Cadillac Lyriq electric SUV hits the road for prototype testing

Strike up the band, because here comes the Cadillac Lyriq, the luxury brand's first electric vehicle. On Monday, GM Vice President of Sales and Marketing Mahmoud Samara shared a photo on LinkedIn of the SUV testing in preproduction form as the Lyriq inches closer to reality.

The Lyriq program is pretty ambitious, as invested big money last year to actually bring the EV to production sooner than expected. When we first received details on the concept car, Cadillac said it would launch in late 2022. Now, it's coming in the first quarter of next year as GM's plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, prepares to build the model. Not only is this Cadillac's first EV, but it will be the first GM production vehicle to sport its fancy-shmancy Ultium battery technology and powertrain. Naturally, GM and Cadillac want to make sure they nail it.

With prototypes now testing in Michigan, Cadillac is that much closer to revealing the final product sans cladding like you see here. The lovely photos we saw last year remain a concept of the final design. It's a striking thing, and I hope it won't lose much of its charm in the transition from concept to production vehicle. Nevertheless, Cadillac was keen at its debut to emphasize that this is the brand's future. That includes a massive helping of technology inside, with a 33-inch curved dashboard display, Super Cruise and a somewhere in the ball park of a 100 kilowatt-hour battery. GM maintains the Lyriq should go at least 300 miles on a single charge.

Whether it can take the fight to the Tesla Model X and so many other luxury SUVs competing for a very small sliver of the market right now remains to be seen. But we won't have too much longer to make a decision on that.

The Cadillac Lyriq electric SUV is ushering in a new era at GM

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