Volvo EX90 vs. Cadillac Lyriq: Can GM Really Hope to Compete with Sweden’s Apex SUV?

Yeah, they’re probably laughing it up over there in Gothenburg, picturing GM’s designers using some late-50s Eldorado for inspiration, rather than relying on their current design language. Another safer way to do it would have been to benchmark the Lyriq’s design against that of the BMW X5, Mercedes GLE, and so on, but no, Caddy’s first-ever battery electric SUV just had to be different.

Actually, the Lyriq is Cadillac’s first-ever electric vehicle, period. Regardless of body style. Maybe that might have influenced the U.S. carmaker’s designers when they put pen to paper, but either way, it should appeal to customers who aren’t big fans of traditional crossovers and SUVs.

One issue I personally have with the Lyriq in terms of styling is the fact that it just doesn’t look very “American.” I mean, it was designed with Chinese buyers in mind too, and as you know, Chinese car culture and American car culture are very different.

The interior, on the other hand, is stunning (our own Matt DeLorenzo was relatively impressed during his review). Everything from the dashboard to the center console and door panels is really well built, and visually, the entire cabin looks spectacular. The Lyriq is also a practical vehicle, but let’s not forget this is somewhat of a comparison and its rival from Sweden is a seven-seater, whereas the Caddy can only accommodate five people.

In terms of its appearance, I can’t comfortably say the Volvo EX90 is a stunner or anything, but it is more conventional looking than the Lyriq, and when it comes to SUVs, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The two aren’t very different size-wise, but the EX90 is clearly the taller vehicle.

The latter also happens to be Volvo’s safest and most advanced passenger car ever, and that’s saying something. The Swedish brand is, of course, well-known for making some of the safest cars in the world.

Seriously, though, the EX90 is incredibly clever, pretty much a computer on wheels that learns how to keep you even safer over time. It features state-of-the-art sensors (cameras, radars, lidar) and powerful computers, and it’s constantly aware not just of its surroundings but also its driver – it can tell if you’re distracted, drowsy, inattentive, and so on. Yes, that’s been done before, but never this well.

Now, at least until the dual-motor AWD variant of the Lyriq comes out to play, the Caddy SUV won't really be able to compete with the EX90 in terms of performance and range. The latter claims to do an impressive 375 miles (600 km) on a single charge, and you can get it with 510 hp and 671 lb-ft (910 Nm) of torque. Meanwhile, the single-motor Lyriq will only give you 340 hp and 325 lb-ft (441 Nm) of torque, to go with an estimated range of about 312 miles (500 km).

As for the Volvo’s interior, the design philosophy is very different compared to what you get in the Caddy. The cabin feels less cluttered, for better or worse, and you could argue that it makes for a more relaxing environment.

Ultimately, it’s hard to say whether the EX90 will prove more popular than the Lyriq in the long run. For what it’s worth, the Volvo XC90 outsold the Cadillac XT6 through Q3 of 2022 in the United States, which could mean nothing as far as our main protagonists here are concerned, but it could also mean that premium SUV buyers are wise to the fact that Volvo makes genuinely exceptional cars.