Cadillac Blackwing V-8 grounded by GM EV production, discontinued CT6-V
We reported last month that Cadillac couldn’t quite jam the 4.2-liter, twin-turbo Blackwing V-8 into its CT5—or so the rumor went. Now, following its short life in the ill-starred CT6-V, and with GM retooling its Detroit plant for electric trucks, the Blackwing engine may be left stranded.
Based on an interview at the 2021 Escalade reveal, Road and Track reported that the president of Cadillac, Steve Carlisle, says the automaker has “no specific plans for that engine.” Though Blackwing engines were hand-built at GM’s plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, they mated with their respective CT6 chassis in Detroit’s Hamtramck plant. However, with GM’s announcement in late January that the Hamtramck facility will be devoted exclusively to electric vehicles, and with CT6 production already destined to end the same month, the four-cam, DOHC V-8 has no immediate home.
Carlisle didn’t put the final nail in the Blackwing’s coffin—“never is a long time”—but for now it sounds like the Blackwing will live on only in bits and pieces. “We learned a lot with Blackwing,” Carlisle continued. “It’s an idea that’s really resonated with people.”
Perhaps Cadillac will mimic the Blackwing’s placement of turbos in the V of a future engine? Time will tell. The most recent powerplant news from Cadillac land is a successor to the CTS-V will likely be powered by the 6.2-liter supercharged LT4 V-8.
Unsurprisingly, crossovers and EVs are the Next Big Things for Cadillac—and many other brands. The next two years hold a shift in nomenclature for Cadillac, a timeline that roughly coincides with the announcement for its first EV. We’ll keep you up to date as we hear news of combustion-powered goodness, but for now, it’s all quiet on the Blackwing front.
