Early this year, Cadillac Global Vice President Rory Harvey said the brand would introduce three new EVs before the end of December. It's possible that China just unveiled one of them. As part of China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) process for getting vehicles to market there, the MIIT releases photos and information for a public comment period. CNEVpost noticed one of the EVs recently released for public input is the Cadillac Optiq. This compact crossover takes a name that parent company General Motors applied to trademark in the U.S. a couple of years ago, then abandoned, then re-applied for just this month. A search of the EU trademark office reveals GM applied to reserve the name over there just this month, on July 11.
If everything lines up as we expect, the Optiq will enter various global markets under the Lyriq. It looks like a member of the family, the Lyriq's defining traits downsized and slightly redrawn for the scale.
It sits on the same BEV3 platform as the Chevrolet Equinox EV and Buick Electra twins. The Chinese ministry information lists the Optiq as having the same 116.3-inch wheelbase as the Equinox EV. Around the rest of the car, the China-market Optiq stands 189.8 inches long, 75.3 inches wide, and 64.6 inches high. Compared to the coming Equinox EV, the Cadillac's roof sits an inch higher, the other dimensions are less than an inch apart. Compared to our Lyriq, the Optiq is about seven inches shorter, 2.5 inches narrower, but again, its roof sits nearly an inch higher. The compact CUV weighs 4,850 pounds and maxes out at 112 miles per hour.
The site CNEVpost reported there were two Optiq trims listed, separated by a tenth of an inch in roof height. Both come with a single Ultium electric motor turning one of the axles. one motor produces 201 horsepower, the other 241 horsepower. In our market, the more powerful motor is used on the rear axle of AWD variants. We don't know what the setup will be in China, but we'd expect an AWD version for U.S. consumption. Battery capacity wasn't disclosed.
The Optiq is expected to launch in China in the latter half of this year. We'll be looking for it on our radar at the same time.
Related video:
Featured Gallery China-Market Cadillac Optiq
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