Today is your moment. You’re living in the EV transition. In 20 years, your only vehicle may be electric. You might even own or want to buy an electric car like the 2024 Cadillac Lyriq right now. That sounds amazing!

But change is painful. It’s made more difficult by unrealistic emissions targets and those unwilling to change. General Motors (GM) sold 134,726 Cadillacs in 2022. Only 122 of those were the Lyriq. It was second only to GMC’s Hummer EV as the worst-selling vehicle in GM’s fleet, according to GoodCarBadCar. Yet the electric Caddy lives on in the 2024 Cadillac Lyriq, which exists, allegedly. Meanwhile, Tesla’s teasing its cheaper Model 2, which may also exist, allegedly.

It doesn’t take a genius to see what’s wrong with this picture. How can a car that cost $2 billion to develop flop this badly? We’ll get to that, but first, a formal introduction to the 2024 Cadillac Lyriq.

2024 Cadillac Lyriq price and specs

Pricing for the 2024 Cadillac Lyriq starts at $59,990. If you can find one, you’ll get a lot of features, even with the base model.

2024 Cadillac Lyriq: see prices at CarGurus

2024 Cadillac Lyriq Tech

• Price: $59,990
• Battery capacity: 102 kWh
• Power: 340 hp (255 kW), 325 lb-ft of torque
• EPA-estimated range: 312 miles (RWD)

2024 Cadillac Lyriq Luxury

• Price: $68,990
• Battery capacity: 102 kWh
• Power: 340 hp (255 kW), 450 lb-ft of torque
• EPA-estimated range: 307 miles (AWD)

2024 Cadillac Lyriq Sport

• Price: $76,990
• Battery capacity: 102 kWh
• Power: 500 hp (255 kW), 450 lb-ft of torque (440 Nm)
• EPA-estimated range: 307 miles (AWD)

Exterior color options

• Argent Silver Metallic
• Stellar Black Metallic
• Crystal White Tricoat
• Opulent Blue Metallic 
• Radiant Red Tintcoat 
• Emerald Lake Metallic
• Celestial Metallic
• Nimbus Metallic

Exterior dimensions

• Height: 63.9″
• Length: 196.7″
• Width: 86.9″ (including mirrors) 

2024 Cadillac Lyriq interior and tech

Interior color options

• Noir inteluxe seats, two tone upper bolster accents
• Noir inteluxe seats, santorini blue accents, perforated inserts, dark paperwood trim
• Sky cool gray inteluxe seats, santorini blue accents, perforated inserts, dark PaperWood trim
• Oxford stone full nappa leather seats, garnet accents, perforated inserts, Dark Ash genuine open pore wood trim, backlit door accents

Interior dimensions

• 28.0 cubic-feet, rear seatbacks up
• 60.8 cubic-feet, rear seatbacks down

GM put the Lyriq in luxury with this interior. Ambient lighting and physical buttons are a welcome addition. Being an EV means the inside of the car is roomy by default. The engineers struck a fine balance between minimalism and comfort. From the classic wood trim to the understated seats, the Lyriq’s interior blends the old with the new in a way that’s distinctively Cadillac.

If you’re into tech, the driver assist package gets you automatic e-braking, adaptive cruise control, parking assist, and blind spot steering assist. The luxury and sport trims can use Supercruise, GM’s legally-not-self-driving “hands-free driver assistance technology for compatible roads.” But that requires an additional subscription.

2024 Cadillac Lyriq range and charging

The Lyriq comes with a 22-ft “Dual-Level” charge cord. The vehicle accepts up to 240-Volt/7.7 kW for up to 21 miles of range per hour of charge. As with most EVs, you can add a Level 2 charger for a faster charge – more on that here.

2024 Cadillac Lyriq Tech

• Electric range:  314 miles (RWD)
• Level 2 charging time: Up to 21 miles of range per hour
• DC fast charging time: 77 miles of range in 10 minutes

2024 Cadillac Lyriq Luxury

• Electric range:  307 miles (AWD)
• Level 2 charging time: Up to 21 miles of range per hour
• DC fast charging time: 77 miles of range in 10 minutes

2024 Cadillac Lyriq Sport

• Electric range:  309 miles (AWD)
• Level 2 charging time: Up to 21 miles of range per hour
• DC fast charging time: 77 miles of range in 10 minutes

2024 Cadillac Lyriq powertrain and 0-60 performance

EVs are known to be rocket ships off the line. The Cadillac Lyriq rear-wheel drive (RWD) has a 0-60 mph time of 5.7 seconds. The all-wheel drive (AWD) version beats that comfortably with 4.6 seconds. Of course, 340 hp and a single motor is more than enough for a luxury SUV. If you want to a bit faster, the luxury and sport trims give you 500 hp and 340 lb.-ft of torque.

Lyriq RWD

• Electric motor power: 340 hp (255 kW), 325 lb.-ft. of torque (440 Nm)
• Battery capacity: 102 kWh 
• Top speed: 118 mph (190 km/h)
• Acceleration: 6 seconds
• Drivetrain: Permanent magnet electric single-drive motor

Lyriq AWD

• Electric motor power: 500 hp (373 kW), 450 lb.-ft. of torque (610 Nm)
• Battery capacity: 102 kWh
• Top speed: 130 mph (200 km/h)
• Acceleration: 4.6 seconds
• Drivetrain: Permanent magnet electric dual-drive motor

Poor sales numbers

Early production issues put a complete stop to Lyriq deliveries. 2022 saw a vehicle’s software management update, a fix for cracking liftgate panel, and a recall for display issues. 

Cadillac is not the only legacy automaker having trouble with EVs. Toyota had to recall its bZ4X electric SUV because, I shit you not, its wheels were falling off. An I Think You Should Leave sketch come to life. Hyundai is currently the subject of an NHTSA probe into “complete power loss while driving.”

Cadillac dealership ultimatum

In 2021, dealerships were offered a take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum: Pay $200,000 to upgrade your dealership to our new electric branding, or sell your dealership for $500,000. The service costs related to EVs are much less than ICE vehicles, so a loss in revenue for the dealership is almost guaranteed. 

Much of this underperformance can be attributed to the higher cost of electric cars when compared to gas options.

As Harold Meyerson from The American Prospect recently pointed out, “The big problem for EVs from a price standpoint is that the whole industry has decided that the only way to cater to American tastes is to make their EV fleet out of trucks and SUVs, eliminating the economical sedans that might be affordable.”

But even most of those SUVs and trucks are EV counterparts to premium offerings in each automaker’s respective lineups. Ford has an F-150 Lightning, for example, but it doesn’t offer all-electric variants of the more affordable Maverick and the mid-size Ranger. That may help to explain why the average price of an EV is closer to that of a luxury vehicle than a midrange or economy car across all segments.

That doesn’t even include used cars, which accounted for 74.8% of vehicle sales in the U.S. in 2022, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA). Reduced volume also means dealerships have to mark up their inventory much higher than MSRP. A car on the lot doesn’t translate to an automatic sale. 

EV charging still sucks

The U.S. government has done a great job rolling out EV charging stations. Still, access to charging stations is poor. The average EV charging time is around 40 minutes – and that’s if you find a fast charger. That can be tough considering there are 21 electric vehicles for every charging port available.

That said, EVs can charge overnight and just 4.9% of trips are longer than 30 miles. However, range anxiety is still a stumbling block for potential EV buyers.

The Lyriq exists to meet emissions targets

Let’s be honest for a moment, current EPA emissions targets are next to impossible for manufacturers to meet. Consumer demand is not shifting fast enough. We’re nowhere close to achieving a clean energy grid. Although U.S battery production is on a monumental upswing, a litany of challenges still exist.

The Lyriq is an investor peg on a large board. GM needs to make the transition to electric vehicles without impacting the sales of its ICE vehicles, which are in higher demand and cheaper to build. 

It’s hard not to be reminded of the 2006 documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? which detailed the EV1, GM’s first electric car it intentionally sabotaged just so it wouldn’t have to make another one. Rather than selling the car to the people who wanted to buy it, the company opted instead to make life hell for anyone that dared ask to take one home. And because the EV1 was only available as a lease, GM eventually took back its supply and crushed nearly every car.

In other words, the EV1 was less of a commercial product and more of an elaborate ploy to tell the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to go fuck themselves. While I’m not saying that’s the case with the Lyriq, how’s that saying go? History doesn’t repeat itself but the lyrics rhyme. Now we call them compliance cars. You don’t need an industrial compactor to destroy a glorified concept car.

The EV outlook

Global EV sales don’t align with emissions targets. BEVs – those with fully electric powertrains as opposed to plug-in hybrids like the Alfa Romeo Tonale we reviewed – made up only 5.8% of U.S. vehicle sales last year, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Norway led the charge with 71% of new car sales being all-electric. EV-Volumes sheds light on the reality of our so-called electrified future:

“In a scenario towards 100% zero-emission global light vehicle sales in 2045 (as an example for the math), the total number of BEVs in operation reaches 1.1 billion, while the total number of vehicles in operation reaches 2 billion in 2045. By then, over 55% of the stock are BEVs but the sobering truth is also that, with current scrapping rates, over 40% of vehicles in operation still need to burn fuels.”

FAQs

When will my Cadillac Lyriq be delivered?

If you were part of the initial sign-up, chances are you’ve already received multiple emails, delaying the delivery of your car. EV tax credit issues and software glitches caused initial poor supply.

Does the Cadillac Lyriq qualify for a tax credit?

The vehicle was not classified as an SUV, but as a car, so it did not qualify for the EV tax credit of ~$7500, further delaying production. Q1 2023 saw 968 Lyriqs and GM expect production to ramp up in Q2 and Q3. So you may get your Cadillac Lyriq as late as November.

Is the Cadillac Lyriq reliable?

This is the first fully-electric Cadillac vehicle. There are bound to be teething issues. The J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study ranked the Cadillac brand 9th overall, above BMW and Mercedes Benz. GM continues to invest in and improve its Ultium BEV platform as well.

When will the Cadillac Lyriq be available at a GM dealership?

Delivery to a dealership can take up to 100 days. Production has ramped up this year with 8,000 vehicles expected to be delivered.

Allow me to preface this by saying, the worst car ever made is a matter of opinion, which is great because this is an opinion piece. If you want an objective list of bad cars, you’re not going to find one. The quality of a car, like most things, is in the eye of the beholder. In an interview with Japanese automotive publication Magazine-X, I waxed poetic about my 2018 BMW 4 Series convertible, which seemed to always be in the shop for one reason or another. It’s since been put out to pasture (i.e., sold to a new lucky owner through AutoNation), but was it a good car? To me it was everything.

While the best car of all time is the one you enjoyed driving the most, the worst car ever made is the one that made you want to scream it was so appalling to drive. In all honesty, that car for me was the Toyota Aurus I rented in Iceland, but I didn’t choose to write about that one because it felt like punching down. It was an older model with a lot of mileage under its belt, and while I’m unsure why it was still in Hertz’s fleet given Iceland’s erratic climate, I can’t fault the car too much for the decisions of its owner. Instead, I picked a topic close to my heart, as you’ll see later on.

Until then, the rest of the Acceleramota editorial team has unleashed their outrage over the worst cars to buy, according to people who’ve had the misfortune of driving them. So, if you found a used one cheap on Bring a Trailer, just don’t.

4 strong contenders for the worst cars ever made

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1991 Pontiac Sunbird

by Roger Feeley-Lussier

Learn more about the 1991 Pontiac Sunbird

My dad and I bought my first car in 1999 from a retired cop in Quincy, MA. It was a 1991 Ford Mustang (2.3-liter), and for about a year it was my entire personality. See, at Apponequet Regional High School, you were either a Mustang Guy or a Camaro Guy – and my family was a Ford Family, so I knew what I had to do. My friends lovingly called my red Mustang “The Muscort” because it had the 2.3L Ford Escort engine. I felt like I was on top of the world. 

Then, one Friday night during senior year, the Muscort was summarily executed while I was with the marching band at an away football game. A freshman piloting his mom’s car had obliterated the Muscort, sandwiching it between the Grand Am he shouldn’t have been driving and a minivan. I was crestfallen. I thought things couldn’t get any worse, until we went back to Quincy, MA where that same retired cop sold me a car that he claimed was “even better than that Mustang!” It was a 1991 Pontiac Sunbird, and it sucked ass.

Not only was the Sunbird not a valid competitor in the Mustang/Camaro binary, but basically everyone who saw it was like “What is that thing, I thought Pontiac made Firebirds?” The Sunbird was basically a Chevy Cavalier in Pontiac cosplay. This particular Sunbird had its own raft of issues, chief of which was a leak in the seal of the front windshield that absolutely drenched the driver’s side floormats any time it rained. I ended up having to bring a car cover with me everywhere to prevent the flood. 

My 1991 Sunbird’s final indignity came when I was driving to a friend’s house the summer after I graduated from high school. I honked the horn at someone who had drifted into my lane and it just… stayed on. Honnnnnnnnnnnnnnnk. Honnnnnnnnnnnnnnk. I pulled over to the side of the rural road and somehow managed to peel the horn off of the steering wheel without deploying the airbag. The horn must’ve been my car’s final Horcrux, because it died for good later that summer. Good riddance to a bad car, I say.

Renault Kwid

by Nathan Meyer

Learn more about the Renault Kwid

As a 23-year-old, I’ve got a long way to go and a lot of cars to drive. One of the worst cars I’ve driven is the Renault Kwid. Renault is not known for its build quality. In fact, the arrival of Carlos Ghosn, the man that saved Renault-Nissan and subsequently had to flee Japan in a suitcase, introduced a steep decline in build quality, shocking no one.

It brought plastics harder than any Toyota dash, flimsy door handles, and engines that would give any Toyota owner a stroke. For folks in the non-emerging world, the Renault Kwid is an ultra-cheap 1-liter A-to-B commuter machine. The tires are a smidgen wider than moped tires. It isn’t sold in the U.S., and for good reason: It’s a 67-horsepower deathtrap.

The Indian version got a 0-star NCAP rating. Yes, airbags are not standard. I happened upon gale-force winds while driving this excuse of a car, and if I didn’t counter-steer, the grim reaper was waiting for me in the oncoming lane.

Polaris Slingshot SL

by Jeric Jaleco

Learn more about the Polaris Slingshot SL

16-year-old me: “It’s like it’s straight out of Transformers! Such cool! Such wow!”

23-year-old me: “What the fuck.” 

I’m usually quite open-minded, which has led to me becoming enamored with countless specimens of cars, even those less acclaimed or cars that aren’t my usual cup of tea. If a car establishes a level of expectation, both on paper and in its image, and matches or exceeds them, it’s a damn good car to me. Even some terrible cars, so long as they succeed in their intended missions in some way, can earn my respect.

But not the Slingy. Not that three-wheeled abomination of plastic and haphazard chassis tuning.

The second-generation Polaris Slingshot SL I had driven as a Turo treat had let me down in nearly every measure. I’d figure a high-revving, naturally-aspirated four-cylinder would feel and sound like a symphony. What I got was a harsh, droney garbage disposal that’s more at home in a mechanical pencil sharpener than a car, further neutered by a single-clutch five-fucking-speed automated manual. Low trims don’t even get paddles, so you’re always at the mercy of the computers. On top of that, the power was only okay. Miatas and GR86s deliver more oomph for the same money. The chassis was floppy and disjointed, exacerbated by a loose steering rack that felt plucked out of an RZR side-by-side, resulting in a car that was nowhere near as enthused to be flogged on some two-lane twisties as say, oh, I don’t know, a normal-ass sports car?

The one ounce of praise I can give right here and now: The stereo was more than capable of overpowering highway wind noise and blasting Big Time Rush and All-American Rejects with near-perfect clarity. They got that right. And that’s about it.

BMW i7

by Gabe Carey

Learn more about the BMW i7

The BMW 7 Series desperately wants you to like it, and the all-electric i7 is no exception. While the i4 M50 is the best electric car I’ve driven, complete with BMW’s signature rear-biased handling, the i7 is a passenger’s car through and through. 

There’s a good chance, if you’re buying a BMW 7 Series, that you won’t be the one driving it. Your chauffeur schlepps you around from meeting to meeting while you sit in the back popping champagne and watching Billions on a retractable movie screen. Who cares if the driver’s visibility is obstructed by touchscreens and nigh-blackout curtains and bright flashing LEDs? 

The BMW i7 isn’t poorly made, nor is it as visually revolting as the XM. However, it is bad to drive, which kinda defeats the purpose of it being a car. At least one that doesn’t drive itself. If it were autonomous, that would be another story.

It is, in many ways, everything wrong with modern cars. Full of tacky high-tech gimmicks that scream, “Buy an extended warranty!” Or better yet, “Lease me!”

I can understand massaging seats in the rear cabin, but I activated mine by mistake in the driver’s seat and had to pull over just to figure out how to disable it. That, along with a Theater Mode I can’t help but find redundant given the sheer number of screens we keep on our persons at all times. 

Overflowing with excess, the BMW i7 is a smooth, quiet ride full of needless distractions made purely for Instagram engagement. Does anyone really want this? It certainly seems like the answer is no. And yet, for whatever godforsaken reason, we’ve been cursed with an M Performance variant that does 0-60 in 3.5 seconds – as if a 6,000-pound monstrosity barreling toward you at a top speed of 149 mph isn’t lethal enough. 
The best I can say of the BMW i7 is it’s an absurdly luxurious passenger vehicle costing 4x less than its Rolls-Royce equivalent. Then again, so is the Lucid Air, and it’s a much better vehicle overall, as I’m sure the Lucid Gravity will be should you prefer to not drive an even beefier EV.