As exclusively reported by Cadillac Society just a few weeks ago, regular production of the new EV was set to begin production on March 21st, 2022. And now, Cadillac has confirmed that the all-new, highly anticipated 2023 Cadillac Lyriq is now underway at the Cadillac Spring Hill plant in Tennessee.
Cadillac and its parent company, General Motors, held a ceremony to commemorate the milestone event today at the plant. The ceremony was attended by GM President Mark Reuss, Cadillac Vice President Rory Harvey, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, along with union representatives and employees of the Spring Hill assembly plant. The purpose of the ceremony on March 21st was to not only celebrate the start of regular production of Cadillac’s first-ever fully electric vehicle, but to provide a better idea of the production capabilities of the Tennessee-based plant.
“The Cadillac Lyriq sets the standard for the future of Cadillac and marks another major milestone in GM’s commitment to an all-electric future,” said Reuss. “This is a monumental day for the entire GM team. We retooled Spring Hill Assembly with the best, most advanced technology in the world and the team worked tirelessly to complete the preparations nine months ahead of the original schedule.”
Back in October 2020, GM pledged a $2 billion investment toward the retooling of the Spring Hill plant to prepare it for EV production. Not only did the project advance nine months ahead of schedule, but the plant still assembled the Cadillac XT5 and XT6 luxury crossovers during the renovations.
This year, the luxury marque announced plans to increase production of the 2023 Cadillac Lyriq, and now expects to build 25,000 units, up from the 3,200 originally planned, in response to an unprecedented amount of interest in the all-new electric crossover. Currently, initial units of the Lyriq, known as Lyriq Debut Edition models, are being assembled. Reservations for the Debut Edition filled up in just 10 minutes, while order books for subsequent units will opened on May 19th, allowing dealerships to place orders for the luxury electric crossover immediately instead of performing another reservation process.
The 2023 Cadillac Lyriq rides on the new BEV3 platform and the Debut Edition features a 100.4 kWh lithium-ion Ultium battery pack and a single Ultium Drive motor mounted on the rear axle. The electric driveline is rated at 340 horsepower and 325 pound-feet of torque, and Cadillac estimates the Lyriq will have 300 miles of range on a full charge.
Additionally, Cadillac Society recently learned that an all-wheel-drive Lyriq is on the way as the Performance AWD model. It will feature a second motor mounted on the front axle, therefore enabling higher levels of power and torque. Production of the Lyriq Performance AWD is expected to begin in late 2022 for deliveries in early 2023.
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