Cadillac has a new, more elegant take on the shamelessly big EV – the 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ. The Tesla Cybertruck and GMC Hummer SUV now have some company in the bigger-than-life EV department.
The new fully electric version of the Escalade – a first for the iconic Cadillac nameplate – is a gilded beast, tricked out with every luxury feature you could desire. I’m not used to this much luxury in a car (but I could easily get used to it). I’m driving the Escalade IQ Luxury 2 for a week. The following is a brief first-take review.
Size: It’s a luxury yacht on wheels
As a yardstick, I’ll compare it to two other giant high-profile electric vehicles, the Cybertruck and GMC Hummer EV.
- Tesla Cybertruck (AWD): ~18 feet (length) / 6,600-6,900 lbs (weight)
- GMC Hummer SUV EV: ~16.4 feet / 8,500 to 9,000 pounds
- 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ: ~18 feet (length) / 9,300+ lbs (weight)
Speed / torque: don’t let the size fool you
Before the IQ arrived, I had just finished a test drive of the Cadillac Optiq, a compact crossover EV at the other end of the size/weight spectrum. So, I expected a step down in speed and torque. Nope. Despite the 9,000 pound+ weight and three rows of seats, the IQ keeps up with the much smaller (5,000-pound) Optiq. That’s with the acceleration features toggled on (Velocity MAX and sport mode). That was a surprise considering its size. Cadillac says the IQ does 0-60 in under 5 seconds. I believe it now. It produces 750 hp and 785 lb.-ft. of torque with Velocity Max.
Goodbye range anxiety
The IQ is rated at 450 miles of range. I have never test driven an EV with this kind of range. It changes everything. No more ABCs (always-be-charging) – a state of mind that afflicts every EV driver. And, when you do need a charge, the charging rates are very fast based on my testing at Tesla Superchargers. GM estimates 100 miles of range in about 10 minutes at a public DC Fast Charging station. So far, I’ve been charging at between 300 and 350 miles, so I haven’t gotten the rates that GM publishes. (With EV charging, when the battery’s charge exceeds 70-80 percent, charging rates drop off.) But even when I charged from 350 to the max of 450, it was fast. As fast as the rates on a Lucid EV I drove last year.
Public Charging: Tesla Supercharger heaven
The Escalade IQ I have came with a Tesla NACS adapter. I’ve been charging exclusively at Tesla Supercharger stations. Pure plug-and-play, i.e., you plug in and it just works. As a rule, I avoid Electrify America (when I can) based on years of frustration.
Sumptuous luxury
Curved Pillar-to-Pillar LED Display: A 55-inch curved LED display makes navigating information much easier than other EVs I’ve tested.
AKG Studio Reference Audio System: The Escalade IQ offers an available 36-speaker AKG Studio Reference audio system.
Rear-Seat Entertainment: Dual 12.6-inch displays with streaming to keep rear passengers entertained.
Driving experience
Air Ride Adaptive Suspension & Magnetic Ride Control: this adjusts the vehicle’s height and damping for handling various driving conditions. And Four-Wheel Steering improves maneuverability at low speeds and stability at high speeds.
GM Super Cruise Vs Tesla Full Self Driving
I’ve tested the most recent Tesla Full Self Driving (FSD) updates 3 times in the past two months on the new Tesla Model Y “Juniper” and once on the Cybertruck. Tesla’s FSD is amazing. It’s basically a robotaxi = the driver is the passenger. The problem is, it’s not flawless. That always makes me a little nervous – and I’ve had few mishaps with FSD in the past. I like the middle ground that GM has settled on with Super Cruise. GM leaves the local driving to you while offering true hands-free driving on the highway. Once you’re on the highway, Super Cruise will handle steering, acceleration, braking, and lane changes. In my testing of the IQ’s Super Cruise on Los Angeles highways, it does 90 percent of the driving on 118, 405, and 5.
Why is Super Cruise important?
Think of Super Cruise as a tedium reliever. Let’s say you’re taking a long trip that involves hours of yawn-inducing highway driving. That’s where Super Cruise takes over. It does the dull driving for you. I know people who have resisted any kind of driver assist until I explain to them what it’s for. Then they actually try it and are immediate converts.
Price
The Escalade IQ Sport 1 starts at about $130,000, while the Luxury 2 that I’m driving is just shy of $158,000.