While we were sitting in the Cadillac Lyriq presentation at a resort in Park City, Utah, the product’s chief engineer was walking through the charging accessories that come with the car, and what are available, and it’s a lot.
While Tesla is making the portable charging cable an optional extra, General Motors is shipping the Lyriq is a portable cable that’s capable of utilizing a regular house outlet — for level 1 charging — and a NEMA 14-50 adaptor for level 2 charging at up to 7.7 kW.
That second adapter had been an optional extra for Tesla, even when it was shipping the charging cable with the car. We paid $36, we think, to add the adaptor to our long-term Model 3. It can be plugged into a dryer plug if you have one in your garage.
But like Tesla, and unlike any other OEM, you can get even more adapters for the charging cord.
A replacement NEMA 5-15 is available, which is the standard home outlet. As is a replacement NEMA 14-50, like the one we talked about above. It comes in a regular version and one that GM lists as a “Straight Connector”
Additionally, you can get a NEMA 14-30 dongle, which can also be used for dryers and other types of equipment. So if your garage doesn’t have a 14-50 you might have a 14-30.
Plus, you can get an optional TT-30 dongle, which you might find on a generator or at an RV park. This increases the number of places you could potentially charge overnight on a long road trip, because rest areas and other service plazas sometimes offer these plugs for RVs to hook up.
Individually, each one of these dongles is $100 and should be available at your local GM parts department. For the best overall coverage, though, we’d recommend opting for the Travel Bundle that the company offers. It’s $5 cheaper than buying three individually and covers the ones you’re likely going to want.
For some additional perspective, the charging cord that comes with the Lyriq will peak at 32 amps. That means a NEMA 14-50 plug has plenty of overhead.
A TT-30 or 14-30 plug will be capped at 30 amps max, which will slow down charging a bit. Still, both methods will get you a full charge overnight without any issues, and be significantly quicker than a regular 11o outlet.
Should you get these with your Lyriq? It’s up to you. If you have an RV and you’re going to pull your Lyriq along as your runabout, then yes, it’d be good to have.
If you take a lot of road trips and just want the added peace of mind knowing you can plug into more types of plugs, then you might also want to consider it.
But with charging infrastructure improving and most people charging at home, it’s probably not as necessary. Though, depending on your circuit panel in your house, it might be cheaper to get a 14-30 plug installed than having to replace a whole panel to support the higher powered charging solutions. It’s nice to know that you’ll have that option, especially if you have an older house.
We’re glad to see GM offer it, even if the take rate is low. More flexibility in charging, especially at home, will smooth the transition to EVs for many folks.
