Cadillac’s luxury EV crossover gets the V treatment, and while it may lose a few miles of range, it gains some serious power and speed. After five-hundred miles and a week of driving it, charging it, and letting it drive me, I came away impressed by the power, the looks, and even the value of Cadillac’s fastest vehicle ever.
First Impressions
Press fleet vehicles usually come in some flashy color that isn’t what I would personally choose—bright orange or lime green when all you want is black or charcoal. So, when I stepped outside my house and saw this stunning, velvety dark green SUV in my driveway, I was very pleasantly surprised. Cadillac calls the color Emeral Lake Metallic, and it was a contender for the most beautiful press fleet vehicle I’ve ever had. And it wasn’t just my opinion. I saw and listened to the way people reacted to it. I can’t remember a time I got more compliments on the color and overall looks of a press vehicle, from both men and women, no matter their demographic.
The interior luxury—the knobs, toggles, and trim—were tip-top luxury. I have recently driven EVs that cost tens of thousands of dollars more than the Lyriq-V, but those vehicles don’t feel any more luxurious. The sound system is phenomenal, and the massaging seats kept my blood flowing while I used the Lyriq’s hands-free Super Cruise (more on that below) to chauffeur me down the road.
Performance & Experience
Before I talk about how fast the Lyriq-V is, I have to say that it’s a very easy car to just get in and start driving. Sometimes I sit in a new vehicle and it’s disorienting. Why did they turn the windshield wiper control into a button? Why do I have to adjust the steering wheel deep in a menu? There’s a tendency for some EV makers to fix what ain’t broken. But getting into the Lyriq-V, I felt instantly familiar with the setup. It’s only when I put my foot on the pedal that I was hit with just how different the Lyriq-V is.
The Lyriq-V has 615 horsepower 650 pound-feet of torque, and a 0-60 mph time of 3.3 seconds, making it the quickest Cadillac ever. You expect power and torque in any EV, but the V delivers that extra something—almost like there’s a dragster muscle car hidden in the drivetrain. I did not have the proper stretch of road to test out the Launch Control, sadly, but I did take it on an abandoned bridge to nowhere, where I was able to push and feel what it’s capable of. The Lyriq-V is Beauty and The Beast, all in one.
On the less sexy but life-improving side of things, the hands-free driving, Super Cruise, was one of the best I’ve ever tested. You’d think this hands-free tech would all be the same by now, like switching from a Sony TV to a Samsung. But it’s not. Some systems are inconsistent and buggy. Super Cruise was the first time I ever felt so comfortable placing trust in a hands-free system that I used it for every freeway mile of my road trip. I took it to a filming of the new season of Top Chef, and I took it to visit family. Everywhere I went, I’d get the same reaction: “It’s beautiful, but how does it drive?”
I don’t think I ever gave an answer I was proud of. All my responses felt pretty lame. “Good!” I’d reply, saying essentially nothing. The issue was that it felt like it was a car I already owned. That’s how comfortable I felt in it after just a couple of days. I didn’t have the novel superlatives I usually have with a review loaner because I felt too close to it.
I’ll try to do better now: I loved the way it handled in every kind of driving. The feel of the steering wheel in my hands. The power to change lanes so fast the truck driver doesn’t even have time to flip you off. Even at slow speeds in downtown Charleston, I loved little things like the way it shifts on the steering column, or how smoothly I could back out of my driveway and then quickly shift into drive. These little refinements add up. It was the automotive equivalent of walking out of a store wearing a new shirt or a new pair of shoes that look so natural on you, it’s like they were already yours.
The 285 miles of range did give me some anxiety. That’s 18 miles less than the non-V Lyriq, and while within the EV category, 285 miles is certainly respectable, it was a little close for comfort on a few different occasions. With the NACS adapter, I had more choices in where to charge. But in the Southeast where I live, the EV infrastructure still isn’t where it needs to be to make road trips fully stress free.
Final Thoughts
The Lyriq-V starts at an MSRP of $78,000, but the one I drove had a price of $88,000. Even so, it still felt well priced. There is a real supercar aura to it that’s undeniable. You feel it behind the wheel and in the way people stare at it. But even if I were all alone, without the gazes and compliments of strangers, I would have been thrilled to have a full charge and a long, winding road ahead of me.
I don’t personally own an EV, but every time I borrow one for a week, I learn a bit more about the subtle lifestyle changes that come with the technology itself. This time around, my perspective on EVs shifted notably. Because of the 285-mile range of the Lyriq-V, relative to my 240-mile drive, I had to stop once in each direction at a fast charging station. Usually, it’s a trip I can make on a full tank of gas with miles to spare. On the first leg of the journey, I let myself get annoyed by having to stop. I’m one of those drivers (and fathers) who is always trying to complete the stop-free road trip.
But on the return trip, on the advice of my wife, I chose to embrace the stop. Instead of sitting in the car and staring at the display, bitching about other cars pulling up and slowing down the wattage, I just let go. I parked the car, plugged in the charger, and went to lunch with my family. We had an experience in a new place where we never would have stopped otherwise. Now, instead of a slightly earlier arrival home weeks ago that would mean nothing to me today, I have a memory that does.
