It was early August 2020 when Cadillac unveiled the Lyriq as a concept car before introducing the road-going version in April 2021. Fast forward to January 2022, the electric SUV has entered the pre-production phase at General Motors’ plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee. It’s the assembly plant where the XT5 and XT6 are made, along with a non-Cadillac model, the GMC Acadia. The equivalent right-hand-drive Holden Acadia for Australia was also built there until 2020 before the brand was terminated.
GM President Mark Reuss took to LinkedIn to publish an image of the very first pre-production Lyriq as it was about to leave the assembly line. Accompanying the photo uploaded by the company executive onto the business networking platform was his promise to deliver the first vehicles to customers “in a few months.”
We are looking at a rear-wheel-drive version since the production of an AWD-equipped model will start towards the end of the year, with deliveries from early 2023. Meanwhile, all cars shipped to early adopters from late Q1 2022 will be the Lyriq Debut Edition, which was sold out in a matter of minutes once Cadillac began to accept $100 refundable deposits. However, it’s still unclear how many units the American luxury brand will produce. Some say only 1,500 examples will be made, but nothing is official at this point.
The 2023 Lyriq Debut Edition packs 340 horsepower (254 kilowatts) and 325 pound-feet (440 newton-meters) of torque combined with a large 100-kWh battery. Riding on the Ultium platform shared with the GMC Hummer and the Chevrolet Silverado EV, the electric SUV promises to go more than 300 miles (483 kilometers) on a single charge.
It will support DC fast-charging, in which case 10 minutes of juicing up the battery at 190 kW will translate into 76 miles (122 kilometers) of range. Charge it for half an hour and you’ll have 195 miles (314 kilometers). Overall, the SUV has some solid technical specifications to back up its stylish exterior design and high-tech interior.
Source: Mark Reuss / LinkedIn
