Silent as the grave

While the production of electric cars is being pulled back in the US, there is nothing as certain as death and taxes, and making that final journey in silent luxury has retained consistent appeal. General Motors is providing a rear-wheel-drive Liriq platform for hearse applications. In Florida, Wolf Coach Builders is offering the all-electric Cadillac Lyriq in two hearse formats.

Cadillac lyriq hearse cropped — Image: Wolf Coach Builders

To offer its customers an electric journey for life’s last mile, as quiet as a tomb, Wolf Coach Builders is working with two Lyriq hearse configurations. The hearse-maker’s funeral-coach formula, with a raised padded-vinyl roof and rear compartment fitted for coffin loading, is called Flagship Legacy. The other version provides the vehicular version of an open casket – a hearse with wraparound rear glass – and gives customers a chance to show off more expensive coffins or elaborate floral decorations.

The desire for a silent last ride is not new. At electrive, we first reported an electric hearse 12 years ago with the conversion of a Rolls-Royce Phantom into an electric hearse. In the meantime, there has been a 1996 Chevy Caprice converted to a hearse, a converted electric Nissan, and several firms offering converted Teslas. Now, General Motors says ‘the Cadillac Lyriq is well-positioned to lead the transition to electric vehicles in the funeral industry.’

Cadillac began series production of its first electric model, Lyriq, in the UA at GM’s Spring Hill assembly plant in Tennessee in 2022. In Europe, the performance version of the Lyriq launched in July 2025. In the USA, as part of its professional series vehicles, GM offers the rear-wheel-drive BQ9 Lyriq direct to coachbuilders.

Cadillacs are a traditional preference as a funeral coach, and Cadillacs were not only used to provide platforms for hearses but also ambulances before emergency-service fleets became standardised. Now these too are becoming electrified. Now it is possible to have your life saved in an electric vehicle, and if that doesn’t work out, you can still count on an emission-free last mile.

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