The Cadillac Lyriq is one of the first vehicles I ever reviewed here at Jalopnik, and because of that, it holds a pretty special place in my heart. Like me, it was a bit rough around the edges in the summer of 2022, but years have passed and lessons have been learned. Now, we're both polished examples of the best our respective industries have to offer. Well, at the very least, the car is. That's why Cadillac has decided to see how far it can push the Lyriq and its Ultium platform by introducing
the high-performance Lyriq-V.
With a lot more power, a retuned suspension and an even sharper design, the 2026 Cadillac Lyriq-V is aimed squarely at being a super daily driver. It's for sure not a track car, but its fabulous blend of accessible performance and a smooth ride makes it a formidable competitor to many of the sporty EVs we see today. It's very good at pretty much whatever the driver asks it to do — unlike me — and it joins a solid group of V products from Cadillac, like the CT4-V and CT5-V Blackwings and the Escalade-V. It'll also be joined, sooner rather than later, by the smaller, even sportier Optiq-V.
Full Disclosure: Cadillac flew me out to Seattle, Washington, put me up in a hotel and fed me a handful of wild meals all so I could try out the 2026 Lyriq-V.
Read more: This Is Every Car Brand Killed By GM
V-Power
Since this is a V-Series product, Cadillac wasn't going to just sit around and boost horsepower by just a little bit — not a chance. The Lyriq-V puts out a whopping 615 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque. That's up 100 hp and 200 lb-ft of torque over the normal AWD dual-motor Lyriq, and it's enough to haul this 5,980-pound crossover from 0 to 60 mph in an Andy-certified 3.0 seconds, beating the manufacturer's estimate by an entire third of a second while using launch control. Cadillac says it'll dispatch a quarter-mile run in less than 12 seconds, and eventually it'll hit a respectable 130-mph top speed. If these numbers sound similar to you, it's because this car's mechanical twin, the Chevy Blazer EV SS, has nearly identical performance metrics.
Despite the added power and performance, there isn't too much of a range or efficiency penalty. The Lyriq-V uses the same 102-kWh battery found in the regular car, and Cadillac estimates it'll be able to travel about 285 miles on a single charge — not bad when you look at high-performance EV competition like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N and Dodge Charger Daytona. Once the driver runs out of juice, Cadillac says owners can add about 75 miles of range in just 10 minutes, and a charge from zilch to 80% takes about 41 minutes. The Lyriq-V also offers things you get on normal General Motors EVs, like true one-pedal driving, and don't worry, its aggressiveness is configurable and you can manually add in regen using a very nice metal paddle mounted on the left side of the steering wheel.
Driving The 2026 Lyriq-V
Power isn't the only thing Cadillac upgraded for the Lyriq-V when it comes to performance. Engineers at the brand took a lot of time to retune the crossover's suspension and steering systems, stiffening the former and tweaking the latter to make it faster. The suspension tuning of this car is really where the magic lies. No matter which of the numerous drive modes I select — whether it be Normal, Sport, V-Mode, Velocity Max or Competitive Mode — the Lyriq-V rides beautifully. In essence, it feels like a big Cadillac should. Don't think that means the Lyriq-V falls apart when you go around a corner. On the contrary, it does really well. Sure, it rolls a bit more than I expect from a sporty car, but that's absolutely fine. There's a bit of a learning curve when it comes to figuring out how to best get around a corner, but once I get that down, the Lyriq-V is incredibly rewarding to drive.
It's certainly a slow-in-fast-out type of vehicle. Being that it weighs nearly 6,000 pounds, the Lyriq-V wants to push at the front if you come into a corner too hot — something I do multiple times on an autocross course Cadillac set up for us. However, trimming speed on entry means the front can settle. Once I reach the apex, I can give it a boot-full of power, and the rear wheels come around rather nicely. The key to this is enabling Competitive Mode when you're already in V-Mode. It elevates stability control thresholds to allow for a lot more slip in the rear, which is easy to accomplish with so much power. It also uses brake torque vectoring on the beefy front Brembos to help tuck the nose into the corner. It isn't just on the autocross course where this system shines, either. It does just as well on the open backroads outside of Seattle.
What's really fabulous about the Lyriq-V is that once you've had enough tomfoolery for one day, you can click it back into Comfort mode, activate the standard Super Cruise and massaging seats, and sink into a Nappa leather-covered pillow of American luxury. All the while, you know that if you've got to get around someone, there are 615 horses under your right foot. Automakers will often talk about cars having "split personalities," but it's exceedingly rare that they actually do.
As Pretty As Ever
I don't exactly know how to describe it, but in my eyes, the Lyriq is the most Cadillac-looking Cadillac the company currently offers. It just looks right, like the full expression of that Arts and Science theme Cadillac's designers have been chasing since the early 2000s. The Lyriq-V is no different. It gets a unique lower front fascia and side skirts, body colored lower trim pieces and enough "V" logos to sing a very specific alphabet. The 22-inch wheels that come standard are also very handsome, though I wish they weren't so dark. It also gets a standard black roof, which helps to make the car look shorter overall. I know the Lyriq-V (and the Lyriq in general) aren't for everyone in the looks department, but if you ask me, the list of crossovers that look better than this is extremely short.
Inside, the Lyriq-V isn't terribly different from the regular car, and that's a very good thing, because the standard Lyriq's interior is a fantastic place to find yourself. The 33-inch diagonal gauge cluster/infotainment screen and excellent-sounding 23-speaker AKG audio system with Dolby Atmos are real highlights of the space. So is the augmented reality head-up display that'll project navigation directions and warnings onto the windshield.
That 33-inch screen is as good in this car as it is in every Cadillac product it adorns. The user interface is one of the best in the industry, and whether you use the touchscreen or iDrive-style command knob, it's very easy to navigate. Google Built-in also makes your navigation and media a breeze. If those aren't your style, though, Cadillac has left Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in the Lyriq lineup even though it's been taken away from every other GM electric vehicle. While CarPlay is useful in cars with bad infotainment systems, Cadillac's does a really good job of making it feel sort of useless.
Aside from the tech, Cadillac also did a great job of making the Lyriq-V a comfy place to be, thanks mostly to the seats that are adjustable in every way you can imagine... except thigh support. This is my one big complaint about this car: the seat cushion is far too short. Adding in a thigh extender would go a long way to making this already comfortable car that much better.
Overall design and material choices are also top-notch. There's plenty of real metal and wood to go around, and you're going to be hard-pressed to find crappy-feeling plastic in high-traffic areas.
The Lyriq-V also excels when it comes to space. This is firmly a midsize crossover, but it has the interior space of something much bigger, thanks to clever packaging by GM engineers. At 6-foot-1, I'm able to sit behind myself with room to spare, and that cannot be said for every "midsize" crossover. Of course, it would be nice if the Lyriq-V had a frunk, but even without it, Cadillac says it has 28 cubic feet of cargo room behind the second row. If that's not enough, you can drop them and get nearly 61 cubic feet.
Paying The Price
This won't come as a shock to you, but the Lyriq-V isn't exactly a cheap proposition. To start, the car comes in at $80,090, including destination. That gets you a whole bunch of niceties that we spoke about earlier. If you're feeling fancy, you can step up to the Lyriq-V Premium. That gets buyers Nappa leather seats, an opening panoramic sunroof and a 19.2-kW-capable onboard charging module.
Regardless of which trim level you go with, there aren't a ton of option packages to choose from. The biggest is almost certainly the $5,700 Exterior Carbon Fiber Package, which gives the Lyriq-V a carbon-fiber front splitter, rocker panel inserts and lower valance inserts. If you forego this package, these items will be finished in glossy black.
The only free paint color is called Argent Silver Metallic, and it's the Lyriq-V's hero color. It's not too shabby, for sure, but I'd probably go with the $625 Emerald Lake Metallic green paint job. It's a bit of a subtle green, but in certain lights it pops. There are a few other blues and blacks you can opt for at the same price, as well as a very pretty red or white that costs $1,225. To be honest, the Lyriq-V is such an attractive car that it makes every paint color look good.
Your average Lyriq-V is going to sticker somewhere in the $82,000-$86,000 range, which actually undercuts its main competition like the BMW iX M70 ($112,675 including destination) and Mercedes-AMG EQE SUV ($110,750). It's a 3.0-second as-tested 0-to-60 time also beats both cars, with the BMW boasting a 3.6-second sprint and the Mercedes coming in at 3.4 seconds.
Waxing Lyriqal
The Cadillac Lyriq is certainly aging better than I am, and with the addition of this V-Series model, it's just getting better, baby. There aren't too many cars on the market that can blend a relaxing, daily-driver-focused attitude with genuine sporty pretensions. Sure, it costs the better part of 90 grand, but so does everything these days. That's just the way the world is, for better or worse.
If you've worked hard, saved up some money and are in the market for an electric luxury crossover that isn't a miserable bore to drive, it's hard to do better than the Lyriq-V. It really could be the best daily driver money can buy.
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