The North American group General Motors has a very clear objective for its historic premium brand Cadillac: to make it the spearhead of its electrical strategy, making it compete against Tesla. This August, the US firm will present the Lyriq electric SUV, sitting on the BEV3 modular platform from General Motors.
This model will be followed later by the Celestiq sedan, a representative sedan (F segment) that will become the brand’s flagship. The Celestiq will have to compete, among others, against the Audi A9 e-Tron, BMW i7, Mercedes-Benz EQS, and Jaguar XJ. Although it will also be based on the BEV3 platform, it will be manufactured at a rate of 1.2 units a day, making it an extremely exclusive vehicle.
However, in addition to the Lyriq and Celestiq Cadillac plans to launch three other electric cars to the market by 2023. The three will be SUVs: a compact one similar in size to the current XT4, another medium and with three rows of seats framed in the segment of the XT6, and an electric version of the huge Escalade, an institution within the Cadillac range.
These models will use General Motors Ultium modular batteries, which will have cells developed jointly with LG Chem. The packs will have a minimum capacity of 50 kWh and a maximum of 200 kWh, with up to twenty-four modules distributed on two floors (each module will have its own management system, which will facilitate its replacement if necessary). They will also allow loads of up to 350 kW of power (depending on the model).