DETROIT — General Motors is gearing up to deliver Cadillac’s first electric vehicle to drivers, announcing Tuesday that it will begin production next week on customer units of its EV crossover, called the Lyriq.

Production will start as planned despite the coronavirus pandemic and the shortage of semiconductor chips that’s been causing sporadic plant shutdowns, according to Rory Harvey, vice president of Cadillac.

“Lyriq has been protected as we worked our way through it,” Harvey told reporters Tuesday, signaling how important the launch is to the company.

The Lyriq, starting at $59,990, is the first of a new lineup of electric cars and SUVs for the brand as it plans to exclusively make all-electric vehicles by 2030.

Production starts on Monday at a plant in Tennessee, and Harvey said he expects Lyriqs to begin arriving on dealer lots by May.

Cadillac unveiled the car in August 2020 as one of the first of GM’s next-generation Ultium EV architecture. The company has called the vehicle its new “technology spearhead” to take on Tesla and other legacy automakers that are releasing EVs.

Harvey said the company has seen “massive” interest in the Lyriq, citing more than 220,000 “hand raisers,” or people who have asked for additional information on the car. He declined to comment on how many reservations Cadillac has received.

“With the level of demand that we think that we’ve got for the Lyriq, we’re looking to increase capacity fairly significantly from where the previous plan of record was,” Harvey said.