Cadillac Lyriq first pre-production car rolls off the line

GM President Mark Reuss hopped on LinkedIn to celebrate the first pre-production Cadillac Lyriq electric crossover coming off the line at the Spring Hill Manufacturing plant. The facility, wholly devoted to the Saturn brand from beginning operations in 1990 to 2007, has built the Cadillac XT5, XT6, and GMC Acadia crossovers of late. A little more than a year ago, GM invested $2 billion to convert the Tennessee plant to battery-electric vehicle assembly. The Cadillac Lyriq is not only the first of a number of Ultium-based products to come from there, but Reuss said the CUV is nine months ahead of schedule and entering the portal for customer deliveries "in a few months."

The Lyriq Debut Edition is the third GM product utilizing the new Ultium platform, after the Bright Drop electric delivery van and electric GMC Hummer. The limited-edition Lyriq launch model sold out in just over 10 minutes last September when reservations opened, although we're still not sure how many units Cadillac put up for sale. It's possible we'll find out when keys start getting handed over. Customers will be taking delivery of a snazzy, wagon-y number, powered by a 100-kilowatt battery juicing a single motor turning the rear wheels. Output is estimated at 340 horsepower and 325 pound-feet of torque, and claimed range is 300 miles on a charge.

At some point after those deliveries begin, GM will open ordering for series production Lyriqs in rear- and all-wheel drive. Base price will be $59,990 for the entry-level model, which, as has been pointed out, will position the Lyriq in the same bracket as the entry-level Tesla Model Y Long Range starting at $58,990. That's still a bit of a lonely landing zone for Cadillac, putting the luxury brand about $15,000 above non-luxury competition like the Ford Mustang Mach-E and coming Nissan Ariya, a few grand above the premium Volvo XC40 Recharge, and about $10,000 below the coming Rivian R1S and Mercedes EQC. It could end up working well for the Lyriq.

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