At 4996mm long, it’s 95mm longer than an Audi e-tron the 3093mm wheelbase is 65mm longer than that model. That said, while the US would consider this a standard SUV, it’s definitely at the larger end of the market for the UK. It’s a sleek step away from Cadillac’s currently line-up of big, boxy SUVs, and definitely more in tune with the UK and European premium markets. The lights in the rear pillar are L-shaped, harking back to 1960s Caddilacs, and the SUV retains a comparatively long bonnet, and sculpted but largely clean sides. The Lyriq’s grille retains the distinctive trapezoidal shape that is used on the firm’s current line-up, although the engine cooling radiator has been replaced with a bold digital front end that offers extravagant LED lighting patterns on unlocking the car. The concept is to use the blank canvas of EV design and the space freed up by Ultium’s classic flat-floor ‘chocolate box’ architecture to create a new vision of luxury, but with some design cues that nod to the brand’s proud past.Īs with the Celestiq, there are numerous subtle cues to Cadillac’s 1950s glory days: the dashboard design, for example, beats more than a passing resemblance to that featured on the 1957 Eldorado Brougham. Its current petrol-powered line-up verges on the bland side, so the design team has welcomed the chance to really reinvent what Cadillac stands for. Long-running brands always face a tough challenge to respect their heritage while also keeping things fresh, and Cadillac has been no exception.

It certainly looks the part – this isn’t a Caddy that Elvis would recognise… The line-up of cars to try included the Lyriq, while Cadillac’s test team also gave a detailed presentation on its design.

GM isn’t exactly hiding its European intentions for Cadillac, either: Move Electric was recently invited along with a handful of international media to try a handful of GM machines at its Milford Proving Ground in Michigan. It’s not hard to see why, either: it sits firmly in the lucrative and fast-growing European premium electric SUV market, where it will take on the likes of the Audi e-tron, Genesis GV60, Tesla Model X, Jaguar I-Pace and plenty of others. GM is currently gearing up for a return to the UK and European market for the first time since it sold Vauxhall-Opel, and the Cadillac Lyriq is hotly tipped to be part of the initial line-up. If you’re in the UK or Europe, you’d be forgiven for not knowing much about Cadillac: the firm’s presence is limited to a handful of performance models, such as the CT5-V Blackwing, offered in limited number.īut that is likely to change in the future. The Lyriq and Celestiq are effectively intertwined: they’ve been designed and developed alongside each other, and will effectively serve as the template for Cadillac’s electric line-up, with all-new technology and an all-new design language. It will be joined in 2024 by the Cadillac Celestiq, a shooting brake-style machine that will be a hand-built, limited-production, ultra-luxury range-topper with a price somewhere around £250,000. The Lyriq SUV is due on sale next year and will be the first Cadillac production model built on that Ultium architecture. Key to that is the firm’s new Ultium electric platform, which will be used in underpin a hugely diverse range of EVs from GM’s stable of brands. It also offers a range of saloons that try to take on the likes of BMW and Audi by blending premium feel with a performance edge.Īs with many firms, GM – whose other brands include Chevrolet and GMC Hummer – is aiming to reinvent itself for the electric age: it has pledged to make its line-up fully electric by 2035.

These days, Cadillac is probably best known for the Escalade, a massive SUV that is often used to chauffeur US politicians around. While the firm is best known in the UK for being the vehicle of choice of a bunch of 1950s American entertainers – both to drive and sing about – in the US it has continued as the upmarket premium brand of General Motors (GM).Įssential electric news in your inbox: subscribe to the Move Electric newsletter The Cadillac Lyriq is a new electric large SUV that is designed to reinvent the storied American brand for a new generation.Ĭadillac? All I can think of is big 1950s saloons that you could imagine Elvis Presley driving around in…

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