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Grayson Brulte:
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[00:00:00] Hello, I'm your host, Grayson Brulte. Welcome to another episode of SAE Tomorrow Today, a show about emerging technology and trends and mobility with the leaders. Innovators and strategists making it all happen. Today, I'm joined by Bryan Stewart, Global Program Engineering Manager at Cadillac LYRIQ.
On today's episode, we'll discuss the launch of the LYRIQ, the company's first all electric vehicle. We hope you enjoy this episode. Bryan, welcome to the podcast.
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Bryan Stewart:
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Hey, thank you Grayson. Happy to be here.
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Grayson Brulte:
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It's exciting to have you. Because Cadillac's inventing the future. Cadillac's an iconic brand that you're now going through the course of electrifying.
What was the inspiration behind the all new electric cadillac LYRIQ?
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Bryan Stewart:
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Yeah, so there's a couple things really from a engineering perspective that we focused on as our inspiration for. Getting the LYRIQ out to the customer. One was, there was a huge [00:01:00] focus on really maintaining the concept vision. So we went through and developed the concept car.
And we did clinics and such to go and get feedback on that concept car and it really performed really well in the clinics that we saw. So it was very important for us to stay very close to that concept and we were able to do that. The, if you were to now go back and look at the concept and compare it to the production version, You would see that there's, they're almost identical.
So that was one of the key things that we were focused on as well as the second thing is through Cadillac, we had Cadillac requirements, which we were going through almost component by component in the entire car. Not LYRIQs specifically, but Cadillac as a whole because we're really focused on elevating the brand now.
So we [00:02:00] wanted to go through every little detail to really work on elevating. Each product in each component so that it's that just the next level that our luxury customers expect.
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Grayson Brulte:
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You paid a lot of attention to detail throughout the vehicle, but you paid homage to Cadillac's heritage. When you opened the door, you hit the ducks.
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Bryan Stewart:
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Yes. That was well done. Yes, we did wanna have some fun with the car to, if you open the door and look at the side of the instrument panel, you'll see that there's some ducks there. That's a play from the old Cadillac badge in where there are merlettes, or the ducks that you can see on the badge itself.
This is one of the Easter eggs within the vehicle that we did go and have fun with as we were developing this vehicle.
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Grayson Brulte:
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You're following in the footsteps of the Wal Disney Company throughout a lot of their products and movies. They put hidden Mickeys. And there's a whole group of fans that try and find the [00:03:00] hidden Mickeys, whether in the movies or at Disney World.
You did a lot of other things. And I wanna highlight some of the coolest things that you did right on the Cadillac from an engineering perspective. The coffee mug feature. That's brilliant cuz you're trying to put a coffee mug in a normal Oh, can't get the handle. Have to get a specialized mug. How, was that through a focus group or how did that come about?
Cuz to me it's it's common sense. Why was that still done well?
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Bryan Stewart:
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Yeah. And Grayson, that's exactly it. Nobody will ever understand the level of detail that went into developing this car. And that's one example of it. So we had market research that said. Hey, people carry coffee mugs sometimes.
It's not always just your standup standard cup that you might get through a drive-through or wherever. So design was really focused on making it look very beautiful, which they did. So we had to come up with a concept that allowed our design [00:04:00] studios to do what they wanted to do while also making sure we were accommodating what our customers.
So we found this trade off where the little center of the cup holders, you can push it down if you have a mug and a mug will fit in there. And if not, you can push a little button and it will pop right back up and it will highlight the design with the chrome trims around the cup holder and the wood panel next to it, it looks beautiful.
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Grayson Brulte:
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Practical. I'm the guy, I drop my daughter off for school. I bring a coffee mug, an old fashioned coffee mug, and going around the corner, I have to pick the coffee mug up to, to try not to get it spin. You've solved that problem and before you get in the vehicle, another thing Cadillac did.
The lighting, when you approach the vehicle, you have this beautiful lighting array. That to me says, welcome, welcome to the Cadillac experience. How did the team design that welcoming lighting experience?
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Bryan Stewart:
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Yeah, so a lot of effort went into that as well. [00:05:00] And it's doing exactly what you said. I'm glad you noticed it because it's highlight of our car.
So when you go to approach the car, it will do exactly that. It will welcome you, it will go through a choreographed display with the lighting that will go through a sequence of lighting activities in both the front and the rear, as well as it's gonna be welcoming you to the car, making sure your seat's in the right position and get it all set up for you.
It went through a lot of hours with a lot of engineers and with the entire studio. To make that. All right, so we focused on things as far as, okay, which lights do we wanna do, turn on when? How bright should they be? How are we gonna sequence it to the front, to the rear? There? There was a lot of thought that went into this over many months to get it to where it's at today.
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Grayson Brulte:
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And then on the rear of the vehicle, there's practical ushers, the light that goes below the trunk area where you [00:06:00] put your foot. It opens up, you're using lighting practical. How did that come about?
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Bryan Stewart:
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Yeah, that's actually a technology that's been around for a little bit, but we know that customers, especially in the rear, if you have kids or if you have groceries or whatever, if your hands are full, that light will be highlighted on the ground for you, so you can actually just use your foot to, to kick and it will open the rear end of the car so that you can put whatever you need into the back.
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Grayson Brulte:
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From an engineering perspective, is there a sensor runner there that can detect the foot, or how is that done?
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Bryan Stewart:
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Yeah, there's a module and the light is actually part of the sequence, so it can detect when the foot passes through that light, and that's how it knows to go and activate the lift gate.
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Grayson Brulte:
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Brilliant. And we get put the groceries in the vehicle, put the kids in the back, you're getting ready to drive, you're going down the road and in normal cars you hear all this noise. But in the Cadillac LYRIQ [00:07:00] you have AKG speakers in the headsets. What's helped reduce that noise? Is that part of the, if you wanna call it the Cadillac vision, the Cadillac.
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Bryan Stewart:
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Yeah. So this is a luxury vehicle. So we have 19 AKG speakers throughout the car. The LYRIQ it was really targeting when you're inside of the vehicle, that it's a luxury space, and in the driver's seat and as well as the other seats, you'll have this whole immersive surround sound experience.
So not only do you have the premium brand of AKG, but those speakers are also working with sensors that we have on the car for advanced active noise cancellation. So we have accelerometers on the car that. Go and listen to road noise and it will use the speaker system to actually improve the interior cabin space.
So it, it's much more quiet.
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Grayson Brulte:
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It's much more quiet from an economic standpoint. You did a bang up job [00:08:00] it's got a $60,000 price tag on it. When you compare it to other electric vehicles, it's a bargain for all the luxury that you're getting inside of the Cadillac LYRIQ. How did the Cadillac team arrive at such an incredible price?
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Bryan Stewart:
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Yeah, so we really wanted to hit at the heart of the luxury market which is the mid-size SUV market. We were looking to place the $60,000 price tag at a range that could be affordable to that lux market, the mid-size suv. And by doing so, we wanted to make sure that we could get the technology that we wanted in there.
We, we wanted to make sure we could get the design that we wanted in there, but we also wanted to appeal to that very large market. So it was important to us to target that customer space there without going to higher [00:09:00] price point in which maybe we wouldn't be able to get to that broader audience.
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Grayson Brulte:
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You have the technology in there, have you have Super Cruise and now you're not nicklin diming your customers.
The only upgrade of options are larger tires and wheels. You're giving the customer for the base price, the primo vehicle. To me, that's important, but why was that decision made?
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Bryan Stewart:
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Yeah. This is Cadillac's first EV. And it, and we wanna point out to our customers and let them feel that this is going to be the future of what Cadillac is offering.
So yes we, it has to have the technology that these customers expect. And so yes, we wanted Super Cruise on the vehicle. We wanted the large 33 inch curved LED screen. When you're in the vehicle, there's all kinds of technology in it was just very important to. To have that for this market.
I, and [00:10:00] I hear it all the time that people are saying, wow, that you're really getting a lot for what you're purchasing this for and you are. And it just goes to show what we're able to offer at Cadillac.
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Grayson Brulte:
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Again. And on top of that you have the all glass panoramic roof. Well done on that front.
Putting this together, I'm thinking to myself, why was the LYRIQ chosen to be the first all electric Cadillac? Was this Cadillac making a statement moment, this is the future of the brand. This is where we're going.
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Bryan Stewart:
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Yeah and again, it was really the brand is going all electric and this was really targeting the heart of that lux luxury market.
So we, we wanted to appeal to customers that were really looking for that exceptional mid-size luxury SUV, regardless of whether it was a EV or a traditional gas engine. So this is why the LYRIQ was chosen to be the initial vehicle that was going. [00:11:00]
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Grayson Brulte:
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Is there, are you also trying to get a younger demographic?
I'm basing that on the design. The design seems to me that would appeal to a younger crowd than your traditional Cadillac customer.
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Bryan Stewart:
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Yeah, so the, honestly, the intent was not to target age or demographic. It was really to highlight this segment and that desires the latest technology. They aspire for luxurious and high tech lifestyle that fits their lifestyle.
While we were not really targeting younger customers, what the early data that we're seeing is that we're, we actually are we're seeing a lot more customers that we're not previous Cadillac owners and we are seeing customers that are younger in age. So while that was not the goal when we started out on this, we are seeing that trend.
What we're seeing through the customers that we're getting right now.
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Grayson Brulte:
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For [00:12:00] those, the younger demographic, it's a beautifully designed car. It's a luxury car. It's a statement piece. You roll up to a valet or you roll to a friend's house. It's a statement piece. It's something to talk about. It's something for that owner of that vehicle to be proud of, which raises a question.
How important is this vehicle to the future of Cadillac?
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Bryan Stewart:
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It's incredibly important to Cadillac. It, the LYRIQ is the first Cadillac leading the way for going to our all electric future by 2030. And it demonstrates what you can expect from all Cadillacs in the future. So it's incredibly important for us to get this right, which I believe we did, and it's incredibly important for us to get this out to the market so they can see what's to.
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Grayson Brulte:
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You got it right and you made an appearance on Jay Leno's garage and Mr. Leno stated the following after he drove the vehicle. It's really quiet. It's really smooth. It's what a Cadillac is supposed to be. I wanna repeat, Mr. Leno [00:13:00] said it's really quiet. It's really smooth. It's what a Cadillac is supposed to be.
this sums up the Cadillac brand. What was your impression? You're there with Mr. Leno on the set, in the vehicle with him. What was your impression when he made that statement?
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Bryan Stewart:
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I was glad to hear it. Honestly, Cadillac's all about luxury and being quiet and a smooth ride plays right into what people expect of luxury.
Honestly with being in engineering for many years. There. There is a easy tendency to want to go and design a vehicle that will appeal to all types of customers. With the LYRIQ we did not do that. We were very focused on what a luxury customer would want in a vehicle. For example, with a electric vehicle, you get instantaneous torque.
We could have put more emphasis on speed, right? With that instantaneous torque you can. [00:14:00] But we didn't wanna do that. We wanted to make sure that we had that smooth ride when you hit the accelerator, it's an EV so it's still fun. You still have that instantaneous torque. But we wanted to be on the luxury end where it is more smooth and it's not meant to be race car for example, and so it was, I was happy to hear that Jay picked up on that and could actually feel that while he was driving.
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Grayson Brulte:
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Smooth as the brand. My father was a Cadillac owner of several Cadillacs and we'd ride in the vehicles as kids. They were smooth, like that's what Cadillac was known for as a smooth, comfortable.
And you're getting there. And for our listeners that are interested in the Cadillac LYRIQ, I highly recommend you check out Bryan's episode appearance on Jay Leno's garage. Bryan did a wonderful job. It's a great way to learn about the vehicle. And during your ride with Mr. Leno, he highlighted his fanciness for [00:15:00] the variable regenerative braking paddle.
He really liked the feature. How does that feature work and how would you describe to a listener saying, okay, I know what regenerative breaking is, but how do the paddles work?
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Bryan Stewart:
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Yeah, so there's a paddle and it is actually one of my favorite. Features on the car. So on the left side of the steering wheel, there's a pressure sensitive paddle, and as you pull it harder, you will get more regenerative braking.
As you let go of it, it will. Start to let go of the car. So the more you pull it, the more regen breaking you get and the less you get. And to me it's perfect because now you have control of exactly how you want to use the regen braking there. We do still have the one pedal driving. There's many customers.
Much prefer that, but to me this is perfect [00:16:00] because you give customers options. If you like the one pedal driving, then great, go use the one pedal driving. If you're customer like myself that really likes to have more control, you can use the paddle and use it when and how you want to. So it's a really cool feature that we have in the car.
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Grayson Brulte:
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It's the best of both worlds. For example if you wanna drive personally on the highway, you can drive. If not, you can turn on Super Cruise on a designated highway you're giving your customers the ability to choose. Another thing I wanna point out, inside the LYRIQ buttons, there was an emphasis on buttons compared to where other electric vehicles are shunning buttons.
But Cadillac said, We like buttons. Was that from historical Cadillac customers of like buttons? Was that feedback you got or did the Cadillac design team say buttons are awesome, we're putting buttons in .
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Bryan Stewart:
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Yeah, so this was another area that we put a lot of thought into. The research shows that customers do still prefer some hard controls.
While we also [00:17:00] know that many people are getting used to more virtual controls with iPads and everything else out there. I've seen my kids when they were little, they would actually go and try to swipe at the tv. People are just getting so used to having that in their life. But we do know that there are many people that still prefer to have some physical buttons. So for example, the HVAC controls. Typically people want to have those right at their fingertips so that they can quickly go and switch to heat or cool or change the temperature without having to go through a bunch of screens to get to where they want.
Another one is volume. Most of the time people want to be able to adjust volume very quickly. If it's too loud or too soft, or if their favorite song comes on, they wanna blast it with our AKG speaker system, they can do that quickly. And that was one that we know was an important to people. So we actually have redundant buttons, so we [00:18:00] have a volume control on the multifunctional control area that's in the center console and we also have a volume button that's on the steering wheel, so it's right at your fingertips.
So a lot of thought went into which buttons should be hard buttons, and which buttons could be more virtual.
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Grayson Brulte:
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It's convenience. There's no other way to describe it. It's pure convenience. Yes. Luxury. And then you don't have to get the situation where the child's tr on the TV tried to move away.
Daddy . This is not I'm working. No, we, Cadillac has buttons. Push the button. Oh, okay. Yep. . Another big differentiating factor is the LYRIQ doesn't have a frunk. Why?
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Bryan Stewart:
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Yeah. So this is a question that comes up frequently and honestly. This is another area that we put a lot of thought into with frunk, it takes up space under the hood, and we know that there's many customers that [00:19:00] do not like to open their hood, so we chose instead to put a 19.2 kilowatt onboard charger into the under hood area. And what that allows you to do is have one of the fastest at home charging speeds that's out there. But not only in addition to that we also put a big focus on maximizing the space in the traditional rear cargo view room for the customer.
So we, if you have the seats down, you have. Over 60 cubic feet of space in there. And then we also have the underfloor storage. And if you watch the Jay Leno episode, I think he commented on that as well. We the cargo shade, we have a spot for that. There's a deep compartment there that you have space for if you wanna put your [00:20:00] charge cord in there, if you wanna put groceries in there.
There was a lot of space in there. So we chose to really maximize the space in the traditional areas of the vehicle for the customer to use versus the upfront frunk that some people love and some people never use.
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Grayson Brulte:
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But it goes back to what I stated earlier. With convenience, you're allowing that individual at home to charge faster.
You're eliminating stress as the vehicle gonna charge, is the vehicle gonna charge? You're helping to eliminate and transition those individuals over to an all electric future. So you have the onboard charger, let's combine that with rapid charging. What advantages does that give the vehicle?
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Bryan Stewart:
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Yeah, so the rapid charging it's one of the transition points for the EV market is charging as a whole. So many people that have not transitioned to EVs yet, they, [00:21:00] there's some hesitation to EVs because they don't understand it all yet and they're worried that they can't do what they want to do with it. So having the rapid charging enables the customers to do more of what they want when they want.
So at home you can do the very fast charging or you can do the more traditional charging. But again, it gives the customer options so that when you're at home, if. Needed to traditionally have the vehicle discharged in or plugged in for short periods of time. You could go for that higher end charging scenario where you can go faster, otherwise you can get a more traditional unit that would charge overnight and you can it's again, good with the, you can program it to start when you want.
You can program it. Only charge up to a certain point. You have [00:22:00] complete control of how you want to do with that. Then in addition, if you were away from home, you still have the option to go to the DC high speed chargers that can charge up to a 190 kilowatts. So you can really get more charge to your vehicle very quickly.
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Grayson Brulte:
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The technology that made the LYRIQ possible makes it charging possible is the Ultium platform. GM's Ultium platform is game changing. Is that a strategic competitive advantage for the Cadillac brand by having that Ultium battery in there?
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Bryan Stewart:
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Yeah, so the Ultium I guess from two perspectives, one from the overall brand it offers us a ton of flexibility between different brands or different models.
So with it being modular, you can go anywhere from the LYRIQ that we're seeing here with 12 [00:23:00] module battery, up to anything to, for example a Hummer that also is using the Ultium platform as well as with drive units. That also plays into it. But for the LYRIQs specifically, it does a lot for us.
It's integrated right into the body structure under the seating space of the occupants. So by having it integrated into the structure and with the mass being low, you have your low center of gravity, you have your near 50 50 weight distribution it allows you to. Not have what we would call the tunnel that goes through the center of the car.
It's a flat floor because we don't need any kind of drivetrain running to the rear X over the car with the Ultium platform. So it really offers a lot of advantages, not only from a design perspective, but [00:24:00] also from a performance perspective.
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Grayson Brulte:
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I'm gonna go in the Wayback machine, put an Ultium battery in a Cadillac 60.
That would be something else.
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Bryan Stewart:
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let's do it!
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Grayson Brulte:
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That'd be a, that'd be a great throwback car to probably end up in the movies. There's this great technology in the LYRIQ. You've optimized charging, you've optimized the battery designs of the Ultium battery. what type of range will the Cadillac LYRIQ be able to achieve?
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Bryan Stewart:
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We've already got EPA certified for a 312 mile range with the LYRIQ rear wheel drive
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Grayson Brulte:
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312? That's a healthy range. How did you come to that range? Is that where you sat down with customers? Potential customers were you? They say, okay, once we're over 300 range, anxiety starts to go away and that's what we're gonna aim for.
How did you arrive at the 312?
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Bryan Stewart:
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Yeah, so the 312 number was more of a sweet spot. So again, within this [00:25:00] space, we know that our customer research shows that our average US driver commutes around 40 miles per day. So we also know that we needed. Balance our range, our price, and other features so that we could do two things.
One that will have a vehicle that is beneficial or wanted by our customers for their everyday commute. But we also know that there, there is this range anxiety out there. So with our research we had seen that 300 miles is where. People that have not been involved or in EVs previously they start to feel much more comfortable.
With that amount of range we could have gone more, but then that would've took the price up as well, right? So as we wanna do more [00:26:00] range, then we need a bigger battery. A bigger battery usually drives bigger components, which all adds to the cost of the vehicle. We were really looking to hit that sweet spot of the daily commute, as well as being able to handle the range anxiety that some of our new newer EV customers may have.
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Grayson Brulte:
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You hit, in my opinion, you hit the sweet spot, you hit the $60,000 price point, which is very good price point for the market. You're over 300 miles of range. To me, that's the sweet spot. You have a great interior, great audio, fun lighting. You've got the ducks hidden there. I gotta highlight the ducks cause it was well done on that in putting it together.
It says Cadillac cares about this product, it cares about the LYRIQ. You're paying attention to the little details and you're creating the ultimate product for the Cadillac customer. And Bryan, in your opinion, what is the future of the Cadillac brand?
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Bryan Stewart:
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The future [00:27:00] is pretty simple. It's going to be all electric.
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Grayson Brulte:
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It's coming. An all electric future for Cadillac is an all electric future for GM and an all electric future for the world. And as we look to wrap up this insightful conversation, what would you like our listeners take away with them?
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Bryan Stewart:
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Yeah, so I, I'm hoping this conversation really gets people as excited for Cadillac electric future is, as I am, the automotive industry.
It's really going through a huge transformation right now, right before our eyes. And the LYRIQ is really helping lead the way. If any of the listeners, if they have not had a chance to get into the LYRIQ yet, then I encourage them to do luxury will be the first thought that en enters their mind as they sit in the vehicle.
And then, better yet, if they can go and actually drive the LYRIQ, then they'll much better understand the conversation we had here related to the ride and handling [00:28:00] and the smoothness that even Jay picked up on. Combine that with the price and I'm confident that this is a vehicle that's gonna be a hit in the market.
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Grayson Brulte:
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It's a vehicle that will be a hit because the vehicle's well. It's well manufactured. You have the Ultium battery in there because today is tomorrow. Tomorrow is today, and the future is Cadillac. Bryan, thank you so much for coming on SAE tomorrow today.
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Bryan Stewart:
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Thank you so much, Grayson. It's been fun.
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Grayson Brulte:
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Thank you for listening to SAE Tomorrow Today. If you've enjoyed this episode and would like to hear more, please kindly rate, review and let us know what topics you'd like for us to explore.
Be sure to join us next week as we speak with Sarah Olexsak, Senior Manager of Electrification Transportation at Duquesne Light Company.
She'll talk about DLCs community charging plan, their plan to electrify their fleet and the future of electric mobility, and what the impact will have on Western Pennsylvania.
SAE International makes no representations as to the accuracy of the information [00:29:00] presented in this podcast. The information and opinions are for general information.
SAE International does not endorse, approve, recommend or certify any information, product, process, service, or organization presented or mentioned in this podcast.
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