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The Cadillac Lyriq is the new kid on the block, and like every freshman walking into the cafeteria for the first time, it’s still figuring out where to sit. That isn’t a condemnation, it’s the reality of automotive history. Every breakthrough, whether fuel injection, turbocharging, or electronic stability control, began with a shakedown period.
Electric vehicles are no different, and Cadillac’s bold new entrant into the EV world is already teaching its owners lessons that don’t fit neatly into a marketing brochure.
Consider the unvarnished account from Lyriq owner Dean Craven, who documented his trip from Palm Beach to Naples:
“I don’t take many trips very far from my home, so I don’t really use public fast chargers often, but when I do, it just makes me nervous that I will run out of power and not find a charger. So yesterday I decided to travel from Palm Beach, Florida, to Naples, Fl. The trip was 129 miles from my home one way. Some of the trip data makes no sense to me. If I get 300 miles to a charge, then a round trip of 260 should still leave at least 40 miles left of power. Now I’m charged at 100% and I hit the road, and Google Maps tells me I will have 48% left when I get 129 miles away. As I drive the speed limits mostly with Super Cruise activated, I start seeing the percentage drop to 36% at the destination point. So now I realize I cannot make a round trip on 1 charge. So I have now used 64% to drive 129 miles. Now the good part. I get to Naples, and Google tells me there’s a fast charger at a Walmart on Collier Blvd and Davis in Naples, and there are 4 350kw chargers available in their parking lot. So I pull up and open the Electrify America app, and it says they’re all out of service. They’re new and never activated per the customer service number on the charger. I pull up 2 other locations close to me, and they are out of service. 14 mom drive, I found some Tesla chargers that were open. Now 30 min out of my way to charge. Between the math, percentages, and out-of-order chargers, I have to say this sucks. Any help with the math on the miles I’m getting per 100% charge?”
It’s a story that will sound familiar to anyone who’s driven an EV beyond the safe confines of a home charger. The promise of 300 miles on a full battery rarely matches the messy arithmetic of speed, weather, and terrain. In Dean’s case, the frustration compounded when three Electrify America chargers, all promising 350 kilowatts, sat idle in a Walmart parking lot. The eventual solution came not from Cadillac or Electrify America, but from a detour to a Tesla Supercharger, thirty minutes out of the way.
What Is The Cadilac LYRIQ Based Off Of?
- Cadillac’s Ultium‑based platform delivers near‑perfect 50/50 weight distribution and a low center of gravity, giving the LYRIQ agile handling and a smooth, refined ride
- Single‑motor RWD models achieve an EPA‑estimated up to 326 mi of range, while dual‑motor AWD versions offer up to 319 mi; with the available 19.2 kW AC charger the LYRIQ can add ≈50 mi of range per hour, and a 190 kW DC fast charger restores ≈86 mi in about ten minutes
- Cadillac includes its hands‑free Super Cruise® driver‑assistance system (three‑year subscription) on every 2026 LYRIQ
Other Lyriq owners were quick to add their own experiences, building a mosaic of hard-won wisdom. Giovanni Pietro pointed out that air conditioning, heated seats, and driving style all take a toll on range, while Paul Boyd’s Canadian highway runs illustrated how headwinds and elevation can carve into the numbers as much as a lead foot.
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Phillip Uekert echoed that sentiment from Florida, where a simple 130-mile round trip to the airport reliably drained his Lyriq down to a third of its capacity. The pattern was clear: highway miles punish batteries more than the city crawl ever will.
Practical advice flowed just as freely. Daniel Berlau stressed the value of a Tesla adapter, a lifeline on his Omaha-to-Vail journey, though not all Superchargers play nicely with non-Tesla vehicles.
How The Community Responded
Gary Benton ran the cost analysis and concluded Tesla’s network was both more reliable and cheaper than the competition. Larry Lovins recommended PlugShare, the crowdsourced app that tells you if a charging station actually works before you arrive. And then there was Jack Flynn, who reminded everyone that even a humble 110-volt outlet, left to trickle overnight, could add fifty miles of range and peace of mind.
Put together, these accounts reveal an EV ownership experience that is less about Cadillac’s engineering and more about the state of the nation’s charging grid. The Lyriq itself delivers on style and presence, but the ecosystem it relies upon remains inconsistent. A car can be engineered to the highest standard, yet when the public infrastructure falters, the ownership story becomes about phone apps, contingency planning, and backup adapters.
Still, it would be wrong to call this a failure. This is what the early days of new technology always look like. Fuel-injected engines once left drivers stranded on the roadside when vacuum hoses split. Turbochargers once cooked oil into tar. And yet, through persistence, refinement, and a bit of trial by fire, these technologies became mainstream.
Cadillac LYRIQ Native Features
- An integrated Google system gives drivers native access to Google Maps, Assistant, and Play Store apps directly on the infotainment screen
- A segment‑leading 33‑inch continuous LED screen with 9K resolution spans the dashboard and can render over a billion colors, creating a panoramic, high‑definition cockpit
- Dual‑zone ambient lighting offers 126 selectable colors, letting owners tailor the cabin’s atmosphere to suit their mood
- The optional AKG Studio system with Dolby Atmos® produces multi‑dimensional sound through 19 speakers for concert‑like audio immersion
- The LYRIQ’s battery can power a properly equipped home during an outage, an emerging V2H (vehicle‑to‑home) capability being rolled out through GM Energy
For Cadillac, the lesson is to listen closely. These aren’t minor gripes; they’re the lived realities of customers who want the car to succeed. And for the owners, the lesson is patience. Every rerouted trip, every out-of-service charger, every recalculated mile is part of the process of shaking down the new kid until it finds its place at the table. When the charging networks mature and Cadillac fine-tunes its range predictions, the Lyriq will be better for it.
Image Sources: Cadillac Media Center
Noah Washington is an automotive journalist based in Atlanta, Georgia. He enjoys covering the latest news in the automotive industry and conducting reviews on the latest cars. He has been in the automotive industry since 15 years old and has been featured in prominent automotive news sites. You can reach him on X and LinkedIn for tips and to follow his automotive coverage.
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Source: torquenews.com
