Cadillac Lyriq Development On Track Despite COVID-19 Hurdles

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted everyone at least on some level, both personally professionally. This particularly applies to the auto industry, as carmakers the world over – including Cadillac – have been forced to idle vehicle production, with some pivoting to make PPE or respirators to help fight the deadly virus. But what COVID-19 has not impacted is Cadillac Lyriq development.

According to comments made by the Chief Executive Officer of Cadillac parent, General Motors, during its first quarter 2020 earnings call with analysts, “work continues uninterrupted, even as many of our engineerings work remotely” and the Lyriq EV “remains fully on track.”

While the timing of Cadillac Lyriq development and market launch will not be impacted by disruptions associated with COVID-19, the reveal of the vehicle has been postponed as a result of the virus. Cadillac initially planned to debut the Lyriq in concept form on April 2^nd. Now, it’s unclear when the debut will now take place. Even so, the vehicle is set to launch in 2021 as a 2022 model.

The Cadillac Lyriq EV will be a midsize crossover roughly the size of the current Cadillac XT5. It will be Cadillac’s first-ever battery electric vehicle after two plug-in hybrids – the ELR and CT6 PHEV.

The vehicle will ride on an all-new platform dubbed BEV3 and will offer either rear-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive. A new battery pack, branded as Ultium, is expected to deliver up to 400 miles of range as well as Level 2 and DC fast charging.

Executives did not provide guidance on the Cadillac’s other expected electric models. So far, these are believed to three-fold:

• A yet-to-be-named compact crossover below the Lyriq roughly the size of the current XT4 set to launch in the 2022 calendar year.
• An electric variant of the Cadillac Escalade set to launch in the 2022 calendar year.
• A large flagship sedan called Cadillac Celestiq set to launch in a few years.

We’ll keep our ears to the ground and report back as we hear anything. In the meantime, we invite you to subscribe to Cadillac Society for more Cadillac Lyriq news, future Cadillac vehicle news, and around-the-clock Cadillac news coverage.