Cadillac Lyriq vs Mercedes-Benz Eqe300

What's the difference?

General Motors Australia & New Zealand (GMANZ) has recently expanded its full-electric Cadillac SUV range in Australia from one to three models, with the new Optiq and Vistiq joining the pioneering Lyriq in the company's local line-up of luxurious US-sourced SUVs and pickups.

The five-seater Lyriq is now the happy medium of the Cadillac trio, as it’s positioned between the smaller Optiq and larger Vistiq; the latter with a unique seven-seat design.

We recently spent a week aboard the Lyriq to see if its opulence, practicality, performance, driving range and price provide a compelling alternative to full-electric or combustion-powered rivals for high-end luxury SUV buyers.

The EQE53 SUV is Mercedes-AMG's first fully-electric SUV.

That means it doesn't have a thundering V8 like a lot of its petrol-powered AMG siblings, but what it lacks in ear-splitting noise it makes up for in colossal but quietly delivered shove.

Which, when you have a sleeping child in the back, is exactly what you might need, because this after all is a family review and we're testing how good this silent beast of an SUV is when it comes to family duties.