Cadillac’s plans may open door to these EVs

With Cadillac confirming its imminent launch into New Zealand, what else could come our way from the GM stable?

Cadillac last week announced its intention to officially launch in New Zealand, starting with the Lyriq electric SUV. It’ll kick off sales next year, but word that the Lyriq is just the start of things has us curious.

“Cadillac will be in a position to offer a fully electric portfolio by 2030,” said Jess Bala, managing director of GM Australia and New Zealand. “Launching our Cadillac EV business in Australia and New Zealand positions us well to select the right models for these markets – just as we are doing with Lyriq.”

The Lyriq is based on the Ultium platform, a ground-up-new, scalable architecture that powers every EV coming from the company, from the reborn Hummer EV to the Lyriq. Battery sizes span from 50kWh to 200kWh, while power from the motors goes as high as 750kW as seen in the Hummer EV.

Every electric vehicle riding on Ultium can be built in right-hand drive, which means export to New Zealand is much more possible than any of GM’s older combustion vehicles. That means we could be in line for some seriously cool American machinery. For the Cadillac brand, this will almost certainly expand to include the Optiq small SUV. It is currently a China-only model, but the name has been trademarked over in Australia, which is a good sign for us as well.

The Optiq was only just officially revealed, coming as a prime Tesla Model Y, Lexus RZ 450e and BMW iX3 fighter. It has similar styling cues to the Lyriq, with stylistic strakes along the thick C-pillar, downward slashes for DRLs and split vertical rear lights. A choice of 150KW and 180kW powertrains will be available at first.

Considering how popular the electric crossover market is, the Optiq makes a lot of sense for Cadillac’s local operations. At the same event, Cadillac teased two other upcoming models for the Chinese, one of which may slot underneath the Optiq.

We’re not too sure on that one, as Bala and Cadillac VP John Roth are positioning Cadillac as a “tier one” luxury brand, targeting the likes of BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz. It will be a “very aspirational product … a reward for where you’ve been and what you’ve done.”

A smaller SUV may well dilute the brand image too much ... But we’re still speculating about this, mind. Just because Cadillac offers a smaller SUV in China doesn’t mean it’ll end up here as well.

More likely is the Escalade IQ, a fully electric version of the brand’s iconic large SUV. It is set to launch next year in America, using the same tri-motor powertrain as the Hummer EV, which means a maximum output of 560kW and 1064Nm of torque in Velocity Max mode. It’ll also get the full 200kWh battery pack, offering over 700km of range per charge, and the Hummer’s awesome ‘crab walk’ mode.

Beyond Cadillac, a model that was thrown around as a potential starter for New Zealand was the Chevrolet Blazer EV. That one will come in front, rear and all-wheel drive variants, as well as a top-spec SS AWD model (the first electric Chevrolet to wear the badge). This offers 415kW and 879Nm, clipping 96kph in under four seconds.

But the most interesting for local buyers is probably the Silverado EV, a fully electric truck using that same 200kWh pack and two electric motors developing up to 495kW/1060Nm.

It’s about the same dimensions as the V8-powered Silverado, but it’s not exactly winning any Weight Watchers awards with a kerb weight of 3870kg. Perhaps a future variant with a smaller battery is on the cards?

And as for the Hummer EV, it’s not looking good. The Silverado EV is more likely ... But never say never.