2023 Cadillac Lyriq concept

Cadillac enjoyed two years of increasing sales pre-pandemic, but MotorTrend hasn’t exactly been singing the praises of its heart-of-market XT4, XT5, and XT6 crossover vehicles. The brand hopes to change our tune with the 2023 Cadillac Lyriq (like a song’s words), by giving it dramatic proportions and a new face, plus Tesla-esque electric performance, range, and technology.

- Frank Markus

Technically, the “show car” you’re seeing here is a concept, but Cadilla cassures us it’s 80–85 percent production-ready. With the 2023 model year two years away, you can expect the final production Lyriq to look very similar.

Its Ultium EV platform will feature rear-or performance all-wheel drive, powered by an underfloor structural battery featuring nickel-cobalt manganese-aluminum chemistry that supports 150-kW public DC fast charging and 19-kW Level 2 home charging (double what current home chargers provide).

So far, Cadillac is only claiming “more than 300 miles” of range. Officials add that whatever the number is for the reardrive model, expect to subtract 20–30 miles for the performance AWD version. Cadillac isn’t ready to share power and torque figures, weight estimates, or many other specific details. We do know that its center of gravity is expected to be 100mm (3.9 inches) lower than the XT5’s and that its front/rear weight distribution will be very close to 50/50. The standard rear-drive and performance AWD models will both deliver rear-biased accelerative traction and driving dynamics, no doubt assisted by fast-acting magnetic ride control shocks.