2023 Cadillac Lyriq

[jflogerzi]

So far my wife and parents love our EUV's. Super Cruise works great on my Parents bolt. (We could not afford to spring for one with SC)

[Dadhawk]

The Debut Edition Lyriq buyers received an email today saying all their cars will be produced in "the next 16 weeks" so basically by Christmas. That means mine should be on track for Q1. An example of the letter:

[Dadhawk]

On a related note, GM met it's "late August" start up of the Ultium Battery Plant in Lordstown, OH on 8/31. According to some press reports they are running at about 20% of capacity and will continue to ramp up to 100% by the end of 2023.

[Stonehorsw]

https://gmauthority.com/blog/2022/09...is-summer/amp/


Volume comparison between Lyriq and Hummer.

Not sure about the current volume of Lyriqs in China, but it is probably higher.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Stonehorsw

Volume comparison between Lyriq and Hummer.

What the article didn't say was the Hummer factory was shut down for a good portion of June/July while they retooled it for the upcoming Silverado EV.

The batteries were still coming from Korea and being hand-built for most this period. Now that Lordstown OH is in production mode and ramping up you would hope to see the production increase.

[Dadhawk]

Motor Week posts their TV segment on the Lyriq. Not much new, although some good looks at the interior. Also, no car is officially a car until Pat Davis does a voice over for it.

The one interesting piece is the XT5 Mr. Davis is standing in front of at the beginning is the same Opulent Blue Metallic as the one I have on order, confirming I made the right color choice between white, black, light black and the blue.

This is the same color on the C7 (called Admiral Blue but same paint code)

[Dadhawk]

Decent Q&A from Motrolix

[Dadhawk]

The Lyriq gets a Doug Score. No real surprises, although Doug uses the word "strange" a lot (he's not wrong) and doesn't realize SuperCruise doesn't work because it's not available yet. Note: this is a preproduction version of the car. You can tell by the dock on the screen, and a few other items.

[wbradley]

It's good that there is a steady stream of electric options coming down the pipe to look forward to. If you are prepared to pay a premium price and find Teslas on the boring or too common side, there are good up and coming models like Polestar 2 or 3, electric Volvos, etc. If Tesla is the Apple of electric cars, and I happen to prefer the higher end Samsung phones, that's sort of how I see electric cars. Other companies will prove themselves in the market over time as new vehicle production gradually transitions toward all electric. Audi e-tron sedan and SUV also look quite attractive. Apparently a Solterra STI will be available by 2025 MY, but who knows. I've got around 30K miles on my 2018 STI and I spend maybe $300/avg month on gas for that car so an equal level trade up (to electrification) could maybe be a $55k price point in my head. The Solterra STI will probably be the price of a Supra.

I like certain things about the Cadillac, but the paint doesn't look great in the video (might be the lighting) and that door for the charging port appeared flimsy. Aside from that if GM builds it and there is a capable dealer located nearby, why not? But don't expect to require zero service like a Scion FR-S. This is a new launch battery, motor and all so you can expect there to be some updates. If you had a conniption over condensation in the taillights or crickets when buying a first model year Toyobaru, then you won't have the tolerance for Cadillac's first electrified vehicle launch. On the other hand the vehicle will probably drive really nicely and hopefully the people handling any technical bulletins are pleasant and respectful of your time if need be.
It's funny trying to imagine waiting over a year for delivery. I hope that situation changes significantly over time, otherwise people might be speculating on them if that's possible. I read and see online that many US dealer put markups above MSRP on models many that I'd pass on for others in the equal segment easily. Perhaps in less populated places this is prevalent or when certain brands have had literally a few new vehicles on their dealer lots. In Ontario dealer markup is illegal. The workaround is to register ther car as sold, in which case it might be a service loaner, staff use, or just sitting with its new vehicle Information showing the vehicle as sold. But it is largely frowned upon, and considering MSRP usually includes 8.5% to 20% for the dealer, depending on models, that should be sufficient margin combined with a dealers other typical revenue streams. Adding $5K or more to the invoice does not mean that vehicle will be worth that much more in 3 or 4 years time. It's just a market adjustment to anticipated demand. A dealer could shoot himself in the foot if the market will not bear it, though.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by wbradley

It's good that there is a steady stream of electric options coming down the pipe to look forward to....

All good points.

On the charging door, I don't think it's flimsy but the mechanics are odd, like they have it shaking stuff off when it opens. There really hasn't been a good explanation of it in the pre-production cars (which all the reviews are based off of so far).

I've owned my share of first year GM products, and really can't say they've been any worse than any other first year product. Most of the concerns here will be software which can be fixed OTA. They've already had an update to fix an issue with the screen. I'm also not prone to throwing a fit over these types of things.

As far as delivery times, that seems to be "standard" with EVs regardless of brand. Most ICE vehicles aren't sold well in advance of the start of production, so we just aren't used to it. It will improve over time.

The big constraints for GM right now are the batteries. With the Lordstown Ultium plant moving into production that should help with that over time. The old Saturn plant in Springhill, TN where the Lyriq is being built is capable of producing 600 cars a day (200K a year) so once they get rolling production shouldn't be a problem.

As far a dealer tricks, there is some of that going on but it's not as common as the Internet makes it seem. Most dealers are selling at MSRP, and the Lyriq is quite a bargain at that price (EV or ICE). My dealer has already committed to MSRP and I always have the option to walk away if they do something else.

[fredzy]

I read this article the other day (Torch is one of my favorite people) and thought of you, Mr. @Dadhawk

https://www.theautopian.com/nobody-w...s-to-stop-now/

Not so much about the Lyriq, but about one of its features.

I have to hand it to Doug for maintaining his composure here; I can only imagine moments after this video was shot he was behind a tree, sobbing and vomiting and shaking all over, while one of Doug’s many handlers surrounded him, covering him with medicated salves and telling him that somehow everything will be fine.

[Dadhawk]

@fredzy I don't disagree with that, it seems silly to me as well. Great article/rant. I've done it myself, like when test driving the Mach E.

The newest version has the glovebox release icon on the bottom of the display in the "home" area so it is always present at least. That's an improvement instead of being three clicks away.

At first there was speculation that the SD card for the 360 view recording was in the glovebox, but it's in the trunk area. I can't justify it.

Then again, I don't remember the last time I opened my glovebox so there's that!

[fredzy]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

Then again, I don't remember the last time I opened my glovebox so there's that!

One of the first things that came to mind for me was security. Like, a techy way of locking your glove box. If you keep certain important articles in there this could be good for you. I wasn’t brave enough to suggest this on the article ha.

Then again, the best implementation of that would be a regular latch with the infotainment option to lock it. There would probably be a way to do it with smart key proximity even.

[wbradley]

One of the pitfalls of new tech stuff is that is overcomplicates simple tasks and creates addition failure points. In the case of a glove box, at the very least there should be a manual release somewhere.