This may sound sacrilegious coming from an electric car guy like myself, but I’ve got to come clean here: I absolutely love me an Escalade. Cadillac’s flagship SUV is excessively huge and guzzles fuel like nobody’s business. But I’ll be damned if it isn’t the best road-trip vehicle on planet Earth.
A few years back, I drove the big daddy Caddy about 500 miles across New York State and was floored by how much I enjoyed eating up the highway miles in my own, personal living room on wheels. That experience must have awakened something deep inside me. Ever since then, I’ve had daydreams about buying a 20-year-old Escalade EXT, the model’s short-lived pickup option, and rolling around like a 2000s hip-hop mogul.
Then I remember, with great sorrow, that I am not Jay-Z. Also, a gargantuan Escalade is not a practical choice for city living, nor a terribly efficient or environmentally-friendly option. Dang.
But famous athletes, musicians and garden-variety rich people have adored these things for decades. And I can see why. Escalades are supremely comfortable, tower over surrounding traffic and make you feel badass whether you’re riding up front or, if you’re lucky, in back. Now Cadillac’s even working on that pesky “guzzles fuel” issue.
That’s right: The Escalade has gone electric.
I got some time behind the wheel of that car, the 2025 Escalade IQ, last week. It’s a show-stopping flagship worthy of the Escalade name, and that’s great news for selling more types of buyers on the zero-emission future.
Electrification even amps up the Escalade experience in some ways. In others, though, I found the IQ to be more flash than substance.
(Full Disclosure: Cadillac paid for my food, drink and accommodations in San Francisco while I test-drove the Escalade IQ this month.)
2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ
2025 Escalade IQ: What Is It?
The Escalade IQ technically went on sale in late 2024, albeit in an extremely limited fashion, as Cadillac’s first large electric SUV. Sales should be ramping up now as part of the brand’s rapidly expanding EV lineup. Today Cadillac also sells the Lyriq, and it will soon launch the Optiq, Vistiq and Celestiq. The General Motors brass hopes that deep bench will make Cadillac the best-selling luxury EV maker in America this year.
Cadillac isn’t throwing in the towel on gasoline, though. The combustion Escalade just got a refresh, and that’ll be the choice for anybody who wants a “budget” Escalade (that’s definitely sarcasm, don’t worry) in 2025. The IQ starts at around $130,000, a whopping $40,000 more than the V8-powered one. The decked-out IQ I drove, in the Sport 2 trim, stickered for over $150,000.
Both Escalades may share a name, but the IQ is a lot more than a regular Escalade with batteries stuffed in its floor. The IQ has a sleeker, more futuristic look all its own. And it rides on a completely different 800-volt electric platform that it shares with the GMC Hummer EV and Chevrolet Silverado EV.
It sports a 24-module Ultium battery pack with 205 kilowatt-hours of capacity and a tremendous claimed range of 460 miles. Its dual-motor, all-wheel-drive setup delivers some outrageous specs too: 750 horsepower, 785 lb-ft of torque and a 0-60-mph sprint of 4.7 seconds.
So, Cadillac is banking that people will be willing to shell out major cash to be on the bleeding edge of big luxury SUV technology. Only time will tell how that strategy plays out, but there is a lot to like about the IQ.
How Does The Escalade IQ Drive?
On the road, the Escalade performs just how you’d expect. That is to say, it’s a pain in the ass in dense urban environments and shines bright once the road opens up. In San Francisco city traffic, it’s like piloting a cruise ship. The thing is so bulky and hard to see out of that I constantly wondered whether I was actually driving within the lane lines.
On the highway, though, it’s magical. The IQ rides incredibly comfortably, is quiet and gives you a confidence-inspiring view over other cars. As I said at the outset, if your mission involves tearing down the freeway in total comfort, it’s hard to beat an Escalade. The electric version only means the experience is even quieter and more peaceful.
The instant torque from the IQ’s dual-motor, 750-horsepower drivetrain delivers solid passing power. That’s especially true in Velocity Max mode, which is enabled via a button on the steering wheel and changes the pedal mapping for even quicker acceleration. Floor it, and the IQ’s nose kicks up while you fight a wicked case of torque steer. But of course, the IQ is really designed for subdued cruising. And it excels at that.
The addition of standard Super Cruise makes the IQ even more of a road-trip monster. As we’ve covered on this website extensively, GM’s hands-free automated highway-driving feature is second to none. It’s straightforward to enable and it’s clear when it’s working thanks to the green strip that illuminates at the top of the steering wheel. Most importantly, it works really well, confidently centering a vehicle in its lane and keeping up with the flow of traffic while you supervise by keeping your eyes on the road.
The one-pedal-driving setup is just like what you’d find in other GM EVs. You can turn it off completely if you want the IQ to coast like a gas vehicle. Or you can choose from two levels of regeneration: normal and high. I preferred the normal setting, and I found it predictable and easy to get used to.
Standard four-wheel steering helps mask the IQ’s size to some degree. At low speeds, the rear wheels will turn the opposite direction as the front ones, which shrinks the SUV’s turning radius and makes it far more nimble than you might expect. I had to whip a U-turn at one point during my drive and ended up in a fully different lane than I had bargained for.
The IQ also has a related feature called Arrival mode, which makes the rear wheels turn the same direction as the fronts, allowing it to scoot on a diagonal. Cadillac thinks fancy people will choose to show up to events like this to show off. And maybe they will. Really, I bet it’s something most owners will turn on once or twice and then forget about.
Luxe Interior Fit For An Escalade
Jump inside the IQ and you’ll find yourself pleasantly isolated from the outside world and cocooned in high-dollar materials. The faux-leather seats are plush and enormous—about the closest you can get to driving a car from your La-Z-Boy. There’s more leather all over the doors and dash, where you’ll find dazzling chunks of shiny wood trim too. There’s also some black plastic in various places, for good measure.
Etched stainless steel speaker grates class up the place, and a football-field-sized glass roof adds a sense of openness. Not that it really needed that, because, in case it hasn’t sunk in yet, the IQ is positively massive inside and out.
At 6-foot-1 (not a flex, just for reference), I had plenty of room to stretch out in the second row. But I found the third row a bit cramped. It would be fine for a kid or smaller adult, but the low seat height meant my knees were pushed up by my ears. I do recall being more comfortable in the back of the Lucid Gravity and Hyundai Ioniq 9 when I checked those out. I should mention that there is also the IQL, a slightly stretched-out version with a larger back seat than the standard model.
Under the hood, you get one of the biggest frunks in the EV game at 12.2 cubic feet. That’s slightly smaller than the F-150 Lightning’s (14.1 ft3), but larger than the Rivian R1S’s (11.1 ft3), Lucid Gravity’s (8 ft3) and GMC Hummer EV’s (11.3 ft3). Because it’s so deep, Cadillac will even sell you a neat sliding shelf system.
But, curiously, there’s practically no under-floor storage behind the rear seats. Lucid, which puts a huge emphasis on smart packaging and smaller batteries, included a huge sub-floor bin in the Gravity. It would’ve been nice to see that kind of innovation here too.
Escalade Tech: Is Bigger Always Better?
The whole philosophy behind the Escalade seems to be “bigger is always better.” So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the 2025 model—both gas and electric—sports one of the largest arrays of screens I’ve ever seen in a car.
The centerpiece of the cabin is a curved, 55-inch display that sweeps across the entire width of the vehicle. It’s actually two separate screens—one on the left that encompasses the gauge cluster and central touchscreen, plus another dedicated to the front passenger. There’s also a “command center” tablet between the front seats.
The setup definitely delivers on the wow factor, but what’s it actually like to use? Let’s start with the good parts.
The screens are bright and crisp, and the user interface has a sleek, modern vibe. They’re also remarkably responsive to swipes and taps, indicating there’s some serious processing power behind them. You can zoom in or out on the navigation system with absolutely zero lag, and the same is true of watching YouTube or browsing the web on the passenger screen.
Functionality is good all around, and you can drag your preferred functions to a shortcut bar at the bottom of the central screen. Plus, a plethora of additional apps are available through the Google Play Store, since GM’s latest interfaces run on Android and incorporate Google Built-In services.
That means you get the Google voice assistant built right in. And, most importantly, the native navigation system is Google Maps—not some clunky automotive-grade software. You can even put Google Maps up right in front of you on the gauge cluster, which is nice for multitasking. Apple CarPlay and Android Automotive aren’t available, and I don’t think they’re necessary given how good this infotainment system is.
But I also think Cadillac could’ve done a lot more to take advantage of all the new screen real estate. There’s a lot of dead space on the digital gauge cluster. And Cadillac made some other funky decisions.
Whenever you hit the turn signal, a live camera feed pops up of the relevant blind spot. This is a great feature, especially in such a big vehicle. Inexplicably, however, that camera view shows up in the center screen and boots out whatever else you had there, which was usually the map in my experience. So it meant that every time the navigation prompted a turn, I’d lose sight of the map, which was infuriating. Why have such a huge screen if you’re not going to use it?
I also had issues with the command center. I know this is a tired point in 2025, but the climate controls are housed in that touchscreen when they really should be a row of easy-to-feel, physical buttons. You have to look down toward your knees and tap multiple times just to direct the air to your face or feet, which sucks.
That menu shows a graphic representation of the Cadillac’s interior, with air flowing from various vents, but you can’t actually tap on the image to adjust the airflow like you can in a Tesla or a Rivian. If you’re going to shove all the climate controls in a screen, at least make it easy for. Plus, there’s a “Doors” menu where you can operate the powered doors—but not the frunk or trunk. Those buttons are elsewhere.
How Is The Escalade IQ As An EV?
So, the IQ is an impressive luxury SUV. But is it a good EV? We’ll need more time with it to levy a final verdict. But so far, I think mostly yes.
Escalade buyers may have what’s commonly known as “F-you money”—as in, enough not to take shit from anybody or do anything they don’t want to. The IQ has what I’m now calling “F-you range,” boasting a Cadillac-rated 460 miles.
That handily beats every other electric SUV and just about every other EV, period. After all, it wouldn’t be an Escalade if it didn’t have the most of everything.
However, the IQ has what’s sometimes called “dumb range”—range that’s achieved mainly by stuffing more and more batteries into a vehicle. The IQ has a battery pack capacity of over 200 kilowatt-hours, which is about triple the size of the pack found in a Tesla Model 3 or Hyundai Ioniq 5. The IQ is far bigger, boxier and less efficient than those vehicles, so it stands to reason that it needs way more batteries on board. This means it takes more critical minerals to make, more energy to charge up and, due to its gargantuan weight, may burn range more rapidly than you’d expect.
Compare that to something like the Lucid Gravity, the startup’s new three-row EV. It delivers 450 miles of range—nearly matching the IQ—from a much more modest 120-kWh pack. A big part of that is its streamlined nontraditional shape. But if Cadillac had unveiled the electric version of the iconic Escalade and it was a jelly-bean, minivan-type deal, the GM executive responsible would’ve been chased out of Detroit and probably all of America too. So I understand the limitations there.
A bigger battery will inherently take longer to energize than a smaller one, everything else being equal. And the IQ does make up for that somewhat by offering a monstrous max charge rate of 350 kilowatts. (Most EVs will do anywhere from 150 to 250 kW, and a higher number means quicker charging times.)
Cadillac doesn’t quote the typical 10%-80% charge time, instead claiming that the IQ will add 100 miles of range in around 10 minutes. That’s pretty good, according to Edmunds’s fast-charging leaderboard. But it’s also worse than some of the more efficient vehicles out there—like the Lucid Air Grand Touring, which can add 200 miles of range in 11 minutes. Filling up the IQ will also cost extra, which may not be a big turn-off for somebody with $150,000 to spare for a vehicle. But it could make the difference for commercial customers deciding whether to upgrade a limousine fleet or stick with gas.
Early Verdict: In A League Of Its Own
On an individual level, it’s a little hard for me to get that excited about a vehicle that’s way too big for most people’s needs, isn’t efficient and costs a fortune. But the 2025 Escalade IQ delivers on the promise of an Escalade: It’s big, imposing, comfortable and makes a bold statement wherever it goes. If that’s the kind of EV you’re in the market for, it’s a great choice. Plus, it comes with a whole lot less baggage than, say, a Tesla Cybertruck does these days.
Importantly, it’s also nearly without any direct competition. There are some three-row EVs available—like the Tesla Model X, Rivian R1S, and Kia EV9. But none of those have the size, luxury feel, presence or prestige that Escalade buyers are after. And at this early stage of the EV transition, choice is everything.
After all, nobody’s going to settle for a Tesla Model Y if what they really want is a gigantic American land yacht.
Contact the author: Tim.Levin@InsideEVs.com
