General Motors (GM 1.68%) has cancelled an event at which it planned to reveal the upcoming Cadillac Lyriq battery-electric SUV due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
GM had planned to unveil the all-new Lyriq at a media event in Los Angeles on April 2. The company is now considering other ways to roll out the new model.
The Lyriq is the first of a series of new advanced battery-electric models that GM will bring to market between now and 2025. The company is spending $20 billion to develop new battery technology and a new modular architecture to underpin the vehicles.
GM was set to reveal its electric Cadillac Lyriq on April 2, but will now hold off because of coronavirus fears. Image source: General Motors.
The center of GM's electric-vehicle strategy is a new lithium-ion battery, called Ultium, that provides packaging flexibility while reducing battery-cell costs to less than $100 per kilowatt-hour, roughly the point at which electric vehicles become price-competitive with internal-combustion alternatives.
GM will follow the Lyriq with a series of electric models ranging from compact Chevrolets to a new Hummer SUV for its GMC brand. At least one more electric Cadillac is known to be in development, a large handmade luxury sedan called the Celestiq. But the Lyriq will be key to GM's strategy to battle electric-vehicle leader Tesla (TSLA 4.51%) for tech-savvy luxury buyers.
GM showed the new batteries, the new architecture, and several of its upcoming electric vehicles to journalists and investment analysts in a series of presentations last week.
GM's stock rallied following the presentations, but gave up its gains during Monday's market sell-off.
