It’s velvety-smooth power grows rapidly, and the Lyriq rides even better. With two points for its ride and one for its power, the Lyriq earns an 8 for performance.
The rear-wheel-drive Lyriq has a 102-kwh battery pack and a single electric motor delivering an estimated 340 hp and 325 lb-ft of torque, and an estimated 312-mile range. A coming all-wheel-drive version adds a second motor powering the front axle. Cadillac promises at least 500 hp and a 3,500-lb towing capacity from that model, but hasn’t released final specs and won’t begin building those versions until late in 2022.
Step into the Lyriq and a few details try to conjure up some of the past Cadillac magic. The transmission lever is old-school style on the column—and it’s a single forward gear, if you want to go back that far in time.
In its all-electric splendor, the Lyriq accelerates very briskly, with the usual thrust off the line that even big-bore V-8s have trouble outgunning. Though it has a single stack of battery cells and not a double stack like the related Hummer EV, it weighs an eye-widening 5,610 lb in base trim. We’d estimate its 0-60 mph potential at under six seconds, still.
The Lyriq sports a sophisticated five-link front and rear suspension and variable electric power steering, and base versions are shod with standard 20-inch wheels. Twin-tube dampers allow for different responses to big, long pavement gaps or smaller, lower flaws in the asphalt, without resorting to a more expensive and energy-consuming adaptive suspension. The in-between solution works well. The Lyriq rides well even on upgraded 22-inch wheels, without the pistoning or bounding or dullness that its size and weight could induce. In highway slogs or back-road runs, it has poise and grace unlike any other Cadillac SUV: it bends its knees like a pro skier passing over moguls, calmly and placidly.
To enable a sport drive mode or one-pedal driving, it’s a step or two through the touchscreen interface, though the Lyriq will maintain those settings even when the vehicle’s turned off. Cadillac bakes in three distinct levels of one-pedal driving, from one with simulated coasting effect to one that generates up to 0.3g of regenerative braking. The pressure-sensitive paddle on the left side of the steering wheel can blend in regen, and the friction brakes can be used—it’s redundant in a couple of ways when it comes to stopping, and it’s all integrated seamlessly.
It can also be switched from Tour to Sport mode, and should be. At low speeds the Lyriq can struggle with slow steering response; hairpins and traffic circles become 180-degree spins of the wheel, through a fairly hefty tune. It’s a long, wide car, after all.
