Study on Skyrocketing Prices: Maybe Don't Buy a Car Soon

cadillac lyriq Full OverviewProsGreat lookingUnique and stylish interiorDrives like a classic Cadillac in the best ways ConsInfotainment interface is a bit fussySilly door handlesWorrying assembly issuesThe 2023 Cadillac Lyriq represents an important reset for the storied American luxury brand. After a resurgence around the turn of the millennium that started with the Art and Science-design Cadillac CTS and Escalade and through a period that ended with the demise of the CTS-V Sport Wagon, Cadillac was on a roll. But it then squandered its momentum, ceding ground as a cool status symbol to archnemesis Lincoln and upstarts like Tesla. The industry-wide pivot to electrification is a chance for the brand to wipe the slate clean, and the 2023 Cadillac Lyriq 450E is the first fruit of that labor. But is it another CTS, or is Caddy having another ELR or CT6 moment? We're about to find out.What Makes the Cadillac Lyriq Tick?Cadillac's association with General Motors has often been more of a curse than a blessing, resulting in sport sedans with unrefined truck motors and/or switchgear shared with $20,000 Chevrolets. In the Lyriq's case, however, the association is no curse. The Lyriq rides on GM's new bleeding-edge modular Ultium electric vehicle platform, which allowed Cadillac designers the freedom to pen a midsize SUV that somehow manages to recall the mid-century modern greats of Cadillac's postwar years while also looking contemporary and visionary.Propelling our Lyriq 450E Debut Edition test car and its long dash-to-axle ratio and kammback rear end is a rear-mounted motor good for 340 hp and 325 lb-ft of torque, backed by a quick-charging 102-kWh battery pack. The EPA says the Lyriq should be able to cover 312 miles on a charge, and the 190-kW peak rate helps ensure you aren't spending much time tethered to a public charger when necessary. A dual-motor all-wheel-drive Lyriq is also planned. You can get the full details of the rest of the Lyriq package, including its passive suspension system, by checking out our First Drive here.How Fast Is the Lyriq?With just a single, modestly powerful motor, we weren't expecting Tesla Model Y Performance, uh, performance out of our rear-drive Lyriq test vehicle, yet it still impressed. The Lyriq zipped from 0-60 mph in just 5.7 seconds and through the quarter mile in a respectable 14.2 seconds at 100.5 mph. That's significantly slower than many electric SUVs in the segment (most of which offer dual-motor all-wheel drive as standard), including the slowest Model Y we've tested, which needed 4.1 seconds to 60 mph and a 12.4 second quarter mile at 114.8 mph. Yet it's as quick or quicker than many of its gas-powered contemporaries, including the Lincoln Nautilus, Genesis GV80, and Mercedes-Benz GLE.And although its 134-foot 60-0-mph performance leaves us a little wanting, the Lyriq manages a respectable 27.2-second figure-eight lap while averaging 0.64 g. Not bad considering its 5,654-pound curb weight.Is the Lyriq Better on the Road?The Lyriq drives wonderfully out in the real world. Unlike the violent rip-your-face-off acceleration you get in many of its EV competitors, the Lyriq is tuned more conservatively, in many ways mimicking how a big, understressed V-8 performs. Dip into the throttle and you get one big tidal wave of torque that you can surf long past any legal speed limit in this country. "The throttle pedal is well damped, too," said associate editor Duncan Brady. "EVs with instant torque tend to expose less smooth driving habits, but the relaxed response in the default Tour mode makes it easy to drive smoothly." Those looking for more thrills, fret not, as dual-motor and V versions ought to pack more than 500 horsepower.The Lyriq's brakes are tuned well, too. The one-pedal driving mode is smooth and perfectly calibrated, allowing you to come to a complete stop, and should you ever need more braking power, pulling the paddle on the left side of the steering wheel results in even more regenerative deceleration. Those who prefer to brake the old-fashioned way will also find lots to like, as the pedal feels natural and offers plenty of bite.Contemporary high-end Cadillacs are known for their fine ride quality thanks to the wide use of MagneRide dampers, but the Lyriq makes do with a more traditional setup using what GM calls "Passive Plus" frequency-selective dampers. As far as our finely tuned auto journalist butts are concerned, the likely cheaper passive dampers are nearly as good as the fancy magnetorheological ones. The Lyriq floats over all but the harshest impacts—without actually becoming floaty, as did many of its predecessors. Also, like many of its mid-20th-century forerunners, the Lyriq isn't overtly sporty but it handles competently. Put it this way: The Lyriq won't leave you white-knuckling on a curvy road, but it also won't ever be mistaken for Cadillac's finely tuned V performance models, either.Inside the Cadillac LyriqThat's just as well because it's worth slowing down for a beat and appreciating the Lyriq's interior. For the first time in a Cadillac this millennium, the Lyriq features bespoke switchgear and hardware not shared with lesser Buicks, Chevrolets, or GMCs. The new controls make a great impression. "They're beautifully weighted," Brady said. "The real metal and heavyweight feel of the knobs remind me of Bentley. These are not things I anticipated would stand out in Cadillac's new EV, considering how many of the brand's cars share controls with other GM stuff." More than just looking good, the Lyriq is surprisingly functional, too, with hidden storage (such as the drawer lined with blue leather in the center stack), comfortable front seats, and an incredibly spacious back seat and trunk.Still, there's some obvious room for improvement. For starters, Cadillac's infotainment system shows much promise—the curved displays and its Google Maps integration are particularly great—but the UX doesn't make good use of the space, displaying blocks of apps that are difficult to navigate with the control knob. Similarly, the door handles appear to have been engineered in virtual space; getting into the car requires you first press the door handle—which is really just a button masquerading as a handle—to get the latch to release and then grab onto a separate handle hidden in the window trim to pull the doors open … unless you're getting in back, as there aren't any grab points back there. The Lyriq, despite being rear-drive in this test car's case, also lacks the frunk that's become so common on EVs.On the worrying side of the ledger, we experienced build quality issues with our early production Lyriq test vehicle. The charging port cover flapped in the breeze, the rearview mirror vibrated subtly at highway speeds, and a handful of inconsistent panel gaps in the interior distracted from the otherwise beautifully furnished cabin. And although the hardware for it comes standard, our Lyriq also didn't have GM's excellent Super Cruise advanced driver assist system due to the ongoing semiconductor chip shortage. Cadillac says owners will be able to add it at a later date with a software update and an indeterminate subscription fee.Is the Lyriq Worth It?Despite the build issues, though, the Lyriq still feels like a striking value at its $62,990 base and as-tested prices. Stellar to look at, good to drive, and generally easy to live with, the 2023 Cadillac Lyriq 450E Debut Edition provides both a viable and enticing path forward for the brand as we rapidly approach the middle of the 21st century. Second chances are rare. The Lyriq proves that Cadillac isn't wasting one.Looks good! More details?2023 Cadillac Lyriq 450E (Debut Edition) Specifications BASE PRICE $62,990 PRICE AS TESTED $62,990 VEHICLE LAYOUT Rear-motor, RWD, 5-pass, 4-door SUV MOTOR TYPE Permanent-magnet electric POWER (SAE NET) 340 hp TORQUE (SAE NET) 325 lb-ft TRANSMISSION 1-speed automatic CURB WEIGHT (F/R DIST) 5,654 lb (49/51%) WHEELBASE 121.8 in LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT 196.7 x 77.8 x 63.9 in 0-60 MPH 5.7 sec QUARTER MILE 14.2 sec @ 100.5 mph BRAKING, 60-0 MPH 134 ft LATERAL ACCELERATION 0.79 g (avg) MT FIGURE EIGHT 27.2 sec @ 0.64 g (avg) EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON 97/82/82 mpg-e EPA RANGE, COMB 312 miles ON SALE Now Show All

If you've got your heart set on a Bollinger, maybe it's time to start that delivery business you've always dreamed of. Bollinger, the Michigan-based developer of the boxy B1 electric SUV and B2 electric pickup, has announced a change in plans: Production of its consumer trucks will be suspended indefinitely as the company pivots to its commercial business."Even though I love our trucks, we were getting so much interest on the commercial front, it just became a smart business decision," founder and CEO Robert Bollinger told MotorTrend. "We have a lot of fleets coming to us. We have agreements with them in place that we'll talk about later. All of our hard work and all of the patents, all of the expertise we've learned, battery development, thermal management, the battery management system [for] which we wrote our own code, all of our controls, all that we've done up to this point leads us perfectly into commercial."Bollinger's plan is to concentrate on Class 3 to 6 trucks (those with GVWRs ranging from 10,001 to 26,000 pounds—think heavy duty pickups up to two-axle box trucks and school buses), which makes sense given what Bollinger has shown us: Alongside its trucks, Bollinger has developed chassis-cab and dually versions of the B2 electric pickup, along with a bare Class 3 chassis for commercial use."We've been in Class 3 since day one," Bollinger said. "When we started having more and more of the team work on the commercial front, we saw that there was a lot of similarity between [Classes 3 to 6]. There are a lot of components we can use that are the same. The fundamental engineering and manufacturing of those frames for commercial are all very similar. We can expand our expertise in Class 3 into higher classes. We're doing this because, what else is out there?"Bollinger had announced a starting price of $125,000 for the B1 SUV and B2 pickup truck, well above the pricing of the Rivian R1T, Ford F-150 Lightning, Chevrolet Silverado EV, and even the expensive Edition 1 version of the GMC Hummer HEV."Way back in 2015 when I started the company," Bollinger told us, "I knew there was going to be an electric [Ford] F-150 in the future. Things would go all-electric, so [we wanted to] make a truck that's really unique, very different, has all these capabilities that you won't find in any other truck. We succeeded in that and it became a vehicle we knew would be hand-assembled, low-volume and niche. I will go to my grave saying the B1 and B2 have no competition."We'd be lying if we said we weren't a little disappointed. There was a lot we were looking forward to seeing in the Bollinger trucks, not least of all that 12-foot cargo pass-through from the front to the rear of the truck, which is arguably even cooler than the Rivian R1T's Gear Tunnel.Bollinger plans to return deposits put down on B1 and B2 trucks, so does that mean the consumer vehicles are gone for good?"Never say never," Bollinger told us. "The B1 and B2 will always be in my heart. We're keeping all of that intellectual property, obviously. [But] commercial is definitely 100 percent of the focus right now."

When I was a kid, I was a huge Knight Rider fan. I watched the show religiously, I rocked an afro like the 'Hoff, I had the "Burnin' Key Car," and my most prized possession was my K.I.T.T. big wheel with the "spin out handle."So you can imagine how excited—and old—I felt when I saw that Hot Wheels is celebrating the 40th anniversary of Knight Rider by releasing a limited edition K.I.T.T. die-cast car. The die-cast will even have a working LED light bar just like the iconic feature found on the front of the 1982 Pontiac Trans-Am that played the starring role in every episode. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like the car will feature the voice of William Daniels who voiced K.I.T.T. on the show.Hot Wheels revealed the car in a series of tweets referencing the famous "turbo boost" function on K.I.T.T. that left millions of kids of my generation believing that a turbo charger would automatically allow any car to make massive ramp-less jumps on the fly. If only real turbos worked that way.If you're a fellow Knight Rider fan and want to add this to your collection, the die-cast will be released on MattelCreations.com on July 22nd, 2022. It will also be available in person this year at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC). I'm definitely going to try to get my hands on one but I know my chances will be fairly slim.If you miss the first drop online or can't make it to SDCC 2022, there's always the eBay route but be prepared to pay a very inflated price. Though, it's doubtful that the die-cast will command as much cash as the real deal.If you miss out on this nifty piece of 80s car culture nostalgia, you might be interested in the new 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 LEGO set that is coming out next month.