cadillac has introduced its last internalcombustion model from now on the team will roll out only cars with plugs and the whole brand will be evonly by 2030 five years ahead of parent company general motors so the team that gathered at chelsea piers in manhattan on aug 25 was there to conduct a walkaround for the 2023 lyriq cadillac’s first battery electric priced at us59990 the lyriq is an important car for cadillac’s credibility in the space chevrolet has the bolt gmc the hummer and now cadillac has the lyriq with the celestiq a luxury sedan set for 2025 the lyriq is ahead of it and will begin production late in the first quarter of 2022 preorders start sept 18 the first impression the lyriq makes is that it’s very close to the concept vehicle cadillac showed last year the second is that it’s quite large and imposing though with an uncluttered and understated presence that’s outlined with narrow swaths of side chrome “we showed some restraint” says andrew smith executive director of cadillac design the lyriq seats five and with the rear seat folded it has 608 cubic feet of storage there’s more storage under the rear floor the lyriq is also weighty at 5600 pounds and that means it needs its 100kilowatthour ultium battery pack to get the stated more than 300 miles of range the cadillac will offer 340 horsepower and 440 newton meters of torque with the latter explaining the 450e badge on the back the number is rounded up there’s no zero to 60 time yet gm’s super cruise selfdriving technology is standard smith conducted a tour “the allnew ultium platform gave us the flexibility to create the proportions we always wanted” he says “there’s no transmission tunnel or engine up front” for some carmakers that means a “frunk” under the hood but cadillac used the space for a 190kilowatt charger that can fastcharge to add 76 miles of travel in 10 minutes the 192kilowatt home charger can add 52 miles per hour notable exterior features smith showcased include wheels and tires at the corners for more interior space flush door handles with their own illumination gloss black bumpers slim stacked vertical leds up front framing a black crystal grille a christmas treeintense greeting light sequence a fulllength glass roof and wheels with sculpted inserts that reduce drag by 10 upgrading to 22inch wheels costs us1550 jennifer widrick the global director of color and trim showed off the lyriq’s interior the lack of a transmission tunnel means the console can have a cantilever design with a bin below there’s also a popout drawer and the color of the bin is echoed in the drawer information is conveyed via a 33inch diagonal led display a 55inch is coming for the brand the 19speaker audio system with active noise cancellation is via akg studio the microphone people with the brand name showcased on perforated stainlesssteel grilles natural openpore wood is used as an accent and driver and passenger get heatedandcooled seats rearseat passengers get the heaters and access to a useful 110volt outlet plus two usbcs knurled knobs are a nice design touch melissa gradydias cadillac’s chief marketing officer says early adopters have been waiting for a luxury suv and the lyriq is made to order for them she envisions a lot of buyers between 35 and 55 and families attracted by all the space early interest has come from new york california illinois texas and florida “we anticipate a slow smart rampup” she says there are no projected production numbers yet cadillac currently has “one of its newest freshest lineups ever” says gradydias with the xt4 introduced in 2018 as the oldest model available cadillac also offers the xt5 xt6 and escalade suvs and ct4 and ct5 sedans it may take a while for the company to replace all of those with fully electric cars but that’s the goal by 2030 gm spokeswoman katie minter says the process has begun to introduce the lyriq to the company’s dealer network increasing the market share for electrics depends on engagement at the dealer level and that’s been a problem across the industry minter says the dealers are enthusiastic and are lining up to order lyriqs gm anticipates adding at least 30 new evs by 2025 and will spend us27 billion on evs and selfdriving cars by that year