With its flat floors and big storage bins, the Lyriq also makes excellent use of the extra space that electric vehicles allow thanks to their small motors and lack of transmission. There's no front trunk, since GM designers said they wanted to package electrical and mechanical equipment under the hood to make for more room elsewhere.

*

The interior of the Cadillac Lyriq is nicely designed and finished, although some parts don't feel up to the competition.

The shift to electric vehicles could provide the opportunity Cadillac needs to set itself apart. The Lyriq genuinely looks and drives like a luxury crossover. On the road, it's smooth, controlled and quiet. Press on the accelerator pedal and there's more than ample power. It hustles without feeling rushed.

The Lyriqs GM provided for test drives were among the first built. GM executives hurried the model's introduction, beating its original deadline by almost a year, but some features won't go into production until later. All-wheel-drive, for instance, won't be available for some months because the additional front motor that will provide that feature is still being tested and refined. So the Lyriq I tested was rear-wheel-drive. Similarly, GM's Super Cruise hands-free highway driving system is still being tested for this model. It will be available later either on new Lyriqs as they're built on the assembly line or as a software download for vehicles already in customers' driveways.

Even without all the features and all the power that extra motor will bring — the rear-wheel-drive Lyriq gets 340 horsepower from its one motor vs. 500 from the two-motor version — the Lyriq is very nice to drive. As with most luxury vehicles these days, the driver can select different "modes" that alter the accelerator pedal response and steering quickness, plus, of course, the artificial motor sound. The suspension firmness, however, cannot be changed. GM engineers say it responds automatically, using sophisticated fluid relays, to the needs of the moment, firming up when more body control is needed for turns but softening at other times to absorb bumps.

With its flat floors and big storage bins, the Lyriq also makes excellent use of the extra space that electric vehicles allow thanks to their small motors and lack of transmission. There's no front trunk, since GM designers said they wanted to package electrical and mechanical equipment under the hood to make for more room elsewhere.

*

The interior of the Cadillac Lyriq is nicely designed and finished, although some parts don't feel up to the competition.

The shift to electric vehicles could provide the opportunity Cadillac needs to set itself apart. The Lyriq genuinely looks and drives like a luxury crossover. On the road, it's smooth, controlled and quiet. Press on the accelerator pedal and there's more than ample power. It hustles without feeling rushed.

The Lyriqs GM provided for test drives were among the first built. GM executives hurried the model's introduction, beating its original deadline by almost a year, but some features won't go into production until later. All-wheel-drive, for instance, won't be available for some months because the additional front motor that will provide that feature is still being tested and refined. So the Lyriq I tested was rear-wheel-drive. Similarly, GM's Super Cruise hands-free highway driving system is still being tested for this model. It will be available later either on new Lyriqs as they're built on the assembly line or as a software download for vehicles already in customers' driveways.

Even without all the features and all the power that extra motor will bring — the rear-wheel-drive Lyriq gets 340 horsepower from its one motor vs. 500 from the two-motor version — the Lyriq is very nice to drive. As with most luxury vehicles these days, the driver can select different "modes" that alter the accelerator pedal response and steering quickness, plus, of course, the artificial motor sound. The suspension firmness, however, cannot be changed. GM engineers say it responds automatically, using sophisticated fluid relays, to the needs of the moment, firming up when more body control is needed for turns but softening at other times to absorb bumps.