Cadillac’s first dedicated electric vehicle platform needs to be competitive to succeed in a segment that is quickly gathering pace. Trent Nikolic spends a short time behind the wheel at GM’s headquarters outside Detroit.
In the second half of 2022, Drive headed to General Motors’ headquarters in Detroit to take a look at various future technologies GM was working on, along with both current and future models the American giant was offering to local buyers in the US domestic market. At the time, representatives of the Australian arm of the company weren’t ready to confirm (or deny for that matter) whether any of those models would make their way to our market.
Despite that, we suspected at the time that one model showed real potential for our market. You might think it would have been the Hummer EV that garnered all the attention at the Milford Proving Ground, but it was the 2023 Cadillac Lyriq that stood out as a vehicle that could succeed in Australia.
GM’s Managing Director of strategic markets, Christian Soemmer, told Australian and New Zealand media at the time that the brand ‘has ambitious goals’ in markets around the world, one of which is Australia.
Following our recent story of a RHD Lyriq spied in testing back in the US, it appears our suspicions back then could be right. So, what’s the Lyriq like to drive? Our quick drive experience at GM’s test track indicated that it’s an impressive platform, and if the price is right, it might even make some inroads if it does indeed head Down Under.
Let’s take a closer look.
In Cadillac’s words, the Lyriq isn’t just a hallmark EV platform, it’s also a signal of a new design direction for the American luxury marque, and on that note, the Lyriq cuts an eye-catching, stylish figure on the road. A frontal view that might have been described as over the top if there were a petrol or diesel engine under the bonnet, seems to work perfectly in an electric world where most design executions are a little edgy or sharp.
Lyriq looks chunky in the flesh, and it’s certainly no shrinking violet, but it doesn’t look too big either. Will it look big on Aussie roads? Maybe, but we’re going larger every year here, too, so it might not stand out as much as it might have. At 4996mm long, and with a 3093mm wheelbase, it cuts a decent figure on the road despite shrinking next to American pick-up trucks and SUVs.
Under the skin, there’s GM’s bespoke Ultium electric vehicle architecture that is shared broadly across the GM stable. The Hummer EV we test-drove on the same visit shares the Ultium battery and drivetrain systems, as will the Chevrolet Blazer EV, Chevrolet Silverado EV and even the clever Brightdrop 600 van. We drove that, too, and it’s a real window into inner-city delivery of the future.
The Ultium platform is nothing if not versatile, but note that this refers to the drive and battery systems, not the chassis itself, with the Lyriq and Blazer built atop GM’s BEV3 unibody platform, and the Hummer and Silverado using the BT1 body on frame set-up.
It’s GM’s job to ensure that a mid to large SUV like the Lyriq feels like, well, a mid to large SUV. Overall the Lyriq is longer than a BMW Xf or Mercedes-Benz GLE, though its styling tends to cloak its size when viewed in isolation. While it was easy to look around the carpark at GM’s test track and pick any number of vehicles that would work in Australia, only the Corvette and Silverado are currently available.
The key to the Lyriq, though, will be price, something mitigated by a factory RHD offering. So, while the high-performance CT5-V Blackwing and its supercharge V8 would no doubt resonate with Aussie buyers, for example, it’s the Lyriq that has the most chance of success. There’s no doubt the Lyriq has been primed to relaunch the Cadillac brand in key global markets, with Europe in Cadillac’s gunsights, and seemingly now RHD markets as well.
From behind the wheel, your view forward is dominated by a large screen, curved and positioned neatly for the driver. The curved section of the dash features both the driver’s interactive display and the central infotainment screen.
The seats were comfortable despite being firm, there’s plenty of room in both the first and second rows, and as we’ve come to expect from US cars, storage was vast and plentiful. No transmission tunnel means you get a lot more foot room in the second row, and that’s a benefit of the specific Ultium platform that has been employed. There are no compromises in terms of the way the cabin is laid out.
Our first, short driving experience with the Lyriq’s cabin presents a premium, insulated, and well-executed interior that feels exclusive. You’d expect that for the US market, which expects Cadillac to be a step up from its Chevrolet and Buick brethren. The lack of too many switches adds to the premium feel, but there’s enough in play – like the AC controls for example – that you don’t feel as if it’s reduction merely for the sake of it. The boot offered up more than 700L of storage space – plenty for the average family buyer.
GM’s test track is long and features a variety of road surfaces much like we’d experience on regular Aussie roads, and the Lyriq impresses from the get-go. There’s an electric motor at the rear offering up 255kW/440Nm, and while the Lyriq doesn’t feel silly quick like some electric vehicles can, it’s sharp, punchy and gets up to speed swiftly. What we liked after our test drive was the broad mid-range ability it possesses, scooting from 60km/h or 80km/h up to 100km/h effortlessly.
A section of the proving ground road network has some nasty bumps and ruts that the engineers encouraged us to hit at speed. Doing as we were instructed, while wincing a little it has to be said, the Lyriq absorbed even the big hits easily, settling quickly and remaining composed inside the cabin.
Through sweeping corners, it took a fairly serious rut in the road surface to even register inside the cabin, let alone unsettle the Lyriq. On coarse-chip sections, the cabin wasn’t too noisy either; an important factor for electric vehicles that have no engine or driveline noise to mask tyre and wind noise.
Like most electric vehicles, if you plough the Lyriq into some fast switchbacks back-to-back, you can feel the weight shift. There is, after all, a heavy battery pack (102kWh) to accommodate, and even though it’s low down in the platform, you can still feel the heft. Just north of 2500kg means the Lyriq is definitely trying to control some weight when the roads get rough.
The single-motor variant we tested runs a claimed 495km range, although we’d need to assess that on our roads over a longer drive to ascertain just how accurate that claim is. Lyriq starts from just under the $US60,000 mark in the US, so you’d expect a price nearing $100,000 here based on that.
It remains to be confirmed whether Lyriq will head Down Under, but RHD testing is a positive sign for a brand with the stated aim of making new business around the world. Further, even our short test drive illustrates the benefits of a dedicated EV platform.
Stay tuned to Drive for any announcements regarding the future of the Cadillac Lyriq.
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