One of the most interesting things that’s come along with electric vehicles is a rethinking of what an automotive interior can be. When you’ve got a buyer that’s interested in tech and the future and more likely to care about the planet, you have a buyer that’s willing to shell out a bit more for (and that is drawn in by) eco-friendly materials.
- Base Trim Engine
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Electric
- Base Trim Transmission
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Single-speed automatic
- Base Trim Drivetrain
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All-Wheel Drive
- Base Trim Horsepower
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300 hp
- Base Trim Torque
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354 lb-ft
Cadillac’s latest EV, the Optiq, is no different. Now one of the brand’s finish designers talks about the materials it used to give the Optiq electric a new identity.
New Materials In Exciting Ways
“It’s not just the materials we use, but how we are applying them in a really exciting way for the customer. We have really exciting color palettes and color harmony. We took a new approach to interior materials application and placement.”
The interior of the Optiq offers a patterned accent fabric that is made from yarn woven from 100% recycled materials. It’s the light gray that covers the bar running in front of the passenger. The material is also used to surround the center console.
Optiq’s center console is another sustainable material. The optional finish here is called PaperWood and it is a mix of tulipwood and recycled newspaper. Cho said that if you look closely, you can spot letters from the newsprint in the veneer. Tulipwood, which is also called yellow poplar, grows tall and strong and is often used for furniture.
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For this application, Cadillac creates a wafer cookie of thin layers of wood and recycled newsprint. Then thin layers are milled off to produce the veneer. The paper is exposed between the grain of the wood.
“What’s really special and unique about this process is that the veneer is made up of different newspapers, so each trim piece is entirely unique to that vehicle,” Cho said.
When the 2026 Optiq enters production, the recycled accent fabric will be standard on all models. PaperWood comes with the Autumn Canyon and Phantom Blue interior selections.
Sustainable Interiors A Growing Trend
Sustainable and lower-impact interior materials are nothing new, but they have only recently begun to shine. The Nissan Leaf was one of the first, using recycled plastics for exterior and interior parts. Ford began using soy-based foam for seats in the Mustang back in 2008, and it used recycled plastics for fabrics as well as recycled denim fabrics in 2011.
BMW’s oddball i3 brought sustainable interiors to a whole new level. It used a plant called kenaf as a replacement for oil-based plastic, which was also lighter. The seats used a wool blend, which is both recyclable and renewable. The interior trim was eucalyptus, which needed 90% less finishing than other wood types and was processed without chemicals.
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GM’s own efforts will put more than 39 million pounds of recycled plastic into new vehicles in 2023. GM uses fabrics made from recycled bottles, recovered fishing nets, and plant-based fibers. It also launched its first recycled seating fabric vehicles that year.
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