Cadillac’s much-awaited Lyriq electric crossover will be ready for pre-orders May 19 and starts at less than what most gasoline-powered competitors cost

Cadillac has announced the starting price in Canada for the basic rear-wheel-drive model of its electric crossover Lyriq, with a target delivery date of fall 2022 and pre-orders set to open this month.

The American car brand is advertising solid capabilities for a base price of $69,898 including delivery and destination charge. While that puts the Lyriq out of federal rebate contention, it undercuts most comparably-sized gasoline-powered luxury crossovers like the Mercedes-Benz GLE 350 4MATIC and the Genesis GV80.

The standard rear-wheel drive (RWD) Lyriq boasts a substantial 100 kWh battery pack feeding power to a single rear-mounted motor. Estimated output clocks in at 340 horsepower and 325 lb.-ft. of torque, with Cadillac expecting a range of 502 kilometres on a single charge.

Perhaps more important than range is charging rate — a peak 190 kW from a DC fast charger and 19.2 kW from a Level 2 240-volt AC charger, with the latter adding 83 kilometres of range per hour, high for a home charger. Comparatively, the Audi e-Tron’s DC fast and Level 2 charging rates are capped at 150 kW and 11 kW, respectively. The latter only adds a maximum of 45.4 kilometres of range per hour, assuming a flat charging curve of 11 kW.

An electric luxury crossover roughly the size of a BMW iX for a significant dollar amount less than an Audi e-Tron could sound to many Canadian customers like a solid deal on paper, although giving up two driven wheels is a price some won’t be willing to pay.

Lyriq RWD has a sister all-wheel drive model and some prospective clients in Canada may hold out hoping that the AWD Lyriq comes in right around the e-Tron price.

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All-wheel drive details pending

But those AWD fans will have to wait a bit longer. Cadillac hasn’t announced range or a Canadian price yet for its AWD Lyriq. While that’s a bit of a disappointment considering how Canadians love all-wheel drive, early key specifications look rather good indeed.

The all-wheel-drive Lyriq has the same 100 kWh battery pack as the rear-wheel-drive model, but adding a front-mounted motor boosts output to an estimated 500 horsepower.

All this extra shove gives the all-wheel drive Lyriq a towing capacity of 1,587 kg (3,500 pounds) which should allow it to pull a small trailer nicely. However, all-wheel drive traction and extra power comes with a downside. Maximum Level 2 240-volt AC charging rate for the all-wheel-drive Lyriq is a downgrade over the rear-wheel-drive model at just 11.5 kW.

Of course, a luxury electric crossover wouldn’t be worth the premium over a standard electric crossover without some serious bells and whistles.

The Lyriq promises a 33-inch LED display that dominates the dashboard and redundant physical controls for HVAC and stereo volume should make minor adjustments a breeze. On the topic of stereo volume, it’s going to get loud inside the Lyriq, thanks to a 19-speaker audio system from famed audio equipment brand AKG.

Lyriq will also have Cadillac’s Super Cruise hands-free driving assist system. With an eye-tracker perched atop the steering column and cloud-streamed LIDAR maps for precision, Super Cruise lets the driver take their hands off the wheel when the system is active on mapped highways.

Order books for the Lyriq open on May 19. Customers can expect the rear-wheel drive model to arrive in Canadian showrooms this fall, with the all-wheel drive model coming early in 2023.

Cadillac’s Lyriq announcement can be found here.