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)
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The interior is nice, but sooner or later, I’d have to get out, and I might accidentally look at the exterior.
Another example of pictures vs reality is this car. In photos the rear end looks okay if slightly odd, but in person it’s just straight ugly. I’m torn because I’d rather have car designs at least try something different, it’s nice when cars are more unique; but man, most of the time you get an ugly, busy mess like this thing.
The power and acceleration numbers are great, but that range for 105KWh is disappointing. But it’s inline with similar in the field. 368Wh/mi puts it right in with the Q4 50, GV70, etc. The bulk will always be limiting.
As energy prices bounce around (and changing administrations threatens big electricity rate hikes) high power EV SUVs have minimal cost advantages to ICE (but do still offer more grunt).
Change the proportions and lower it and there might be a pretty sweet wagon in there somewhere. As it is, I think it looks ugly. An ugly deal, perhaps, but still ugly to me.
lol, I thought this was a wagon!
It might be. Depends who you ask, I suppose.
So Caddy is spittin Lyriqs faster than Eminem?
The V brand has become a rather ironic tribute to a part of the logo (wreath) killed off ten years ago.
Actually gave me an idea for the branding folks at Cadillac. Take the current trend of blacking out badges, and black out the Cadillac badge. Add a chrome wreath (or stylized V) back underneath the logo.
Now you have an entire line of sporty options, that have their own distinct look, and made the V moniker logical again.
I always liked the wreath. Thought Cadillac killed off the wrong part of the logo in 2014. Should have killed the crest, kept the wreath, since it both symbolizes wealth and has a “C” shape for Cadillac.
“For decades, Cadillac’s V brand has been a…”
Decades? The first V (CTS-V) was introduced in 2004, thus barely clearing the hump of plurality. Ah, you kids and your short lifespans so far! Keep it coming…
Barely clearing still clears.
As pointless as a Tesla P100 or whatever they’re called
after consulting your doctor, catvommit may be right to control future Lyriq outbreaks.
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.
I would say anyone shopping for a Range Rover would be an ideal customer here.
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 can’t answer for the Lyric specifically, but I can answer for a performance EV two-row SUV (Mach-E GT):
The semi-automated hands-free cruise control in the Mach-E doesn’t seem to affect the range much, but it’s hard to tell as I only use it on long high-speed freeway stretches where EVs aren’t typically the most efficient anyway.
The biggest power draw on the battery will always be the traction motors. If you’re romping on the throttle, your range (and tire wear) will see a huge impact. If you drive like a sane person in decent weather (I’m not talking hypermiling here whatsoever), it’s pretty easy for me to get the 270mile EPA range estimate. I’d expect the Lyriq to be much the same.
Thank you for the reply! Makes sense.
I was just wondering about dumb stuff like if turning off the massive sound system would make any difference. That kinda stuff.
weight of the sound system (speaker magnets are heavy, and this has a lot of them) may actually make a bigger difference than dropping from moderate to mild volume levels.
Sure, but again, any accessory mass is dwarfed by the traction battery weight.
Putting smaller wheels and tires on makes a decent difference. A good example of this is the Kia EV6.
-Wind RWD and GT-Line RWD have the same power and the same 19” wheel and tires and the same 310 mile range.
-The Wind AWD has the same wheels and tires and more power and drops down to 282 miles.
-The GT-Line AWD has the same power as the Wind AWD but has 20” wheels and wider tires, and drops down to 252 miles.
-The GT AWD which has further increased power and 21” wheels drops down to 218 miles.
So 1” in wheel size(and increased width) is a ~10% penalty to range. I would guess if you took the GT and fitted 19” wheels and tires(I think they would still fit over the 15” brakes??), and drove without mashing the throttle you could get back at least 10%, maybe closer to 20%.
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.
I feel like Caddy either nails design, or it looks cobbled together with no cohesion. Most of them today are pretty stunning to look at. This one is not.
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 think you missed the point – the vehicle was in an accident, and due to lack of parts from GM, for a car currently *in production*, it has been out of service for 9 months and counting. GM is more interested in selling a new car than supporting a customer with a current one. Prospective owners should take note.
Yeah, similar thing happened to me with my Wrangler 4xe in ‘23 – ended up deciding to lemon law that one and buy a used Wrangler with the Pentastar for half the money.
Then I started buying parts and tools to learn to wrench on it. And if I’m lucky I’ll never have to deal with Jeep corporate again (and with my local Jeep dealers, for that matter).
Have done suspension, flooring, battery system, lights, bumper, winch, and, most importantly a couple awesome weekends of offroad driving classes. And I’m still below what that 4xe had cost me – good riddance!
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 🙂
I don’t get it at all. And all the brands are doing it. I checked out an Audi dealer site and at least half the cars had the “black optic package” that blacks out the grill (and Audi rings) and usually has black wheels or something else that just ruins the look of the car. Toyota loves their “Nightshade” packages, which I don’t think has looked good once.
A bright spot though, I noticed the 2025 M240i has lost much of its piano black exterior trim for body color. Looks so much better.