Base 4x4
2011 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid
Revisiting A Green-Tinged Guilty Pleasure 2011 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid Platinum - Click above for high-res image gallery Your smug neighbors clean their clothes with Method laundry detergent, they've laid down cork flooring on their first floor and they have organic cotton shower curtains hanging in all four of their bathrooms. Driveways around the country are filled with neighbors swapping prideful mile-per-gallon figures instead of Junior's latest little league stats. Yet we fear that the term "green" gets tossed around far too easily these days. We see hybrids and electrics all around us, but most aren't designed to compete against the green yardstick that is the Toyota Prius. The 2011 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid, for example, relies on similar tech, yet it's effectively the Toyota's polar opposite. Possessing the elegant style of a fashionable fat kid, the Escalade Hybrid manages to produce brutish noises and surprising bursts of speed. An expensive eight-passenger luxury barge, this full-size hybrid SUV could easily be dismissed as an overpriced dinosaur – especially as it has been getting a bit long-in-the-tooth while the competition has continued to evolve. GM knows this, and it's recently committed to investing a bundle into the Arlington, Texas plant that churns out the cash cow GMT900 platform this Caddy rides upon. A replacement may be on the way for 2014, but we still couldn't help but feel that there's something compelling about this generation's sharp fenders, large rolling stock and singular swagger that's worth revisiting. Not wanting to mess about with anything less than full kingpin spec, we requested a week with the hybrid Platinum model seen here. Click past the jump to see if this baller still has game. Cadillac has been making automobiles since 1902, but the company truly blossomed during a post-war era filled with iconically styled, hulking masses of metal. Fast-forward to 2011, and the brand's Art and Science ethos has taken hold. The Escalade integrates touches of the Wreath and Crest's design language with a giant mass of Art Deco futurism that harkens back to Caddy's bygone classics. Can you say, "222-inch-long 1957 Eldorado?" Like the coupes and sedans before it, this Escalade features larger-than-life styling. A big, downward sweeping grille intersects massive LED headlamps. That grille, in turn, is broken up with V-cut sills and honeycomb latticework, and the chrome matches the shine from the brightly-polished 22-inch wheels. An abundance of hybrid badging is notably absent from the exterior. Earlier model years slathered the word "HYBRID" across its flanks like neon dots on a Vegas-strip casino. For 2011, the Escalade uses much more discrete hybrid logos on each fender vent and one on its rear. While it's no longer the Look-At-Me Escalade, this is the Platinum Series we're talking about. The interior is plush enough to make the cast of Jersey Shore jealous. They drive Escalades, too, but their rides might as well be rental-fleet Sebrings when compared to the Platinum. The Platinum's first and second rows are heated, plus the driver and co-pilot get a …
Full Review
Revisiting A Green-Tinged Guilty Pleasure 2011 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid Platinum - Click above for high-res image gallery Your smug neighbors clean their clothes with Method laundry detergent, they've laid down cork flooring on their first floor and they have organic cotton shower curtains hanging in all four of their bathrooms. Driveways around the country are filled with neighbors swapping prideful mile-per-gallon figures instead of Junior's latest little league stats. Yet we fear that the term "green" gets tossed around far too easily these days. We see hybrids and electrics all around us, but most aren't designed to compete against the green yardstick that is the Toyota Prius. The 2011 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid, for example, relies on similar tech, yet it's effectively the Toyota's polar opposite. Possessing the elegant style of a fashionable fat kid, the Escalade Hybrid manages to produce brutish noises and surprising bursts of speed. An expensive eight-passenger luxury barge, this full-size hybrid SUV could easily be dismissed as an overpriced dinosaur – especially as it has been getting a bit long-in-the-tooth while the competition has continued to evolve. GM knows this, and it's recently committed to investing a bundle into the Arlington, Texas plant that churns out the cash cow GMT900 platform this Caddy rides upon. A replacement may be on the way for 2014, but we still couldn't help but feel that there's something compelling about this generation's sharp fenders, large rolling stock and singular swagger that's worth revisiting. Not wanting to mess about with anything less than full kingpin spec, we requested a week with the hybrid Platinum model seen here. Click past the jump to see if this baller still has game. Cadillac has been making automobiles since 1902, but the company truly blossomed during a post-war era filled with iconically styled, hulking masses of metal. Fast-forward to 2011, and the brand's Art and Science ethos has taken hold. The Escalade integrates touches of the Wreath and Crest's design language with a giant mass of Art Deco futurism that harkens back to Caddy's bygone classics. Can you say, "222-inch-long 1957 Eldorado?" Like the coupes and sedans before it, this Escalade features larger-than-life styling. A big, downward sweeping grille intersects massive LED headlamps. That grille, in turn, is broken up with V-cut sills and honeycomb latticework, and the chrome matches the shine from the brightly-polished 22-inch wheels. An abundance of hybrid badging is notably absent from the exterior. Earlier model years slathered the word "HYBRID" across its flanks like neon dots on a Vegas-strip casino. For 2011, the Escalade uses much more discrete hybrid logos on each fender vent and one on its rear. While it's no longer the Look-At-Me Escalade, this is the Platinum Series we're talking about. The interior is plush enough to make the cast of Jersey Shore jealous. They drive Escalades, too, but their rides might as well be rental-fleet Sebrings when compared to the Platinum. The Platinum's first and second rows are heated, plus the driver and co-pilot get a …
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Retail Price
$76,685
MSRP / Window Sticker Price
| Engine | V-8 |
| MPG | 20 City / 23 Hwy |
| Seating | 8 Passengers |
| Transmission | 4-spd w/OD |
| Power | 332 @ 5100 rpm |
| Drivetrain | four-wheel |
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