Cadillac Lyriq 2025 Review

The 2025 Cadillac Lyriq is priced from $117,000 plus on-road costs for the Luxury model, and the Lyriq Sport is priced marginally higher at $119,000 plus ORCs. Each variant is sourced from a General Motors factory in Tennessee.

While it’s similar in size to a Tesla Model Y, the Lyriq’s price means it’s more likely to compete with the likes of the BMW iX, Audi Q8 e-tron, Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV and Lexus RZ.

The 2025 Cadillac Lyriq Luxury and Sport models share the same basic list of equipment.

What distinguishes the two variants is the respective styling. While the Lyriq Luxury goes big on chrome for a shiny look, the Lyriq Sport replaces some of those glistening highlights with dark touches as well as body coloured door handles.

Each gets a panoramic sunroof, powered tailgate, three-zone ventilation, dual-zone ambient lighting, 360-degree camera, heated and folding exterior mirrors and powered front seats with inbuilt massage, ventilation and heating functions.

Imitation leather trim, known as Inteluxe, is standard, or buyers can choose from different grades of real leather, including Nappa.

There’s also a huge 33-inch display screen that integrates the instrument cluster and central infotainment functions.

Plus the Lyriq features a 19-speaker sound system by specialist Austrian brand AKG. That audio system also incorporates advanced noise cancelling that even anticipates the noise from bumps, providing a countering frequency to minimise what makes it to the occupants’ ears.

An AC charge cable plugs into a standard powerpoint for charging at home.

The Lyriq will be covered by a five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty with a separate eight-year, 160,000km warranty on the high voltage battery. Servicing is required every 12 months and 12,000km and the first five services (up to 60,000km) are included in the purchase price.

That said, it’s fair to say there won’t be as many locations to get it serviced in the official Cadillac network as key rivals.

The 2025 Cadillac Lyriq is flush with airbags, including front, front side and side curtain airbags. Knee airbags for the front occupants take the total to eight.

There’s also no shortage of driver assistance technology, including blind spot recognition with steering assistance, forward collision alert and autonomous emergency braking. Plus there’s a 360-degree camera and intersection auto emergency braking.

The lane departure and collision warning systems can get too eager with warnings, which are delivered as vibrations to the driver’s seat. One feature that won’t initially be offered in Australia is Super Cruise, the semi-autonomous drive system that allows bursts of hands-off driving.

Local regulations do not allow it. But GM Australia is working with local authorities with a view to having the tech approved.

The Lyriq hasn’t been crash tested by ANCAP.

The 2025 Cadillac Lyriq has a 33-inch curved screen that incorporates the instrument cluster and central infotainment screen. Between them there’s a high level of customisation available.

For the instrument cluster the driver can choose between a more traditional display or a “clean” layout that minimises information. Or you can choose an “assist” screen that showcases the driver assist functions, including the radar-operated cruise control system. It’s easily selected via a small touchpad to the side of the instrument cluster (it was on the left of our left-hand drive cars but will be on the right of Aussie-delivered vehicles). And the driver can even turn that instrument cluster into a map display, which then frees up the centre section of the screen for infotainment, phone or other settings.

The Lyriq uses the Android Automotive operating system, which embeds Google Maps in the infotainment technology suite. There’s also Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone connectivity, each available wirelessly.

Dual-zone ambient lighting allows the accented highlights to be one colour while the lower glowing areas can be a different colour; there are 126 colour choices.

Up front there are two USB-C ports, one in the covered centre console and another lower down in the open storage area. Occupants in the rear also have access to twin USB-C ports as well as an AC power outlet.

The massaging, heated and ventilated front seats are a nice addition, although activating them is a bit clunky. They’re operated from joystick-like controllers on either front door, each of which requires a twist and push/pull to adjust what you’re trying to achieve.

The central screen displays what it is you’re selecting, but the occasionally counter-intuitive operation can’t be overridden by simply pressing what you want on the touchscreen. Hopefully owners will get used to it…

One thing that won’t make its way Down Under is the illuminated grille and front Cadillac logo. Once again, local regulations prohibit it, which is a shame, because it looks cool. At least we get the waterfall start-up sequence for the headlights.

The 19-speaker AKG sound system is also thoroughly acceptable, with terrific clarity and depth. The addition of headrest-mounted speakers up front adds to the immersive audio experience.

Plus it has some advanced noise cancelling that not only hushes wind and tyre noise but also looks out for bumps to quell booming over rough roads.

The 2025 Cadillac Lyriq has two electric motors making a combined output of 388kW and 610Nm. That torque drives all four wheels through a reduction gear for a 0-100km/h acceleration time of around five seconds.

Translation: it’s quick and will have more than enough thrust for most owners.

That said, the car is also heavy. Granted, there’s currently no such thing as a featherweight EV, but at 2774kg the Lyriq is porkier than its rivals. That dulls performance slightly, although with such lofty numbers it’s still ample and makes for effortless pull whenever it’s required.

The Cadillac Lyriq has a 102kWh battery pack. Final figures are yet to be confirmed, but Cadillac expects the Lyriq to deliver about 530km of range, according to the WLTP test standard. As with all EVs, expect less than that in the real world, maybe 470km, or less again if travelling on a freeway.

Energy use is nothing special – it’s a heavy car! – with our drive yielding around 25kWh per 100km. That involved some occasionally spirited bursts, so expect better (ie: lower) figures around town. The official consumption figure is 22.5kWh/100km according to the WLTP cycle.

Home AC charging can recharge the battery at up to 22.1kW (in America the Lyriq’s AC charging is limited to 19.2kW). Those with a three-phase 22kW charger will be able to complete a full charge in about five hours. For the more common 7.4kW charger bank on more like 15 hours.

Faster DC charging can recharge at up to 190kW, which extends the range to 128km in as little as 10 minutes. Cadillac claims an extra 200km of range takes just 15 minutes.

The 2025 Cadillac Lyriq emphasises comfort and luxury, something that shines through in the driving experience.

It’s impressively quiet with little in the way of tyre and wind noise. The noise cancellation system also works to reduce the noise of bumps, something that seems to work.

The luxury focus also flows through to the suspension, although the cars we drove were running the American suspension tune whereas our cars will get a more dynamic European tune. Our cars will also ride on 21-inch wheels rather than the 22s of our Californian test car.

So there may be a whiff less compliance in the suspension but that’s offset by the additional air between the rim and the road. Either way, if our experience is anything to go by the Lyriq is suitably plush and settles swiftly over bumps.

There’s no hiding its heft, though. At almost 2.8 tonnes it’s a weighty beast. And while there’s loads of grip, quick direction changes remind you that the laws of physics still apply.

It’s a car that feels more comfortable nestling into a long, sweeping bend – or cruising on a freeway – rather than being asked to dart from one hairpin to the next.

The 2025 Cadillac Lyriq is not designed to go off-road.

Its all-wheel drive system is more about on-road traction while also providing additional drive grip on loose surfaces such as snow or gravel. The lack of a spare wheel reinforces its on-road focus.

The 2025 Cadillac Lyriq is officially a mid-sized SUV but it feels big inside.

It also has a very different design flavour to the German brands that dominate in the luxury market. Traditional wood and leather finishes dominate inside – although the standard seat trim is Interluxe fake leather (it’s convincing) – and there are enough silver finishes to brighten the cabin.

The silver panel surrounding the central air vents occasionally reflected Californian sunlight into our eyes during our day with the Lyriq.

A high-ish window line gives the impression of being nestled in the cabin, although there’s SUV-like height to the driving position in reality. The front seats are plush, although they could do with more lateral support.

That seating height is more obvious in the rear, where the high-ish floor (with batteries beneath) has knees a tad higher. At least there’s good head and legroom, the latter validatnig the Lyriq’s credentials as a spacious machine.

The Lyriq also provides plenty of places for bags and trinkets. In the raised floating centre console, there is a handy storage area closer to the floor and there’s a useful covered console. A slide-out tray in the dash is great for phones or valuables, and in a Tesla-like touch accessing the glovebox is done by pressing a virtual button in the screen.

There’s also no shortage of Cadillac crests reinforcing the brand that so many Australians know but which has to convince people to go American over the European brands that dominate in the luxury market. Some of those crests are functional, too; press the one on the back to open the boot, for example, while the side-mounted charge port is opened by pressing one of the Cadillac badges.

Trainspotters may notice the heritage badges on the ends of the dash, something only visible when the front doors are open. The crest on the back of the 33-inch screen is also a nice touch.

The 2025 Cadillac Lyriq has a 793-litre luggage space behind the back seats (there is no frunk, or under-bonnet storage).

Some of that storage space is beneath the floor in a handy compartment that’s perfect for smaller items or charging cables. Fold down the 60/40 split-folding back seats and that luggage space increases to 1722L.

The 2025 Cadillac Lyriq is something fresh in the luxury market, albeit with a brand name symbolising more than a century of heritage. But the freshness mainly focuses on its distinctive design, something that flows through to the cabin.

While it’s playing in rarefied EV air north of $100K, it brings space and some distinctive American metal to the table. Throw in a quiet and comfortable ride and some electric driving goodness and it at least deserves consideration for those chasing something different in the luxury space.

But Cadillac still has a mammoth task elbowing the more established luxury brands out of the way if it wants to tempt Aussies to switch sides.

2025 Cadillac Lyriq Sport at a glance:
Price: $119,000 (plus on-road costs)
Available: December 2024
Powertrain: Two permanent magnet synchronous motors
Output: 388kW/610Nm
Transmission: Single-speed reduction gear
Battery: 102kWh nickel manganese cobalt lithium-ion
Range: 530km (WLTP estimated)
Energy consumption: 22.5kWh/100km (WLTP)
Safety rating: Not tested

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