Cadillac first teased its concept crossover in early 2019, and after nearly two years we’re seeing a mostly production-ready version take form. Meet the 2023 Cadillac Lyriq — the brand’s first push toward an all-electric future.
Right from the start, the Lyriq sets itself apart from any other Cadillac on styling. Remarkably, this car still looks nearly identical to the original concept, although with a few tweaks. Up front is the massive “black crystal” grille, flanked by two banks of LED headlights and running lights. The badge and lower elements of the grille actually light up in the car revealed Thursday, which you can see below:
The rear also sports distinctive styling elements, namely in the split taillight arrangement. The top units actually wrap around the rear of the car, cutting back into the sloping roofline that gives the car a fashionable “coupe-like” shape. From whichever angle you look at it, the 2023 Cadillac Lyriq certainly looks distinctive, and that’s part of GM’s plan to spearhead Cadillac’s transformation and establish a foothold in the EV marketplace.
2023 Cadillac Lyriq: Range and performance
Since the Lyriq isn’t set to actually go on sale until 2022 at the earliest, there are still a few crucial numbers on the table. Cadillac didn’t publish horsepower and torque figures, for example. GM did disclose the battery technology at play, though, as well as its approximate capacity. According to the official release, the Lyriq manages 100 kWh from its “Ultium” battery pack — roughly the same capacity as a Tesla Model X, depending on how much of that figure is usable.
The Cadillac Lyriq also touts a similar drive configuration. The electric crossover will be single-motor and rear-wheel drive by default. However, a performance all-wheel drive version with a dual motor configuration will also be available. Even though we’ll have to wait awhile for power figures, GM did say the car will have a 50/50 weight distribution thanks to its low-mounted battery pack that runs nearly the length of the car.
Looking at the car in side profile shows most of the distinctive design elements. Just ahead of the driver’s door, though, is a sliding panel that reveals the Lyriq’s charging port. According to GM’s internal testing, Cadillac’s first EV will manage 300 miles on a charge, and it will be capable of 150 kW fast charging as well as 19 kW Level 2 charging.
A futuristic interior
No era-defining car design would be complete without a technology laden interior, and GM has thrown the book at the 2023 Cadillac Lyric. Front and center in the stack is the 33-inch infotainment display that stretches across the dashboard. Technically, its not the largest screen in a Cadillac — that honor still goes to the Escalade — although these images show one continuous unit. GM says the LED display is capable of showing up to one billion colors, or 64 times what any other display currently on the market can manage.
The 2023 Cadillac Lyriq also brings a “dual-plane augmented reality-enhanced head-up display” to the table. The technology displays information across two planes of view: One for simple driving information like speed and directions, and the other for more complex navigation signals and other alerts. On the driver assistance front, the Lyriq will also use Cadillac’s latest version of Super Cruise and a remote parking feature that uses ultrasonic sensors to help the car park itself.
To lean more toward the luxurious side of luxury electric crossover, Cadillac says the Lyriq will debut its road noise cancellation technology. The system uses microphones and accelerometers to enhance sound deadening capability. With a quieter cabin, Cadillac aims to impress with a 19-speaker AKG audio system.
What about price?
Again, since the 2023 Cadillac Lyriq is possibly years out, pricing information is not readily available. It’s also unclear whether the Lyriq will follow the brand’s typical trim structure. Taking its competition into account — namely the Tesla Model X, Audi e-tron and Jaguar I-Pace, among others — we expect the Lyriq to start somewhere in the $70,000 – $80,000 range. It’s likely the price could reach well beyond that with options, but the Lyriq should also be eligible to take advantage of federal and state EV tax incentives.
Stay tuned to TFLcar for more updates coming soon!
