Say this much for Cadillac: they ain't thinking small.
The General Motors' (GM) premium brand recently announced new details for its 2023 Lyriq RWD and Global Cadillac Vice President Rory Harvey promised in a statement that “Cadillac will define the future of luxury transportation through its range of forthcoming EVs, and it all begins with LYRIQ.”
First Electric Offering
Lyriq is Cadillac's first-all-electric offering and the company, which aims for an all-electric portfolio by 2030, said its luxury SUV/crossover has an EPA estimated 312 miles of range on a full charge.
The median range of a 2021 model year electric vehicle was 234 miles.
Lyriq is based on the Ultium platform, a modular setup that will underpin all kinds of vehicles in the GM family.
The Lyrig RWD has a starting price of $62,990, while the all-wheel-drive will cost an additional $2,000 and come with a second drive unit, which the carmaker says will be placed at the front of the vehicle to boost dynamics and performance.
Cadillac will start taking orders for Lyriq on May 19 with RWD deliveries expected to start this fall.
AWD deliveries will start in early 2023 and Cadillac said it expects to announce the EPA-estimated range closer to the start of production.
'Looking Forward to Working With Cadillac'
Over 80% of electric vehicle owners charge at home, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Lyriq customers will have the option of receiving two years of unlimited charging credits at EVgo charging stations or a credit of up to $1,500 toward home charger installation through Qmerit.
"Looking forward to working with Cadillac to bring their customers seamless EV home charging solutions!", Qmerit said in a tweet.
Every Lyriq comes with a portable dual-level cordset charger, enabling customers to charge their vehicles from both 120-volt and 240-volt outlets.
Customers will be able to purchase faster 11.5 kilowatt or 19.2kW wall-mounted charging stations.
By installing a 240-volt outlet or wall charger, customers can reduce the time it takes to charge a depleted battery from 3 days to overnight, the company said.
'Home-Charging is Critical'
David Checkel, professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Alberta, said "that home-charging is critical."
"Virtually all customers buying a luxury EV already have a place to park it at home," he said. "They would rather charge at home overnight vs. deal with the inconvenience of spending time at public charging stations."
Timothy Johnson, professor of the practice of energy and the environment at Duke University, said that current EV owners rely mainly on home charging, "and overnight residential charging will remain the everyday ideal for EV owners going forward."
"Home charging, of course, assumes access to a garage or at least a dedicated parking space, which most luxury EV owners will have," he said. "The challenge is providing charging for people who live in multifamily dwellings or who must rely on on-street parking."
Expand the Public Charging Network
Johnson said that expansion of the public charging network, including workplace charging, will be necessary if EVs are to become a viable option for these vehicle owners.
"And further expansion of the DC fast charging network, primarily along highway corridors, will be needed to support less frequent long-distance travel," he said.
Lyriq will face some formidable competition in the luxury electric SUV space, including Tesla's (TSLA) Model Y, which has a starting price of about $60,190; Tesla's Model X, which starts at around $114,990; Ford's (F) Mustang Mach-E, starting at $43,895 and Volkswagen's (VWAGY) ID.4, which starts at about $41,230,
Separately, Cadillac will be heading down Electric Avenue without billionaire George Soros on board.
The iconic investor and short-seller sold all his GM shares, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
