The all-electric Cadillac Lyriq show car was unveiled overnight, and it points the way to a production model due in 2022.
Based on GM’s all-new pure electric car platform, the Lyriq will be offered in both rear-wheel drive and “performance” all-wheel drive versions.
With the car not due to go on sale Stateside until 2022, there’s no word on how much power or torque it’ll be available with, or how it stacks up performance-wise against the Teslas of this world.
The Lyriq is fitted with GM’s new Ultium battery system that’s said to have 90 per cent less wiring than the pack used in the Chevrolet Bolt, and uses a pouch design for more efficient cooling.
It also features a nickel-cobalt-manganese-aluminum chemistry, which GM claims reduces the usage of hard-to-ethically-procure cobalt by 70 per cent.
Equipped with 100kWh battery pack, the Lyriq should have a range of at least 480km (300mi) under the US EPA’s testing regime.
In order to cut charging times, the Lyriq will support DC fast charging up to 150kW, and Level 2 charging up to 19kW.
Believed to be around the same size as the 4.8m-long XT5 crossover, the Lyriq should be roomier thanks to its dedicated EV architecture with its batteries mounted under the floor.
Inside the cabin there’s a 33-inch curved LED display displaying instrumentation, infotainment, navigation, and camera views. There’s also an AKG 19-speaker sound system with road noise cancellation.
Other technology features available on the Lyriq include supervised remote parking, and Super Cruise hands-off automated driving with lane change on demand.
The headlights and tail-lights, as well LEDs embedded in the grille and emblem, perform a choreographed display to greet the driver as they approach the vehicle.
The Lyriq will be the first of a wave of electric vehicles from Cadillac, which is now being positioned by GM as the company’s EV marque.
At an event in July, the company confirmed the Lyriq will be followed up by two electric crossovers, one positioned below and a larger model with three rows of seats.
There will also be no-holes-barred hand-made range-topping liftback known as the Celestiq.
All up GM is planning to launch 20 new electric cars by 2023. These will be spread out across all of its major brands, and will see the return the Hummer name on a GMC pickup truck.
The Lyriq also marks Cadillac’s return to model names that aren’t an alphanumeric soup. Since around 2003 all new Caddy models, with the exception of the Escalade, have been given a three letter, or two letter and one number, name.
Starting with the Lyriq and Celestiq, Cadillac will use names ending in the letter Q for its all-electric models.
