For decades, Cadillac’s V brand has been a beloved fixture of the high-performance car world. Its brawny engines and solid value made for American sports sedans that were often more interesting than the German competition. These days, electrification is looming, and making the jump from V8s to electrons sounds like it could be tricky indeed. Well, here’s a glimpse into a brand-new era. The Cadillac Lyriq-V, the brand’s first electric performance car, is here. Not only is it the quickest Cadillac to date, it also looks to be a bit of a bargain.
Let’s start with the headline figures: 615 horsepower and 650 lb.-ft. of torque. If that sounds suspiciously similar to the claimed output of the Cadillac Vistiq three-row electric crossover, you might be onto something. Nevertheless, it’s enough thrust to get the Lyriq-V from zero-to-60 mph in a claimed 3.3 seconds. That’s quicker than BMW claims for the iX M60 and quicker than Mercedes claims for the AMG EQE SUV, and quicker than the formerly-quickest Cadillac, the CT5-V Blackwing. Mind you, it’s not quite as quick as the admittedly smaller five-person chiropractic appointment formally known as the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, but that’s more of a vehicle for the mosh pit crowd than the orchestral pit crowd.
Acceleration isn’t the only department in which the Cadillac Lyriq-V competes with the Germans on paper. A massive 102 kWh battery pack helps substantially in pursuit of a 285-mile claimed range. That’s 55 miles more than the AMG EQE SUV and identical to the range of the iX M60. Not bad considering the impact of summer tires on massive 22-inch wheels.
Straight-line pace and long-distance range are great, but what about all the other things that make a performance vehicle a performance vehicle? Well, the Lyriq-V comes with fixed monoblock Brembo front calipers, recalibrated adaptive dampers, and adjustable seat bolsters all promise greater control than the standard Lyriq, while a quicker steering ratio and a variety of relaxed stability control modes should let this performance crossover be a little more playful than a regular one. I’m rather curious about the synthetic sounds Cadillac’s engineered for the Lyriq-V, as that’s a tricky line to walk. If it’s done right, it could be great. If it’s not, it might be a feature you’d want to turn off.
Alright, since we all know that virtually nobody will be launching the 5,980-pound Lyriq-V through the esses at Sonoma, what about regular luxury crossover stuff, like fancy equipment? Well, the Lyriq-V doesn’t skimp here. A 23-speaker AKG audio system? Standard. Super Cruise hands-free Level 2 advanced driver assistance? Standard. Available embroidered Nappa leather? Yep, that’s on the options list. It all seems poised to match up well with German competitors, except for one thing — The 2026 Cadillac Lyriq-V is wildly less expensive than those rivals, with a starting price of $79,990 including freight.
Now, $79,990 is still a lot of money, but in the context of other midsize luxury electric crossovers, it’s actually a bargain. A base model BMW iX xDrive50 costs $8,435 more than this top-dog high-output Lyriq, and the Lyriq-V is only $940 more than a Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV 350 4Matic, an amorphous blob of alphabet soup that gives you a three-pointed star but only 253 miles of range and a zero-to-60 mph time north of six seconds.
So, if you’re in the market for a posh two-row electric crossover, why not wait a bit and see what the 2026 Cadillac Lyriq-V has in store? If it drives half as well as it sounds on paper, Cadillac could have a winner on its hands. Expect it to roll into showrooms soon, since production’s kicking off in the first quarter of this year.
(Photo credits: Cadillac)
Support our mission of championing car culture by becoming an Official Autopian Member.
-
The 2025 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing Precision Package Looks Like The Most Hardcore Cadillac Ever
-
You Can Buy A 556-Horsepower Supercharged Cadillac CTS-V For The Price Of A New Civic Si
-
Cadillac Announces That Vistiq Ain’t Cheap
-
The $150,000 Electric Cadillac Escalade IQ Costs As Much As This Actual Military Jet
-
Cadillac Is Joining F1 And There’s Nothing You Can Do About It
Please send tips about cool car things to tips@theautopian.com. You could even win a prize!
I’m curious as to who this is for. If you’re after an SUV for practical reasons, the price and range are prohibitive. If you’re after a quick EV, there are other cheaper and quicker options. If you’re after a performance SUV then there are Durangos, X5s, AMGs, and Trackhawks. I just don’t know what the overlap is between “I want a fast SUV” and “I want an EV”, but I could be wrong.
Unless you ever have a need for a front bumper….
Tired: No front bumper
Wired: No rear bumper
Expired: No door moldings
This appeals to EVERYONE!
? I’m referring to the guy who has been waiting 9 months for a replacement front bumper for his Lyriq.
So…two questions:
Thanks.
I love Cadillacs! I buy them used so some rich old guy gets to take the depreciation hit. Maybe I’ll have one of these in five years. Who knows?
The only problem with the Vistiq being this fast is that people will have to spend more time looking at the back half.
I am here for this and Spikedlemon’s comments about the rear. I saw one. The outward-sloping taillights look apologetic and the pasted-on backlight reaches Aztek levels of awkwardness. Just a sad, shlumpy vibe. It’s like the designer was overcome by fatigue when they reached the rear axle.
Having seen a few of the Caddy EVs in the wild, the rear end of it looks awful.
But I’m not sure I’m target market for it.
This damn thing weighs almost the exact same amount as an all wheel drive Escalade. I get that EVs are inherently heavier than ICE vehicles but there is just no goddamn reason why this “performance” model needs to weigh as much as a BOF luxury SUV. It’s lunacy.
Hoping that range estimate is conservative. 285 miles out of 105kw is not great.
Sounds like the iX M60 it’s being compared to can do 330 at 70mph despite similar EPA ratings so let’s hope for that here too.
There’s a Lyric owner who has been waiting 9 months for bumper parts. GM is too busy making new ones to make repair parts. So maybe wait until they are willing to make spare parts before buying one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiP5V7le5qA
What bumper? To me a “bumper” is “inexpensive durable part that takes punishment to prevent damaging something expensive”. Any physical contact on a Lyriq immediately breaks something expensive. The linked video doesn’t seem to have a picture to illustrate the problem, so I can’t see what is being misnamed as bumper, but I stand by my position this car is missing bumpers that can take a bump.
[old man yelling at cloud.gif]
I still find it ironic that black accents and wheels are considered sporty and ‘premium’ in this day and age. To me those used to represent the base trim options when you couldn’t afford the brightwork on higher end models. Don’t even get me started on how it’s now all gloss black too which is only going to scratch and look worse in a decade, not like the old unpainted stuff which you could fix with some ‘Back to Black’ in an afternoon.
I think there’s kind of a continuum from black/basic to chromey/premium BUT also with the offshoot of “black = sporty” (tinted windows, tails, eventually wheels).
I don’t hate it, but it’s also confusing now when I see a black-trimmed car and I can’t tell if it’s the nice one or the poverty spec 🙂