General Motors President Mark Reuss wasn't kidding when he said in 2019 that it was electric or bust for Cadillac.
Every new vehicle launch from Cadillac going forward will be electric, at least here in North America, Cadillac brand boss Rory Harvey said on Wednesday during an online presentation for the reveal of the 2023 Lyriq crossover, the brand's first battery-electric vehicle.
It means the current crop of Cadillacs will be the brand's last to be equipped with internal-combustion engines. Harvey estimated that the full lineup will be electric by 2030, or five years earlier than when GM expects its full lineup to be electric.
“We will be leaving this decade as an EV brand as things stand today,” he said. “We will not be selling ICE vehicles by 2030.”
2023 Cadillac Lyriq
2023 Cadillac Lyriq
2023 Cadillac Lyriq
Recently launched models like the Escalade and CT4 and CT5 sedans will soldier on with their internal-combustion engines for a while, but the vehicles won't receive any updates. Instead, Cadillac will invest its resources on new EVs.
We already have an idea of what's coming next. A flagship electric sedan to be called the Celestiq is coming soon. Cadillac has also confirmed plans for a crossover about the size of the compact XT4. There will also be a three-row crossover slightly bigger than the Lyriq and a full-size SUV that Cadillac describes as an Escalade-inspired vehicle.
Cadillac is now in a growing list of automakers that have confirmed plans to phase out the internal-combustion engine by the end of this decade. The list includes Bentley, Jaguar, Mini and Volvo. Even Aston Martin has said that all of its road cars will be electric by 2030, though the automaker will still offer track-only models with internal-combustion engines beyond that date.
Cadillac will start accepting orders for the Lyriq in September and plans to put the vehicle into production in the first half of 2022. Pricing starts at a sharp $59,990, including destination, which includes a well-equipped vehicle with a 340-hp rear-wheel-drive configuration and a 100-kilowatt-hour battery good for over 300 miles of range.
