GRAPEVINE, Texas — Multiple Cadillac leaders were in North Texas Wednesday, showcasing the company's first all-electric SUV.
The car company set up a display that included a pre-production version of the 2023 LYRIQ car in the north lawn at Hotel Vin Autograph Collection in Grapevine.
The company first had a rough sketch of the car in 2019, according to Andrew Smith. He is the executive director of design for Cadillac. It will be available the first half of 2022.
Smith and other Cadillac members are currently traveling around the country, showcasing the car in major cities and explaining some of the featured designs and functions. They are in Texas for a couple of days before going to their next stop, Los Angeles.
Smith said there are three specific elements that many Texans value in a car: power, the way it looks and space inside the vehicle. He said this vehicle has all three qualities.
"It's certainly a state full of car enthusiasts," Smith said. "When inside, it feels like sitting in an IMAX theater."
The company first unveiled the vehicle this past April. The name LYRIQ came about because "Cadillac" is one of the most-used car company names used in song and pop culture, according to Smith.
The car has a 33-inch diagonal LED screen to the right of the steering wheel as well as a "super cruise" function that is a hands-free driver assistance system for compatible highways.
Smith said while he doesn't expect cars that run on gasoline to go away altogether, he believes electric vehicles will continue to become more common and affordable.
"I see it as the way of the future," Smith said. "When horses were here, we eventually moved to cars. It's not going to happen in one day, but it will generally happen. And horses are still around. It's just that they are a part of a pasttime of a fun thing to do."
Texas currently has 200,000 "handraisers" for the LYRIQ, according to vice president of Cadillac North America Sales, Service and Marketing Mahmoud Samara.
Handraisers are people who have told Cadillac they want to be contacted as soon as the vehicle is ready and are interested in purchasing it.
That is the third most number of handraisers of any state in America, behind only Florida and California.
"This technology is evolving fast," Samara said. "There's quite a bit of easiness and a seamlessness to the experience."
The starting price for the LYRIQ is $59,990. The car can currently charge about 76 miles of range in 10 minutes.
The car will be produced at GM’s Spring Hill, Tenn. assembly facility, which is receiving a $2 billion investment to support electric vehicle production.