The Cadillac Lyriq has finally arrived on Australian shores direct from Spring Hill, Tennessee, USA where it is factory-built in right-hand-drive. The bold exterior and interior design of the Lyriq plays to its own tune, distinguishing it from the array of electric vehicles currently entering Australia.
Available in two trims, which only differentiate the exterior styling of the Lyriq, one being the Sport featuring an interlocking triangular pattern on the crystal shield, polished wheels with a Satin Dark Android finish and obsidian chrome exterior accents. And this Luxury trim that I spent a week in, featuring angled linear pattern on the crystal shield, diamond cut Manoogian Silver wheel finish and luxury chrome exterior accents. From 2026, Cadillac is adding the Lyriq-V to its high-performance V-Series family and this will be the first-ever all-electric V-Series vehicle and it’s coming to Australia as well.
Driven by two permanent magnet, bar wound motors the all-wheel drive 2025 Lyriq has a maximum of 388 kW of power and 610 Nm of torque. There are four drive modes available Tour, Sport, Snow/Ice, and My Mode that allows you to adjust the steering, brake feel, acceleration feel, and motor sound. I spent most of my time in Tour mode as I felt it matched the playbook of the Lyriq best offering a very comfortable driving experience. The 275/45R21 summer, self-sealing tyres mounted on the 21’’ wheels absorb the bumps nicely and there’s enough power to move this three tonne plus Lyriq along at a nice tempo. While at low speeds or when reversing the Lyriq ‘sings’ to alert nearby pedestrians that the vehicle is approaching.
Powering the Lyriq is a 102 kWh Lithium-ion NCMA cathode, blended graphite anode battery that is capable of DC Fast Charging (190kW) delivering up to 128 km of range in 10 minutes of charge time. The official combined electric energy consumption for the Lyriq is 22.5 kWh/100 km and for my week I used 19.7kWh/100km based on recorded data and not the computer’s read out. The overall official combined cycle electric range is 530 kms and my electricity usage would have given me a maximum range of 517km.
The charge port located on the front quarter of the passenger side of the vehicle and it beeps when the charge cord is connected and a flashing green light on the dash indicates that charging is occurring with the estimated charge time displayed on the digital driver’s dash. I liked that there was a release button for the charging cord on the key fob so I didn’t struggle to work out what combination of processes I needed to undertake in order to remove the charge cord. Some vehicles are straightforward, for example unlock the car and it disconnects, and some are not, so this button makes it very easy.
Every new Cadillac Lyrid sold in Australia will come with one-year free public charging as standard and then, depending on a customer’s lifestyle, the owner is invited to choose between an additional two-years of free public charging or the complimentary supply and standard installation of a standard 7.4kW home electric vehicle charger.
As I approached this gorgeous Emerald Lake Metallic Lyriq, a colour exclusively available with the Luxury trim, with the key fob in my handbag the Lyriq put on a light show at the front and rear of the vehicle and all four door handles popped out for entry. I like that Lyriq has a push button start, I prefer this to EVs that are ‘on’ as soon as you enter, but I didn’t really like the gear selection mechanism though as the way you have to move the steering column mounted stalk to engage drive or reverse feels a little coarse for a luxury EV.
The interior of the Lyriq looks very stylish with the large screen, floating console and Noir with Santorini Blue accents Inteluxe seat trim with perforated inserts. The cabin doesn’t smell all that luxurious though, because the Inteluxe trim is a synthetic material primarily made from cloth coated with either polyurethane or PVC. Fortunately, there is an option for full Nappa Leather seat trim in either Oxford Stone with Garnet accents or Juniper with Sky Cool Grey accents.
Both front seats have powered adjustment for recline, seat height/tilt front and rear, forward/back and two memory positions, with these controls located on the door. The seats are also heated, either on the seat back only or seat back and base and steering wheel is heated as well. The cooled seating function is on par with other vehicles that offer it and was relatively quiet when operating. There’s even a basic massage function with roll or lumbar massage engaged using a knob on the door that is fiddly to operate.
The Lyriq has a large screen that incorporates the driver’s dash display and the infotainment system that can be navigated using the rotary controller on the centre console with the Cadillac emblem on it or as a touch screen. Your phone connects wirelessly to the Android Auto and Apple CarPlay and apart from dropping out a couple of times when I first connected my phone to it, the Android Auto worked well. But as you can see it doesn’t take up the entire screen area when in use, which looks a little strange. For enjoying your tunes in the Lyriq there’s a Cadillac-exclusive AKG Studio 19-speaker audio system, including speakers in the front headrests.
The tactile nature of most touch points in the Lyriq does not offer a positive feel, but rather a plasticky loose one, detracting from the luxury nature that the Lyriq is aiming for. I am also not a fan of gloss black plastic as it attracts dust and finger marks and this is used on the centre console, steering wheel and dash in the Lyriq. On the plus side there are some cute Easter eggs like the merlette swans imprinted on the side of the dash.
Although a lot of functions within the cabin are controlled using the screen, for example the glove box release, I liked that the climate controls were buttons, so you don’t have to navigate a screen menu to operate them. The Lyriq does have a slightly odd-looking air vent configuration across the dash though, which could be laid out in a nicer looking and more functional fashion in my opinion.
There’s plenty of storage options in the cabin and I particularly liked the large storage space under the floating console where I could place my handbag, with one USB-C here so I could plug in my phone and leave it in my handbag and just unplug when getting out. Above this there are two storage cubbies one for sunglasses and a large one that pops out. Under the arm rest is a felt lined cubby with one USB-C port and one 12V socket located here. In front of the arm rest is a slot for your phone with wireless charging and another USB-C port next to that. In addition to the two cup holders in the centre console there are also good-sized drink bottle storage cubbies in front doors.
I found that the rear seats offered a good amount of head room and leg room for me, but taller individuals may find it to be a bit tight. I would have liked a bit more under thigh support as I knees felt like they were sitting up high and the rear headrests are not comfortable. There are two ISOFix/three rear tether child seat restraint points and if not in use the centre seat folds down as an arm rest with two cup holders that have grippy sides or there’s a good sized drink bottle storage cubby in rear doors.
The rear seats are heated and rear passengers have digital climate controls for mode, air speed, and temperature or these can also be adjusted from the front of the vehicle or locked completely. The two centre air vents have individual direction and on/off controls and below the air vents there are two USB-C ports. I liked that the Lyriq has a flat rear floor with the single mat across it making it easy to clean and for children to traverse it.
The boot is a good size and would fit a pram and the weekly shop and is accessed via the powered tailgate that you can open/close by pressing the Caddy emblem on the exterior, the key fob, or a button in the cabin. The boot space has four substantial tie downs, two lights, one 12V socket and under the boot there’s storage for not often used items. If extra space is required the 60:40 split fold rear seats can be laid almost flat by pressing a button in the boot or on the seat shoulder to release them, but you have to manually fold them back up. The cargo cover of the Lyriq is made from cheap feeling vinyl plastic and doesn’t match the aesthetic that Cadillac are aiming for in the Lyriq.
The Cadillac Lyriq features a full suite of airbags, including dual-stage frontal, seat-mounted side-impact for driver and front passenger, knee for driver and front passenger, head-curtain for all outboard seating positions with rollover protection. I liked that warnings for the driver monitoring and lane keep assist, for example, were not delivered with an obtrusive bong, but rather a vibration in the driver’s seat. Additional safety features include Intersection Automatic Emergency Braking, Blind Zone Steering Assist, Forward Collision Alert, and Rear Pedestrian Alert. The Adaptive Cruise Control did have a slight issue once on the highway and inadvertently slowed when I was adjacent to a truck.
For convenience, the Lyriq has a standard rear-view camera combined with a 360-degree camera and front and rear parking sensors. A digital rear view camera also comes as standard and at times you will need to use this as the Lyriq does not have a rear windscreen wiper and it really needs one. Auto lights and rain sensing wipers that can be enabled/disabled on the touchscreen are also fitted.
Cadillac Confidence is a premium wrap-around service and provides reassurance and support for all Lyriq owners. This includes five years unlimited kilometre factory vehicle warranty, five years roadside assistance, five years scheduled servicing, and eight years/ 160,000km Electric Vehicle Propulsion Battery Warranty. The package is transferable from one owner to the next, provided terms and conditions associated with the warranty have been adhered to.
The Cadillac Lyriq Luxury starts $122,000 excluding on road costs and as tested with the optional Emerald Lake Metallic paint ($1,625) and Black Painted Roof ($1,300) this Lyriq was $124,925 plus on-roads. You can Build & Price your Cadillac Lyriq online, book a Test Drive or visit a Cadillac Experience Centre for more information.
| Pros | Cons |
| More than 500km of range on a single charge | Some of the finishes are not all that luxurious |
| The charge cord unlock button on the key fob | The massage seats are fiddly to operate |
| The driver assistance doesn’t bong at you | Needs a rear windscreen wiper |
Photographs by Driven Women Magazine.