up and ready to get on with the weekend, because it’s hard keeping pace in a digital traffic jam.

Here’s what you missed while you were away.

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The Internet has a lot of feelings about the new Cadillac Celestiq

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Who knew an all-new Cadillac would be so polarizing? What’s that, everyone did? The 2024 Celestiq is GM’s all-electric luxury sedan with a brow-raising US$300,000 price tag (Canadian pricing is yet to be announced). It’s meant to be a direct competitor to Rolls-Royce’s Spectre, the fully electric super coupe, but People of the Internet aren’t so sure Caddy has hit the mark with this one. 

“Can Cadillac find a way to deliver a dealership experience that someone with Celestiq-level money expects?” mused one Twitter user. “They can’t allow this thing to be sold at Big Bob’s Chevy/GMC/Cadillac, right? Next to all those Malibus?” It’s a fair point and one that hopefully some customer experience execs are mulling over. Luckily, there’s time yet as vehicles won’t go into production until December 2023. Check out more Internet reactions to the Celestiq and let us know how you’re feeling about it in the comments. 

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Lotus takes title for most powerful production vehicle with special edition Evija

There’s a new top dog when it comes to production power, and it’s got a Lotus badge on the hood and batteries under the floor. The electric Evija, specifically the Emerson Fittipaldi special edition, has taken the crown of most powerful production car with its 2,011 horsepower and 1,256 lb-ft of torque. It’s quick, too. Go figure. The Evija guns to 100 km/h (62 mph) in under three seconds and keeps going for a total of nine seconds before it reaches 300 km/h (186 mph).

All that juice comes from a 93-kWh battery that should power the car for up to 400 km of “normal” driving (ie. not the sub-three-second sprint kind of driving), and will charge up to 80 per cent in just 18 minutes on a 350-kW DC fast-charger, according to its maker. 

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You can’t have one, though, as all eight of the special edition models honouring the 50th anniversary of late Brazilian F1 champ Emerson Fittipaldi crushing the 1972 race season have been sold. Check out the full report here to see exactly what you missed. 

Mopar markets US$199,000 Hellcat-powered, carbon-fibre 1970 Dodge Charger

Mopar has licenced a lightweight, high-power 1970 Charger body dreamed up true-to-spec and in carbon fibre by Oklahoma-based builder Final Speed. The muscle car, which is Final Speed’s first project, starts at US$199,000 and includes a 6.2L Hellcat crate engine underneath the autoclave-cured finish. Add US$20,000 if you want a clear-coat, and another US$12,500 if you fancy three-piece Forgeline wheels and tires. Buyers will also decide whether to fit it with a manual or automatic transmission. 

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The chassis comes with Mopar-certified inner metal panels and a driveshaft safety loop, plus a floor in carbon fibre and modern disc brakes and coil-over suspension. If you’re not into the whole kit and caboodle, but wouldn’t mind some carbon fibre finishes on your custom vintage Charger, Final Speed also offers individual parts in the lightweight material. 

Rumours about Mazda bringing its 3.3L I6 hybrid to Canada

The rumour mill is churning this week with talk of Mazda launching its 3.3L I6 in Canada. Apparently, bigwigs at the Japanese automaker mentioned it during a conference where they were announcing the new CX-60 crossover (which isn’t coming to Canada, womp womp). Still the 3.3L turbocharged inline-six with 48V mild-hybrid technology and rear-wheel drive could eventually make its way here… emphasis on eventually. 

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No specific timeline has been given and overall details, including which vehicles it could be fitted to remain fuzzy. Educated guessers might land on the forthcoming CX-90 and CX-70 crossovers as likely hosts for the powertrain, but the best they can do is hypothesize. Regardless, long live the Zoom Zoom.

Hyundai oil pump issues lead to 53,000-vehicle recall

Six nameplates, 53,142 vehicles, one issue: a faulty oil pump. That’s the summary of Hyundai’s latest drama, a recall reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that impacts vehicles equipped with an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. The affected vehicles are the 2022 Hyundai Elantra N, 2022 Hyundai Kona N, 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz, 2021-2022 Hyundai Santa Fe, 2021-2022 Hyundai Sonata, and 2021-2022 Hyundai Veloster N. 

Reports detail how some vehicles may enter a forced “fail-safe” mode with limited mobility and eventually a complete loss of power if a high-pressure electric oil pump in transmission experiences an error. Obviously, if said loss of power occurs when the vehicle is at speed, drivers and passengers may find themselves in a dangerous situation. Transport Canada says some 8,719 Hyundai vehicles are included in the recall, including the 2021 Kona N. You can check the details at its site under the recall number 2022-568.