2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ Review

The 2025 Escalade IQ is an over-the-top battery-powered behemoth in every sense of the word.

Benjamin Hunting | 

Jul 23, 2025 | 7 min read

Benjamin Hunting

"More is more" has been the calling card of the Cadillac Escalade for decades, so it's no surprise that its first all-electric model — the IQ — draws from the same playbook. Thanks to its massive battery, the Escalade IQ claims more driving range than any other electric SUV on the market, and its enormous proportions and extroverted styling are impossible to ignore.

Strangely, the size of the all-new Cadillac Escalade IQ is almost a self-fulfilling prophecy. Tipping the scales so ponderously that Cadillac doesn't publish an official curb weight (estimates put it in the 9,000-pound range), the SUV needs its enormous 205-kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery to overcome its bulk. At least a third of that mass is due to the battery itself, a trait shared by the Escalade IQ, Chevrolet Silverado EV, GMC Hummer EV, and GMC Sierra EV (all of which use the same platform).

There's no doubt that the Cadillac Escalade IQ is the "most" of nearly everything. But is it also the "best" of everything? Ultimately, that's what will matter to well-heeled customers. As it turns out, only a few practicality-sapping design decisions mar the wildly impressive and exceedingly comfortable Escalade IQ experience.

Benjamin Hunting

About the 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ Review Vehicle

The 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ is available in Luxury 1, Sport 1, Luxury 2, and Sport 2 trim levels, with prices ranging from the low $130,000s to the low $150,000s, including the destination charge for shipping the EV from its Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant in Michigan to a dealership. Due to its starting price, the Escalade IQ does not qualify for federal EV tax credits.

For this Escalade IQ review, I test-drove the Sport 2 trim in Montreal, Quebec, and on the mountain roads of that province's Eastern Townships. Finished in Flare Metallic paint and featuring an optional black-painted roof, the test vehicle came with the Executive Second Row Seating package. Those upgrades increased the manufacturer's suggested retail price to $161,810, which includes the $2,390 destination charge. Cadillac provided the vehicle for this Escalade IQ review.

Benjamin Hunting

The Escalade IQ's Shock-and-Awe Design Turns Heads

It might surprise you to learn that there's an even larger extended Escalade IQL model set to go on sale for the 2026 model year. After all, the standard version of the IQ is already more than a foot longer than the base Escalade gas model, which, combined with the slope of its roofline, significantly stretches the Cadillac's visual first impression.

Despite lacking an engine to house, the IQ's hood is also long, tall, and imposing. Elaborate LED lighting at either end, along with gigantic 24-inch wheels, further accentuates its overwhelming personality.

The Escalade IQ's cabin is equally ostentatious, featuring high-end materials, meticulous attention to detail, and an avalanche of equipment. I'm not a fan of the piano-black trim that collects dust and scratches like a vinyl record that's escaped its jacket, but that's a minor complaint compared with everything else the hand or eye encounters inside the IQ's passenger compartment.

The Escalade IQ's conversation piece is its curved dashboard display, which runs nearly edge-to-edge under the windshield and is paired with a tilted, tablet-like screen attached to the console. As long as the ignition switch is on, they present very well. When it's off, you're staring at a 55.0-inch-wide expanse of black plastic, frequently speckled with dust and lint, which is the aesthetic burden of many screen-dependent modern machines.

Benjamin Hunting

For second-row riders, the Executive Second Row Seating package extends the console — and adds a second tablet interface — between a pair of plush bucket seats facing individual entertainment touchscreens. Passengers enjoy 14-way power adjustment, heating, ventilation, and massage.

This nearly $9,500 upgrade is well worth it, luxury-wise, with one significant drawback: It renders the third row tough to access, as the second-row seats offer only a meager tilt-and-slide functionality.

Even more problematic? With that fixed console and second-row seats that won't fold flat, this package also significantly shrinks the cargo capacity of the Escalade IQ, especially when compared with models that retain the standard seating. You'll likely need to tag in the vehicle's generous 12.2 cubic-foot frunk.

Benjamin Hunting

Escalade IQ's Giant Screen and Super Cruise Impress

The Escalade IQ's giant touchscreen dashboard certainly appears too wide for the driver to make full use of, and that's precisely the point. At the far right, the screen is for passengers to watch a movie or play a game via the HDMI port, while the center provides access to vehicle menus and information.

As large as the Escalade's driver display is, I found it was still too easy for the steering wheel to block critical information, such as speed, battery charge state, and other vital details. You can also view the night vision imagery and navigation map on the driver display, which changes its presentation slightly. I mostly relied on the head-up display when driving the IQ.

As with most other EVs built by General Motors, the Escalade IQ's Google built-in infotainment system doesn't include Android Auto or Apple CarPlay functionality. The company's omission is curious, as nearly every other electric SUV on the market delivers one or both of those popular features.

Cadillac's Super Cruise advanced driver-assistance system is standard with the IQ, and I think it's excellent. It provides reliable hands-free driving capability, expertly alerts drivers when the feature is functional or when it's time to take back control, and is very simple to use. The IQ's Super Cruise also offers automatic lane changes when approaching slower traffic.

Benjamin Hunting

Great Range and Handling for the Escalade IQ

Most of the time, the dual-motor, all-wheel-drive Cadillac Escalade IQ produces 680 horsepower and 615 pound-feet of torque, which is more than enough to motivate its considerable heft. Only occasionally did I dip into the Cadillac's "Velocity Max" mode, which marshals its full 750 horsepower and 785 lb-ft of torque.

More impressive than its straight-line speed was the IQ's handling acumen. While not exactly sporty, its suspension felt incredible at preventing body roll, a testament to the Escalade's engineers stuffing the massive battery beneath the floorboards. While there's no joy in hustling the hulking Escalade, it never felt too far out over its loafers, even when cornering quicker than polite company might accept. A stoic silence befitting the vehicle's electrified drivetrain accompanies all of the above.

Every Escalade IQ comes with the same size battery, but the base Luxury 1 trim is limited to 11.5-kilowatt (kW) charging from a Level 2 plug (22 miles of range per hour). All others top out at 19.2 kW (36.5 miles of range per hour).

More important on road trips is the 350-kW maximum available from a Level 3 DC fast charger, which Cadillac claims can add 100 miles of driving range in approximately 10 minutes.

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Cadillac advertises up to 460 miles of range per charge, and the estimated range displayed on the dashboard routinely showed me just under that. There's no official EPA rating, as the IQ's gross vehicle weight rating qualifies it as a heavy truck exempt from testing.

That readout proved remarkably accurate during my time with the vehicle, and on average, the Escalade IQ consumed 55.5 kWh of electricity per 100 miles of driving. That observed figure is more than double the consumption of the most efficient EVs available, and illustrates how the hulking SUV's massive battery helps it overcome its lack of efficiency and deliver its significant driving range.

If you want to tow, the Escalade IQ can handle 8,000 pounds of trailer weight. Expect considerably higher energy consumption while doing so.

Benjamin Hunting

Is the 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ a Good SUV?

The Cadillac Escalade IQ's enormous power pack brute-forces its way to claimed class-leading driving range while also delivering exceptional comfort, startling speed, and confident handling that subverts its supersized footprint. "Have giant battery, will travel" is the most accurate summation of the Escalade IQ's design and engineering philosophy, and every journey feels like a first-class ticket.

Of its current rivals, I think the Lucid Gravity, Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV, and Volvo EX90 come closest to its combination of electrification and luxury. However, they still trail the Escalade in nearly every measurable area — especially size. With statement-making styling and (if you avoid the Executive seating package), respectable practicality, the IQ is an appealing pick for those who can handle its formidable starting price.

Benjamin Hunting

Nearly two decades into his career as an automotive journalist, Benjamin has had his hands greasy, his hair blown back, and his heart broken by more than one project car. In addition to his work at Capital One, he has contributed features and reviews to Motor Trend, Car and Driver, Hagerty, Driving Line, Inside Hook, Super Street, European Car, Roadkill Magazine, Motor 1, The Drive, the Toronto Star, the National Post, Business Insider, NAPA, Autoblog, Automotive News Canada, and AutoGuide. He is also cohost of the Unnamed Automotive Podcast and cocreator of the Code 45 and Dead Air graphic novels. In his spare time, he's a friend to vinyl and enjoys keeping the shiny side up during track days.