Cadillac’s New, 615-HP Lyriq-V Carves Out a Novel Niche

Brembo makes the brakes, and the calipers come painted in red or blue. Pads with lower metallic linings will be available if you stick with the summer tire. The rotor size is unchanged (390 and 345 mm, front / rear). Cadillac

When a certain kind of vehicle becomes popular, it usually spawns more specialized versions. As trucks became more popular as daily drivers, the genus split into various species—sport trucks in the ’90s and 2000s, off-road builds from mild to wild. It’s the same story with SUVs: The original recipe of simple, workaday crossovers like the Ford Escape has spawned a bewildering array of SUVs at every price point, tailored to environments ranging from rock gardens to suburban roads to the track (or so the marketers say). Electric vehicles are in the middle of the same subdivision, and the latest Cadillac, the 2026 Lyriq-V, belongs to a novel niche: The luxury performance electric crossover.

If you’re in the market for an electric SUV with 600+ horsepower and a prestigious logo on its nose, the 2026 Lyriq-V is a handsome option at a reasonable price. With 615 hp and a starting price of $79,990, the Lyriq-V outmuscles its competition from South Korea while costing less than its German rivals. Its closest rival is probably the Rivian R1S (in Dual Motor Performance spec), a slick SUV from the all-electric California brand that built its first vehicle in 2021.

Cadillac uses “-V” to denote its sporty offerings the way BMW uses M. The 2026 Lyriq-V, therefore, is the performance version of Cadillac’s mid-size electric crossover, the Lyriq, now entering its third model year. If you’re a die-hard fan of Cadillac performance, and horrified at the prospect of a V-Series electric SUV, know that the Blackwing name, at least, will stay pure: Cadillac was quite clear, on the live-streamed reveal, that the Lyriq-V isn’t aimed at the race track and wasn’t honed at the Nürburgring. (If you’re still horrified, distract yourself with the IMSA season opener, the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, this weekend. Three Cadillac GTP cars will be on the grid with their thunderous V-8s.)

The all-wheel-drive Lyriq-V has two motors, like the more powerful version of the base car (the 600E AWD), endowing the V-Series model with 115 more horsepower but limiting its maximum range to 285 miles (Cadillac’s estimate, not the EPA’s). Both the V and the 600E AWD use the same 102-kWh battery pack, of nickel-cobalt-manganese-aluminum chemistry. The motors, which are unique to the Lyriq-V, use a shorter final-drive ratio than those of a regular Lyriq, presumably to emphasize acceleration over top speed. There are several new drive modes: V-Mode, which allows you to save a particular set of personalized drive settings; Launch Control, which is exactly what it sounds like, and Competitive Mode, which doesn’t encourage street racing, as you might think, but “enables a suite of traction management features specifically engineered to increase vehicle agility.” Thoughtful of them, since this is a nearly 6000-pound car.

2026 cadillac lyriq-v driving electric suv ev
Cadillac

Surprisingly, the Lyriq-V does not have air suspension, even though some thought that Cadillac would introduce the feature to the Lyriq family on this “V” variant. Most of the other electric SUVs with comparable power figures and price tags have air suspension at least as an option, but the Lyriq-V makes do with adaptive, valve-based dampers. The Lyriq-V has been lowered, as we expected, but not by much—just 16mm, or about .6 inches.

2026 cadillac lyriq-v interior
Super Cruise comes standard on all Lyriq-Vs.Cadillac

Where a Tesla is minimalist, a Lyriq is maximalist—the interior is accented with various metallic textures and pops of color, the touchscreen is a rounded trapezoid of sorts, and there are actual buttons on the dashboard and steering wheel and doors. Aesthetically, GM kept the V treatment dialed back: There’s an extra button on the steering wheel, special embroidery on the seats, and the paddle for on-demand regenerative braking is aluminum instead of black plastic (that’s a change we’d like to see applied to all Lyriqs, because that paddle comes in handy when sweeping through hills, and touching black plastic in a $60K car is just wrong.) Real Nappa leather is optional.

Outside, the designers of the Lyriq-V were content with some V badges on the rear doors and tailgate. The lower front fascia is unique to the V model, as are the rockers, the chin spoiler and the mesh on the front lower grille. All Lyriq-Vs ride on 22-inch wheels (the optional, bigger size on the normal Lyriq) with a dark finish and V-Series logos etched into each one. Summer tires are standard—the SportContact 6 from Continental, with a treadwear rating of 240—but Cadillac will also offer a set of all-seasons made by Michelin. The Lyriq-V gets a paint color all to itself (for now): Magnus Metal Frost, a warm gray with a satin finish. It’s quite nice, actually, even if we’d prefer it on a different sort of V Series, were we paying.

Cadillac wants to position itself as a long-established brand with prestige, and modern products like the Escalade and the Blackwing sedans support that story. The Lyriq-V, the performance version of Cadillac’s midsize electric SUV, remains a novel product, even if it is the quickest Cadillac ever. Its lasting influence on the reputation of Cadillac remains to be seen.

2026 cadillac lyriq-v driving electric suv ev
Cadillac
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Comments

    So V use to mean the top dog till they turned it into a slightly more performance oriented and we had to wait for V Blackwing for the real sporty ones. A return to V without the Blackwing tag, so back to where we were? It looks better on the inside than a Tesla and good from the outside but I’m still not interested.

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