Cadillac to reveal 3 new EVs this year and which factories will build them
When Cadillac Vice President Rory Harvey told reporters Wednesday that General Motors' luxury brand would reveal three brand-new electric vehicles this year, it was a tease meant to whet the appetite.
It did just that and more. He was barraged with questions about the mystery machines and joked he was getting kicked under the table by distressed public relations people for spilling too much. While he was mostly tight-lipped, here is what we know about these upcoming EVs and the increased momentum for production and delivery of the 2023 Cadillac Lyriq electric SUV.
The three new EVs will likely start production in 2024, sort of ...
Harvey would not disclose any details of the new EVs or even reveal what kind of vehicles they might be — for example, an SUV or a sedan. But he said Cadillac will reveal all the vehicles this year. He would not provide a date for the first reveal. As for production, Harvey said GM expects to start making them next year.
"In terms of the new EVs, I say watch this space," Harvey said. "We want to give you another good update at a point in time. But if you look at the announcements we’re looking to make this year — I’m sure some of my colleagues will kick me under the table — but we’re looking at production on all of these vehicles, it should, in theory, go into production in calendar year 2024.”
Will the new EVs be built in the United States?
As GM and the UAW start negotiating a new contract this spring, it might be just the time for the union to push for more EVs to be made in America. Harvey told the Free Press that GM will announce which plants will build the new EVs sometime in the second quarter, likely April or May.
But he stopped short of confirming whether the three new EVs will all be made in the United States.
“We’re going to be building these vehicles in multiple locations, which is part of the challenge in terms of the answers because they then have staggered launch times as well," Harvey said. "When you have multiple plants that have to build vehicles, for example, they have different timings for when they go into production. So it’s slightly nuanced in terms of the answer" as to when the vehicles will all start production.
Lyriq production speeds up as GM fixes software kinks
Cadillac was deliberately slow with the launch of the 2023 Cadillac Lyriq as it encountered and fixed problems with the new EV. As the Free Press reported last month, GM had a stockpile of about 500 new Lyriqs built and parked at Spring Hill Assembly in Tennessee.
On Wednesday, Harvey said Cadillac has been working to get those and more to dealers quickly, adding that by the end of this week, it will have shipped 1,000 Lyriqs over the past 30 days.
"We still have a number of Lyriqs that are awaiting shipments ... and will go out to dealers swiftly," Harvey said. But Cadillac will fulfill all of the initial orders of the Debut Edition by the end of the first quarter.
He declined to say how many initial orders Cadillac got that will be made by the end of the quarter or how many customers are on a waiting list for 2024 model year Lyriqs. But GM told suppliers last year to prepare to produce 25,000 Lyriqs. Cadillac has also said it had about 233,000 hand-raisers for the Lyriq; those are people who express interest in the car but do not put any money down.
Lyriq launch issues and a significant amp-up in production now
In September, GM recalled 186 Lyriqs for problems with the vehicle's infotainment screen, according to published reports at that time. In October, GM put out a fix to address a problem related to cracking in the liftgate panel, according to GM Authority.
"That now is all resolved; everything is fixed," Harvey said. "The vehicles are being delivered with quality, and we're amping up the distribution of the vehicles significantly now."
Cadillac is getting the battery cells from the Ultium Cells plant in Lordstown, Ohio. The joint venture between GM and LG Energy Solution has “a robust supply of batteries to meet our demands,” Harvey said.
Meanwhile, the first unit of the hand-built Celestiq sedan will go into production in December, he said.
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Contact Jamie L. LaReau: jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. Read more on General Motors and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Three new EVs coming to Cadillac set to be built in multiple factories
