After delivering only 122 Cadillac Lyriq EV models in 2022, General Motors says it was purposely slow with the rollout as it worked through issues with its new electric vehicle and to ensure customers receive the best quality. With a stockpile of 2023 Cadillac Lyriq models, GM says it’s now confident in its process going forward.
GM wants to accelerate Cadillac Lyriq rollout
When GM revealed the Cadillac Lyriq in 2020, it was designed to “redefine American luxury” with over 300-mile range and a starting price of under $60,000. The Lyriq is also set to play a pivotal role in carrying the Cadilac brand that’s set for an all-electric future by the end of the decade.
However, despite announcing it had its best sales year ever last week, GM only delivered 122 Cadillac Lyriqs total. The delivery count was disappointing after early demand caused GM to close Cadillac to orders after only 19 minutes in May.
Although GM would not specify how many orders “sold out” indicated, the company reported about 233,000 people expressed interest (but did not necessarily put money down).
President of GM North America, Steve Carlisle, said at the release in 2020, “Production will be a bit restricted as we ramp up.” According to a new report from the Detroit Free Press, the slow rollout was deliberate.
A spokesperson from Cadillac, Michael Albano, said as the company worked through learning curves, only a few deliveries went out to ensure quality.
We deliberately ramped up Cadillac Lyriq production slowly and methodically last year to ensure quality for our customers. Looking ahead, we will continue to ramp up production in 2023 in order to meet the strong demand for Lyriq.
Cadillac has also required engineers and specialists to inspect the Lyriq while teaching technicians how to work on it before dealers are allowed to deliver them.
The luxury brand has gone as far as recruiting early customers to aid in studying the car. According to the Detroit Free Press, GM gave some early buyers a $5,500 incentive, having them sign a nondisclosure to allow them to track activity.
Now that GM has cleared up any issues, it’s time to get back on track. Albano says, “We are confident in our process,” and that the company has a stockpile of Cadillac Lyriq models that will be shipped to customers very soon.
Electrek’s Take
I understand GM’s approach here in ensuring quality for the customer, but after delivering only a little over 100 Lyriqs last year, it’s time for Cadillac to get cars in the hands of customers.
The Cadillac Lyriq hits the sweet spots in several areas (luxury interior, long-range capabilities) for a decent starting price, but with several highly anticipated EV models in its segment expected to hit the market this year, Cadillac may need to start prioritizing accelerating the rollout.
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On today’s episode of Quick Charge, Tesla’s Cybertruck is now available in Canada – and, like in the US, there’s no waiting! Plus, we’ve got an “actually” smart summon Tesla that’s actually stuck, GM reaches a sales milestone, and we get a brand-new title sponsor!
Today’s episode is the first with our new title sponsor, BLUETTI – a leading provider of portable power stations, solar generators, and energy storage systems.
New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonusLucid proves than an EV company can keep its promises while Xiaomi teams up with Chevrolet and Honda to prove – at least conceptually – that records are made to be broken. audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news!
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Mobile car care company Yoshi Mobility launched a DC fast charging EV mobile unit that it likens to “a supercharger on wheels.”
November 4, 2024 update: Yoshi Mobility will only be charging EVs on the side of the road now – it announced today that it’s selling its fleet fueling operation to EZFill Holdings (Nasdaq: EZFL).
It was originally founded as a direct-to-consumer, mobile fueling business in 2016, but now it’s going to focus on mobile EV charging, virtual vehicle inspections for partners like Uber and Turo, and onsite preventative maintenance.
Bryan Frist, Yoshi Mobility’s CEO & cofounder, said, “By spinning off our fuel business and focusing all of our energy on solving hair-on-fire problems that fleet owners face, we are meeting the changing needs of enterprise customers while making the future of transportation safer, cleaner, and more sustainable.”
May 22, 2024: Yoshi Mobility saw that its existing customers needed mobile EV charging in places where infrastructure has yet to be installed, so the Nashville-based company decided to bring the mountain to Moses.
“We recognized a demand among our customers for convenient daily charging, reliable private charging networks, and proper charging infrastructure to support their fleet vehicles as they transition to electric,” said Dan Hunter, Yoshi Mobility’s chief EV officer and cofounder.
The company says its 240 kW mobile DC fast charger, which can turn “any EV” into a mobile charging unit, is the first fully electric mobile charger available. It can provide multiple charges in a single trip but doesn’t detail how they charge the DC fast charger or who manufactured it. (I asked for more details, and they replied that they won’t disclose client names or the manufacturer of its DC fast charger yet.)
Yoshi is launching its mobile charger on two GM BrightDrop Zevo 600s and will introduce additional vehicles throughout 2024. It aims for full commercialization by Q1 2025. (I wonder if the Zevo 600 ever charges itself? Yes, I asked that too.)
Yoshi Mobility says it’s already deployed its EV charging solutions to service “major OEMs, autonomous vehicle companies, and rideshare operators” across the US. Its initial customers are made up of large EV operators managing “hundreds” of light-duty vehicles requiring up to 1 megawatt of energy per day that don’t yet have grid-connected EV chargers. I’ve asked Yoshi for details of who it’s working with, and will update if they share that info.
The company says pricing is based on location and enterprise charging needs. Once under contract for service, the service will be deployed to US-based customers within 10 days.
To date, Yoshi Mobility has raised more than $60 million, with investments from GM Ventures, Bridgestone, ExxonMobil, and Y-Combinator in Silicon Valley.
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Marqeta celebrates its initial public offering at the Nasdaq on June 9, 2021.
Source: The Nasdaq
Marqeta shares tumbled more than 30% in extended trading on Monday after the company issued weaker-than-expected guidance for the fourth quarter.
Here’s how the company did compared with Wall Street estimates, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
Loss per share: 6 cents adjusted vs. a loss of 5 cents expected
Revenue: $128 million vs. $128.1 million expected
While third-quarter results showed a slight disappointment on the top and bottom lines, Marqeta’s forecast for the current period was more concerning.
The payment processing firm said revenue in the fourth quarter will increase 10% to 12% from a year earlier. Analysts were looking for growth of more than 17%, according to LSEG.
Marqeta, which primarily functions as a card-issuing platform, attributed the guidance miss to “heightened scrutiny of the banking environment and specific customer program changes.” The company has been struggling for a while, and its stock is now down more than 80% from its peak in 2021, the year it went public. The stock was down 15% for the year prior to the report.
Total processing volume of $74 billion was up more than 30% from a year earlier. Net revenue and gross profit were up 18% and 24%, respectively.
Marqeta’s digital commerce business sells payment technology designed to detect potential fraud and ensure that money is properly routed. It also issues customized physical cards that look like a credit or debit card that can be used for point-of-sale purchases.
The company has been trying to break into the buy now, pay later business with a recently launched product called Marqeta Flex. The service brings BNPL from lenders such as Affirm or Klarna to any credit card wherever Mastercard and Visa are accepted.
“It’s an orchestration layer, but it’s tied to issuing and processing and disputes and chargebacks,” CEO Simon Khalaf told CNBC at Money2020 in Las Vegas last week. “So it is not actually a Wild West in BNPL. It is actually very well established. And there is a reason why a lot of people are jumping to it.”