Cadillac believes that educating consumers about electric vehicles is the best way to convince them to buy one, focusing, unsurprisingly, on things like the charging infrastructure, the driving experience, and pricing are among the most important factors.
Like some of its European rivals, Cadillac’s current portfolio has an interesting mix of combustion-powered models and EVs. On the combustion side, there are crazy creations like the CT5-V and CT5-V Blackwing and Escalade V-Series while on the EV side, there are models like the Lyriq, Celestiq, Vistiq, and Optiq in recent years.
EV adoption has slowed in the U.S. and during a recent interview with The Bellingham Herald, vice president of Global Cadillac, John Roth, said there are some key ways automakers can convince existing ICE buyers to switch to an EV.
“I think it’s an education,” he said. “Right there’s three characteristics, if I may, that are must-haves in the marketplace. Right? First, it’s got to have range, all the Cadillac’s 300 miles plus of range. So you get a comfort that, hey, I can travel to and from work, what, five days and really not need to plug it in until the weekend.”
“Then, you really get to enjoy the ride characteristics. It is a different driving vehicle. All that center of gravity is lower in the vehicle. And so you don’t have the transmission tunnel, you don’t have the big hump behind the back seats for all that axle and gearing ratio,” Roth added. “And then of course, price value right at the end of the day, can I afford it? And you know, with our Lyriq, you start at just over $58,000. It can go up from there. But, you know, [there are] great leasing programs, great purchase programs out there. And I think it’s just a case of come give it a try.”
Read: Cadillac Lyriq Back On The $7,500 Tax Credit Nice List
While the Lyriq is currently Cadillac’s most affordable model, that spot will soon be taken by the smaller Optiq. It will compete with the likes of the Audi Q4 e-tron and Genesis GV60 and while prices have not been announced, some believe it will start around the mid-$40,000 mark. At the other end of the pricing spectrum is the Cadillac Celestiq, available from a dizzying $340,000 and aiming to re-establish Cadillac as the ‘standard of the world.’
Cadillac ultimately aims to sell nothing but BEVs by 2030. It sold 9,154 Lyriqs in the United States last year.
