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Lovers of sleek, luxurious, and insanely expensive cars, you’ve now got an American-made EV equivalent in the form of Cadillac Celestiq. General Motors just announced that it has finally started production at its factory in Michigan, but only in very limited numbers, of course. Here’s what that eye-watering starting price of $340,000 will buy you.

While the Rolls-Royce Spectre gives off a more stately, monolithic appearance, Cadillac’s designer went for dynamic proportions here with a sweeping roof and sleek lines, polished off with an echo of the Cadillac bustleback of yore. It’s American luxury at its finest, and inside the car, you’ll get a sense of what it’s really like to be among the 1%: bright leather (electric blue as an option), a 55-inch HD display, 38-speaker custom audio system (plus three external speakers), adaptive air suspension with 5-link front and rear, active rear steering, Eames bucket seats, climate-controlled zones, and even heated armrests.

Similar to the Rolls-Royce Specter, the 2024 model is only in limited production, with only six to be assembled at any one time, and it’s completely made to order so “no two will be alike.” Total volume will likely be around 100 to 150 units a year, GM said, with starting price at $340,000, but that’s before all the customization. For comparison’s sake, the Rolls-Royce Spectre, which has a starting price at $422,750, sold 326 units in Q4 of last year, so Cadillac is expected a bit fewer than that.

GM had originally said earlier in the year that the car would be in production at the end of last year, but quietly slipped into production this week.

Spec-wise, the Celestiq 2024 debut model comes equipped with a 111-kilowatt-hour battery pack for an expected range of about 300 miles of range on a single charge. The dual-motor, all-wheel-drive powertrain is 600 horsepower (447 kilowatts) and gives 640 lb-ft (868 Nm) of torque – for 0-60 mph in 3.8 seconds. If we’re splitting hairs, that’s a few tenths of a second faster than the Rolls-Royce Spectre’s 4.4 seconds. And that puts it in a similar category as the Audi e-tron GT or Porsche Taycan.

The vehicle can fast charge at up to 200 kW, offering up to about 78 miles of range in 10 minutes. You’ll find a similar rate in GM’s other Ultium cars, although pickups with large 200+ kWh batteries can charge at up to 350 kW and replenish 100 miles of range in 10 minutes.

A more modest option, the 2024 Cadillac Lyriq starts at $57,195, with the mid-range Luxury trim begins at $61,295. The top-of-the-line Sport mode starts at $61,795. The all-around Lyriq has been compared to the Mercedes EQE SUV, Audi A8 e-tron, and BMW iX, but it offers an impressive 300 miles or range at a price set around $60,000. The single-motor, rear-drive model comes with 340 horsepower for 0-60 mph in six seconds, and 500 hp for dual-motor.

Photo credit: Cadillac/General Motors


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China overhauls EV charging: 100,000 ultra-fast public stations by 2027

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China overhauls EV charging: 100,000 ultra-fast public stations by 2027

China just laid out a plan to roll out over 100,000 ultra-fast EV charging stations by 2027 – and they’ll all be open to the public.

The National Development and Reform Commission’s (NDRC) joint notice, issued on Monday, asks local authorities to put together construction plans for highway service areas and prioritize the ones that see 40% or more usage during holiday travel rushes.

The NDRC notes that China’s ultra-fast EV charging infrastructure needs upgrading as more 800V EVs hit the road. Those high-voltage platforms can handle super-fast charging in as little as 10 to 30 minutes, but only if the charging hardware is up to speed.

China had 31.4 million EVs on the road at the end of 2024 – nearly 9% of the country’s total vehicle fleet. But charging access is still catching up. As of May 2025, there were 14.4 million charging points, or roughly 1 for every 2.2 EVs.

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To keep the grid running smoothly, China wants new chargers to be smart, with dynamic pricing to incentivize off-peak charging and solar and storage to power the charging stations.

To make the business side work, the government is pushing for 10-year leases for charging station operators, and it’s backing the buildout with local government bonds.

The NDRC emphasized that the DC fast chargers built will be open to the public. This is a big deal because a lot of fast chargers in China aren’t. For example, BYD’s new megawatt chargers aren’t open to third-party vehicles.

As of September 2024, China had expanded its charging infrastructure to 11.4 million EV chargers, but only 3.3 million were public.

Read more: California now has nearly 50% more EV chargers than gas nozzles


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Two charged in $650 million global crypto scam that promised 300% returns

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Two charged in 0 million global crypto scam that promised 300% returns

A U.S. Justice Department logo or seal showing Justice Department headquarters, known as “Main Justice,” is seen behind the podium in the Department’s headquarters briefing room before a news conference with the Attorney General in Washington, January 24, 2023.

Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

Federal prosecutors have charged two men in connection with a sprawling cryptocurrency investment scheme that defrauded victims out of more than $650 million.

The indictment, unsealed in the District of Puerto Rico, accuses Michael Shannon Sims, 48, of Georgia and Florida, and Juan Carlos Reynoso, 57, of New Jersey and Florida, of operating and promoting OmegaPro, an international crypto multi-level marketing scheme that promised investors 300% returns over 16 months through foreign exchange trading.

“This case exposes the ruthless reality of modern financial crime,” said the Internal Revenue Service’s Chief of Criminal Investigations Guy Ficco. “OmegaPro promised financial freedom but delivered financial ruin.”

From 2019 to 2023, Sims, Reynoso and their co-conspirators allegedly lured thousands of victims worldwide to purchase “investment packages” using cryptocurrency, falsely claiming the funds would be safely managed by elite forex traders, the Department of Justice said.

Prosecutors said the pair flaunted their wealth through social media and extravagant events — including projecting the OmegaPro logo onto the Burj Khalifa, Dubai’s tallest building — to convince investors the operation was legitimate.

A video posted to the company’s LinkedIn page shows guests in evening attire posing for photos and watching the spectacle in Dubai.

Read more CNBC tech news

In reality, authorities allege, OmegaPro was a pyramid-style fraud.

When the company later claimed it had suffered a hack, the defendants told victims they had transferred their funds to a new platform called Broker Group, the DOJ said. Users were never able to withdraw their money from either platform.

The two men face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, each carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The Justice Department, FBI, IRS-Criminal Investigation, and Homeland Security Investigations led the multiagency investigation, with help from international partners.

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Tesla forced to refund $10,000 FSD payment and 0% interest on Cybertruck

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Tesla forced to refund ,000 FSD payment and 0% interest on Cybertruck

Tesla is starting to experience some consequences for misleading Full Self Driving customers – at least that’s the finding of one arbitration ruling that has Tesla refunding one customer $10,000 plus legal fees for failing to deliver on their promises. Find out more on today’s legally challenging episode of Quick Charge!

An arbitration “court” found that Tesla misled customers with its Full Self Driving product, and has now been forced to refund at least one person’s $10,000 payment (plus legal fees) for the not-quite autonomous driving software. France, too, is piling on claims of deceptive business practices – but there’s some good news for FSD fans! If you’re still willing to pay for it, Tesla will thrown in 0% financing on a brand new Cybertruck.

Check out the relevant links, below, to learn more.

Prefer listening to your podcasts? Audio-only versions of Quick Charge are now available on Apple PodcastsSpotifyTuneIn, and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

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New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news.

Got news? Let us know!
Drop us a line at tips@electrek.co. You can also rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show.


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Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.

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