Cadillac Lyriq, road trips and range concerns

[MaR]

I wonder how electric cars fair in winter or colder climates?  Batteries are less efficient.  Are these cars still dependable?  I heard the range can drop by 50% in cold weather.

-Dinh

You do see a noticeable, temporary drop in range when the battery is cold. On many EV models, you have the option of preconditioning the battery before you start your trip to help mitigate this range reduction. You would set the car up with your typical routine and the car will warm or cool the battery (and the cabin also) before you set out. Obviously, the ideal situation would also have the car plugged to avoid consuming range while this is happening. With EVs commonly have ranges of 300 miles or more though these days, even a significant temperature related range reduction is not enough to hinder day to day driving so the preconditioning feature for the battery is not needed as much as it was on older, shorter range EVs from several years ago. 

[dinhnguyen57]

Thank you Mitchell and TJ.  The video and information were very useful.  All of my friends who own Tesla vehicles really like them.  They do complain about quality control issues, but once those have been worked out,  their vehicles have been relatively trouble-free.  My other friends who drive non-tesla electric cars also like them but it seems they all complain about computer and programing issues that keep arising from time to time.

I was at the Chevy/Cadillac dealership recently for some maintenance for by STS and I test drove the Chevy Bolt. I loved the quietness of the car and smooth acceleration and power.  The interior was a bit "cheap" in the materials though. It retailed for $39,000 but had up to a $17,000  of rebates at the time.  I walked away from that experience clearly seeing the end of gasoline engines and future of electric.  The benefits and impact to the environment from electric cars versus gasoline ones, are still debatable though.

Hoping for a successful transition for Cadillac into electrification.  It's inevitable.

[TJ Hopland]

Service is one thing that I hear is pretty terrible across the board.    Tesla is just overwhelmed in most markets so long wait times just to get in and it sounded like they were using the apple model where there really isn't much or any parts stock at the service centers so you have to wait for the parts to come in once you finally get the car in.     

The rest of the brands just don't see enough E models to have have more than the most basic trouble shooting skills in house.  I hear lots of stories of cars spending weeks in service waiting for a traveling specialist to come and diagnose and then its waiting for the parts and hope the local people can install them. 

You wonder that is why Cadillac is planning on going in deep with several models?   Maybe they will be the first to actually be able to support EVs? 

[MaR]

Service is one thing that I hear is pretty terrible across the board.    Tesla is just overwhelmed in most markets so long wait times just to get in and it sounded like they were using the apple model where there really isn't much or any parts stock at the service centers so you have to wait for the parts to come in once you finally get the car in.     

The rest of the brands just don't see enough E models to have have more than the most basic trouble shooting skills in house.  I hear lots of stories of cars spending weeks in service waiting for a traveling specialist to come and diagnose and then its waiting for the parts and hope the local people can install them. 

You wonder that is why Cadillac is planning on going in deep with several models?   Maybe they will be the first to actually be able to support EVs?

I have not had any issues with service and Tesla is not even legally allowed to have any retail stores or service centers in my state. The techs come to me and for the few issues that I have had, they fix it where I'm at with no need for me to go anywhere. The vast majority of complaints you hear about are from Southern California where some of the service centers are overwhelmed. It's the same thing with the Supercharger locations, there are a few specific locations that are on heavily traveled routes in California that often have lines but that is the exception, not the rule.

[TJ Hopland]

I had not heard that Tesla was doing mobile service but I suppose if its in a state where they can't operate they had to come up with something.    I had not looked at that list for a while,  looks like they are down to just 3 states where they can't operate service centers.  New Mexico, Alabama, and South Carolina.   10 states including those 3 where they can't directly sell but maybe those are where they have a 'showroom' where you can look and test drive?    I see that they got into Michigan and Colorado finally last year.   You would have thought that Michigan would have been a hold out.  I think I read that the no direct sales laws originated there way back in the early days of automobiles. 

[Big Apple Caddy]

In the coming years, range, charging times, charging station availability, etc. will continue to improve and will be much less of a factor especially by the time BEVs account for a significant portion of sales.

Tesla tends to get low marks in the areas of quality (e.g., paint, fit and finish) and customer service but the hope is that as EV competition increases, Tesla will finally have to put more effort and emphasis there or they'll lose customers.

[MaR]

I had not heard that Tesla was doing mobile service but I suppose if its in a state where they can't operate they had to come up with something.    I had not looked at that list for a while,  looks like they are down to just 3 states where they can't operate service centers.  New Mexico, Alabama, and South Carolina.   10 states including those 3 where they can't directly sell but maybe those are where they have a 'showroom' where you can look and test drive?    I see that they got into Michigan and Colorado finally last year.   You would have thought that Michigan would have been a hold out.  I think I read that the no direct sales laws originated there way back in the early days of automobiles.

Tesla has offered Mobile Service almost from day one. The no direct sales laws are hold overs from when car manufactures would sell franchising rights, let the franchisees get the market set up and then swoop in and undercut their own franchises. That has not been a relevant argument for about 100 years but it's still being used to hamper direct sales of cars even though no other product is regulated like that.

[Harley Earl]

I routinely utilize Electrify America for charging on longer trips (EASY!).  Been EV on my daily driver since 2015.  The "EV related" planning before a longer trip has become less and less with increasing charging stations in the last six years.  I live in the Central Valley of California so your mileage may vary, literally and figuratively.  I see very few issues with going towards an EV future for our primary cars.  Cadillac is to be commended, in my opinion, for taking this bold move.  Quick charging is just that, QUICK. Plus it is relaxing to take a break/nap in climate-controlled comfort while charging up.  Add in that most of your "fill ups" are done in your own CAVE aka Garage and you have a winning solution. 

To add a bit; I purchased my most current EV direct from my local Audi dealer, delivered to my home by said dealer and all paperwork signed in my garage on my terms.  Everything done online for the sale.  Cadillac; take note, as this is the way that many of your current & future CUSTOMERS, prefer to transact business (with exception to a test drive and/or demonstration appointment).  Servicing has been outstanding, no waits for anything.  Customer service is excellent, fit & finish outstanding and I am not getting juiced for my last dollar as the real dough is made in the back of the dealership, not the front...All things for Cadillac to strive for to increase market share.

[MaR]

I routinely utilize Electrify America for charging on longer trips (EASY!).  Been EV on my daily driver since 2015.  The "EV related" planning before a longer trip has become less and less with increasing charging stations in the last six years.  I live in the Central Valley of California so your mileage may vary, literally and figuratively.  I see very few issues with going towards an EV future for our primary cars.  Cadillac is to be commended, in my opinion, for taking this bold move.  Quick charging is just that, QUICK. Plus it is relaxing to take a break/nap in climate-controlled comfort while charging up.  Add in that most of your "fill ups" are done in your own CAVE aka Garage and you have a winning solution. 

To add a bit; I purchased my most current EV direct from my local Audi dealer, delivered to my home by said dealer and all paperwork signed in my garage on my terms.  Everything done online for the sale.  Cadillac; take note, as this is the way that many of your current & future CUSTOMERS, prefer to transact business (with exception to a test drive and/or demonstration appointment).  Servicing has been outstanding, no waits for anything.  Customer service is excellent, fit & finish outstanding and I am not getting juiced for my last dollar as the real dough is made in the back of the dealership, not the front...All things for Cadillac to strive for to increase market share.

Yep, my last two new car purchases were from the comfort of my home and they only thing I did at the sales center was sign for and take possession of the car. They even offered to deliver the car to me.

[Big Apple Caddy]

To add a bit; I purchased my most current EV direct from my local Audi dealer, delivered to my home by said dealer and all paperwork signed in my garage on my terms.  Everything done online for the sale.  Cadillac; take note, as this is the way that many of your current & future CUSTOMERS, prefer to transact business (with exception to a test drive and/or demonstration appointment).

Cadillac and other GM brands already offer that at participating dealerships.  The pandemic pushed more manufacturers and dealers towards providing online buying and home delivery options for customers.  It still only accounts for a small percentage of transactions but is growing.    https://www.cadillac.com/shop-click-drive

[jwwseville60]

EV cars are the future, no doubt about it.
But as of 2022, none are really ready for prime time, even the Mercedes S class EV.
There are not enough charging stations, and there needs to be multiple ones in every single gas station, or as many competing EV charging stations to balance it out. Too slow to charge now.

In 6-8 years, the EV will mostly work globally. New generations of battery tech not using Lithium is key. Lithium is in short supply and has to be transported for refinement on diesel ships back and forth to several countries.

Yet keep in mind that many people have done a metric that says if 50% of America went EV tomorrow, our electrical power grid would COLLAPSE.

Fusion power and zero-point energy is coming on line from GE and Lockheed-Martin Energy, but its purposefully slow as to not destroy the oil, coal, and gas economy too quick.

TESLA is a military tech contractor, don't be fooled. It's not a car company. I don't care how fast they are, there's no dealer network. Elon Musk is all about driverless cars in the future, and that's troubling in my book. He's a dangerous tech messiah and a mental weirdo. Think CIA asset.

In 2030, I will buy a Cadillac EV.

[bctexas]

"jwwseville60" said "Yet keep in mind that many people have done a metric that says if 50% of America went EV tomorrow, our electrical power grid would COLLAPSE."

That is my biggest concern with the whole electric car craze.  Even if the generating capacity existed today to support the wholesale conversion to electric cars, the distribution capacity does not.  I have read estimates that generating capacity will have to increase by 1/3 in order to support EV's (I think that is optimistic).  Are we embarking on the decades-long process to build new power plants?  Not that I know of - I read more about old power plants being torn down.  And the cost of upgrading the distribution network will also be enormous and incredibly time consuming.  And all of this comes with environmental impacts that nobody seems to want to talk about.  Wind and Sun?  Good luck with that in the timeframes that are being discussed.

Will I live long enough to see the outcome of all this?  Not likely.  Just as well.  The torque filled joy of driving my '65 CDV and the thrill of a deftly executed double clutch/heel and toe downshift while approaching a corner in my '86 MR2 brand me as an old fuddy-duddy I suppose.  I cannot envision an electric car with the charm of any of my old cars.....

BTW, I was in Los Angeles a couple years ago - the local car guys there refer to the vast number of Teslas on the roads there as the "Malibu Prius". 

Happy Motoring!