This photo provided by General Motors shows the Cadillac Lyriq. General Motors' Cadillac brand is the latest to roll out an electric vehicle with the promise of taking sales from market leader Tesla. Executives say the Lyriq midsize SUV will have a range of over 300 miles per charge as well as technology and features to pull buyers from Tesla. (GM via AP)
By Tom Krisher
We've seen this movie before, an electric vehicle from a mainstream automaker that will take away sales from market leader Tesla.
But General Motors executives say Cadillac's first fully-electric vehicle has all the features it needs to lure buyers where other companies fell short.
The Cadillac Lyriq, a midsize SUV that comes out first in China and reaches U.S. showrooms late in 2022, will be able to go more than 300 miles on a single charge. It will come in rear-drive and all-wheel-drive configurations with sleek looks, a premium interior, internet connectivity, a 33-inch dashboard touch screen, and a starting price tag somewhere below $75,000.
"Prior product offerings, at least on some of those measures, they fell a bit short," said Steve Carlisle, GM's North American president who used to run the Cadillac brand.
GM was to introduce a Lyriq "show car" Thursday night that executives say is close to the production version. And they're confident it will succeed where the Jaguar I-Pace and Audi e-tron thus far have failed.
The Lyriq will go head-to-head with Tesla's Model Y small SUV, which starts at just under $50,000. The Lyriq also could take sales from the Palo Alto, California, company's other models.
GM wouldn't release the SUV's exact range or price, nor would it say if the Lyriq would match or beat the Model Y's 316-mile range or best zero to 60 miles per hour (96.2 kilometers per hour) time of 3.5 seconds. The Model Y can easily top $60,000 with options.
But executives said the Lyriq's underpinnings are designed specifically to be an electric vehicle, with balanced weight distribution. They promised crisp handling and fast acceleration powered by the latest generation of nickel-cobalt-manganese-aluminum battery chemistry.
The Lyriq also will be able to park itself in parallel or perpendicular spaces without the driver being in the vehicle, similar to technology offered by Tesla. It also has direct current fast-charging capability, but charging times weren't released.
Jaguar's I-Pace and Audi's e-tron fell short of the Model Y on range, with the I-Pace going 234 miles per charge and the e-tron SUV at 222 miles.
Cox Automotive Executive Analyst Michelle Krebs said having a range of over 300 miles is important to customers, who in surveys still express fears of running out of juice in an electric vehicle. People also are concerned about charging vehicles outside their homes, but that network should be vastly better by the time the Lyriq goes on sale, she said. Tesla, which has its own global network of chargers, giving it an advantage over competitors.
Cadillac may check all the boxes to compete with Tesla, but it can't match the brand and the mystique of CEO Elon Musk, who also leads rocket company SpaceX, Krebs said.
"People buy a Tesla because it's a Tesla," she said. "Tesla has done an amazing job of building a brand, doing it without advertising and marketing, just pure enthusiasm from consumers."
To make inroads, Cadillac will have to change the way it sells electric vehicles, offering long test drives with delivery and pickup of test vehicles at the customer's convenience, she said.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
Cracker Barrel is sticking with its new logo. For now. But the chain is also apologizing to fans who were angered when the change was announced last week.
Elon Musk on Monday targeted Apple and OpenAI in an antitrust lawsuit alleging that the iPhone maker and the ChatGPT maker are teaming up to thwart competition in artificial intelligence.
