One of the stars of the recent Montreal Electric Vehicle Show, the Cadillac Lyriq crossover officially went into production on March 21 at the GM plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee.
All reservations for the launch edition were made in just over 10 minutes last September, with deliveries slated for this summer. Cadillac will take additional orders starting May 19.
As we’ve already told you, the Lyriq will first arrive on the market in a rear-wheel-drive version, available from $69,898 in Canada, including a destination fee of $2,200. Customers will have to make do with 340 horsepower and 325 lb-ft of torque. However, the company had promised us that a four-wheel drive performance version would eventually be added to the lineup. We now know a few more details about it.
Photo: Cadillac
Thus, the all-wheel-drive Lyriq will combine two electric motors and generate a total power of around 500 horsepower. That’s more than the Audi e-tron (402 horsepower), the Jaguar i-Pace (394 horsepower) and the future Lexus RZ (308 horsepower), but less than the BMW iX (516 horsepower), for example.
It will be able to tow loads of up to 3,500 pounds. On the other hand, we do not know its autonomy. In the case of the rear-drive Lyriq, that amounts to around 480 kilometers, so expecting just over 400 kilometers is realistic. The 100 kWh Ultium battery is developed in partnership between GM and LG Chem, remember.
In terms of equipment, the same amenities and technologies should be found in the four-wheel-drive model, including the huge 33-inch curved screen, Super Cruise semi-autonomous driving and the AKG Acoustics sound system at 19 speakers.