Highlights – 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ
⚡ Power: 680 hp standard, up to 750 hp in Velocity Max
🔋 Range: Up to 460 miles per charge
🚗 Size: 224.3 inches long, 9,000+ lbs curb weight
💺 Luxury: 55-inch curved display, AKG 38-speaker audio, massaging seats
🛻 Utility: 8,000 lb towing, four-wheel steering, 23.6 cu ft cargo + 12.2 cu ft frunk
💰 Price: From $130,090 (Luxury 1), up to $167,605 as tested
I like the idea of the 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ. What’s not to like about up to 460 miles of electric range, three rows of glorious legroom to comfortably transport passengers, and a tech-forward interface that responds to a simple “Hey, Google” voice command? After spending a week with the Escalade IQ Luxury 2, I was occasionally overwhelmed by all the tech features. It felt like a lot for my personal taste. But if you love technology and gadgets, you'll probably be thrilled with everything this SUV offers.
A Supersized EV
The Cadillac Escalade IQ is the biggest and baddest three-row luxury electric SUV currently available. Introduced for the 2025 model year, it has more range, length, and towing capacity than its competitors like the Rivian R1S and Volvo EX90.
The Escalade IQ weighs more than 9,000 pounds, and it’s a behemoth with an overall length of 224.3 inches. It's big, bold, and beautiful, so big that it wouldn't fit in my city garage. Break out the tape measure if you want to keep it inside.
A Powertrain That Packs a Punch
Built on General Motors' Ultium architecture, the Cadillac Escalade IQ comes standard with all-wheel drive (AWD) and dual motors, delivering 680 horsepower and 615 pound-feet of torque in normal driving modes and up to 750 horsepower and 785 pound-feet of torque in Velocity Max mode. This translates to a 0-to-60-mph time of less than 5 seconds.
One of the best things about this luxury EV has to be the range. I took a 400-mile road trip in the Escalade IQ, and even though I left home with about 80 percent charge, I felt no range anxiety. Driving the 70-mph speed limit, I arrived at my destination with more than 100 miles of range remaining. I juiced up to 70 percent from about 40 percent overnight at my hotel's free Level 2 charger, then added 15 percent at an Electrify America station in 15 minutes.
Tech Overload?
The 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ is a study in opulence with incredible attention to detail, right down to the reverse stitching on the back of the front seats and the beveled edges of the cupholders. The wow-factor of all the tech enthralled me. It has screen-operated doors, which are a neat party trick, but I found myself defaulting to the traditional door handles after the novelty wore off.
The two-screen infotainment system is well integrated into the center stack. The top screen manages navigation, music, and some vehicle functions, and the bottom screen manages door operations, HVAC, and headlights. It's an ambitious setup, but once you get familiar with everything, it'll become more intuitive.
The one tech feature I appreciated was the hands-free highway driving Super Cruise system. It required some seating position adjustments to work consistently with my driving position, but once dialed in, it delivered smooth acceleration and braking in addition to well-timed automatic lane changes.
The Non-Apple CarPlay Operating System
The one true miss for me in this vehicle was the lack of Apple CarPlay. General Motors has opted to remove Apple CarPlay and Android Auto from most of its EVs in favor of a Google-built-in operating system, which is phenomenal for car functions. However, phone integration isn't quite as seamless as I'd like. iPhone users might find the experience frustrating.
Bringing Your Things Along
One of the best things about the 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ is the cargo space. You get 23.6 cubic feet available behind the second row, plus a frunk that stows an additional 12.2 cubic feet. While this probably isn’t enough space to haul luggage for seven people on a long trip, you'd have enough space for a weekend away as long as your passengers pack efficiently.
During my weekend away, I used the cargo area to transport a large rug steam cleaner, and all its detergents and accompaniments. Then, my husband and I put our luggage in the frunk with backpacks in the back seat. If you need to bring more cargo than the vehicle can carry, the 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ has an 8,000-pound towing capacity.
The 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ Drives Big
There are some large SUVs, like the Ford Expedition Max, that drive much smaller than they appear. The Cadillac Escalade IQ is not one of those vehicles. Living in Chicago, the high-def camera system and its multitude of views made it easier to parallel park or pull into tight urban parking lots. I had to take some extra care driving down narrow one-way streets, though it wasn't impossible.
For all its size, though, the one feature that made it drive a little smaller was four-wheel steering. This allows all wheels to turn at once and vastly improves the Escalade IQ’s maneuverability. Case in point: I had to do a U-turn on a divided road and expected to have to make it a three-point turn. Instead, it cleanly made the pivot with space to spare. This is a maneuver I’ve had trouble completing in much smaller vehicles. Yet this beast of an SUV did it with ease.
Off the city streets and onto the highway, the Escalade IQ is a capable cruiser. It’s quiet, smooth and comfortable for the long haul. In fact, after three hours on the highway, neither my husband nor I was cursing the seats or road impurities (and there are a lot on I-65 between Chicago and Indianapolis). This is exactly the kind of vehicle you want to take on a road trip.
Escalade IQ On Sale Now, IQL Coming Soon
The 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ starts at $130,090 for the Luxury 1 trim, including a $2,390 destination charge. AWD is standard, as are bougie features like the 55-inch curved digital display, four-wheel steering, an AKG 21-speaker audio system, five-zone climate control, heated-and-ventilated front seats, heated second-row seats, a head-up display, and Super Cruise. The Sport 1, essentially a visual upgrade over the Luxury 1, starts at $130,590. The Luxury 2 trim starts at $150,090 and adds amenities such as massaging front seats, 126-color ambient lighting, an upgraded 38-speaker AKG Studio Reference audio system, night vision, and a trailering package. The Sport 2 trim adds differentiating styling cues and is priced at $150,590.
My test vehicle was a Luxury 2 trim with the Executive Second Row Seating package, Midnight Steel Frost paint, a black roof, and the eTrunk Organizer Package for an as-tested price of $167,605. Yes, it's expensive, but when you consider you're getting the space of a full-size SUV, the luxury of a Cadillac, and tons of range, the pricing makes sense in this segment.
The 2026 Cadillac Escalade IQL will add about 4 inches in length and start at $132,795. It's slated to go on sale in the second half of 2025.
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