The Cadillac Lyriq, a luxury SUV that is set to be the brand’s first all-electric vehicle, has begun road testing, according to a recent announcement from Cadillac’s vice president of North America Sales, Service, and Marketing, Mahmoud Samara.
Cadillac, a division of American automotive giant General Motors, has already given us a lot of chances to see its Lyriq, an all-electric luxury SUV that is expected to begin production in the first quarter of 2022.
The Lyriq was revealed for the first time in August 2020, the first in the brand’s electric portfolio, and which will be based on GM’s next-generation modular electric vehicle platform and driven by the Ultium propulsion system.
Ultium is the EV battery joint venture formed in late-2019 between General Motors and South Korean battery maker LG Chem, which aims to produce 30GWh worth of lithium-ion battery cells annually.
“Led by Lyriq, Cadillac will redefine American luxury over the next decade with a new portfolio of transformative EVs,” said Steve Carlisle, executive vice president and president, GM North America, speaking in August 2020. “We will deliver experiences that engage the senses, anticipate desires and enable our customers to go on extraordinary journeys.”
Set to include DC fast charging, at rates over 150kW and Level 2 charging rates of up to 19kW, the Cadillac Lyriq will offer rear-wheel drive and performance all-wheel drive configurations and boast the latest version of the company’s Super Cruise technology which will allow for true hands-free driving assistance on select roadways – assistance that even allows Edward Scissorhands’ son, Edgar, to drive it:
More importantly, the Lyriq will reportedly offer over 480-kilometres of all-electric driving range on a full charge for both configurations.
Set to go into production in the first quarter of 2022, Cadillac’s Mahmoud said in a LinkedIn post last week that the Cadillac Lyriq had official begin pre-production road tests at General Motors’ testing facilities in Michigan.
Production of the Cadillac Lyriq is expected to take place at General Motors’ Spring Hill plant in Tennessee, which General Motors announced in October 2020 would be transitioning to become the company’s third vehicle manufacturing site to produce electric vehicles in a $US 2 billion overhaul, behind GM’s FACTORY Zero in Detroit and Hamtramck, Michigan, and Orion Assembly, Michigan.
In addition to becoming the brand’s first all-electric vehicle, Cadillac’s Lyriq will also boast an augmented reality windscreen, according to an October 2020 announcement by UK-based augmented reality (AR) start-up Envisics.
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.