Why We’re So Excited to Drive the Cadillac Escalade IQ… It’ll Be Worth the Wait

Yes, it’s electric but it’s also all Escalade. It’s tall, at about 76″; it has a nice ground clearance of about 7″ and it’s long, at about 224″ long, so slightly longer than the gas-powered Escalade. And, it has 3 rows of seating, thankfully. It’s great to see the Escalade IQ stay true to its roots.

Despite its size, Cadillac estimates the Escalade IQ, priced from $130,000, will have a drving range of 460 miles on a charge—an upward revision of 10 miles from the original estimate of 450 miles. This means that it’s been doing better in testing than expected, which bodes well for owner happiness.

We love this detail, which goes in the IYKYK category. “1000” stands for 1000 Newton-meters, or, torque. Translated into torque numbers, the Escalade IQ should deliver about 785 lb.-ft. of torque, which, paired with its estimated 750 HP, means it’ll be wicked fast.

The Escalade IQ will run on GM’s Ultium platform which also means it’ll charge fairly fast. Cadillac estimates it can charge over night at a level 2 240V household outlet, and regain 100 miles in 10 minutes at a DC fast charge station.

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Velocity Max? Yup. GM loves to play with instant torque, assuming its car buyers will, too. Essentially, this is launch mode, and expect it to operate similarly to WFT, or Watts to Freedom in the GMC Hummer EV and WOW, or Wide Open Watts, in the Silverado: with the tap of an icon on the touch screen you can instantly front-load all the power, either from a standstill or on the road—when it’s safe, of course. We tried this out in the Silverado and I will say, it’s fun. And impressive.

Cadillac is known for creating a posh and pampered interior, but the Escalade IQ takes it even further. First, the “pillar to pillar” screen gives you all you need on a single expansive screen. And then, seats are upholstered in vegan leather, a first for Cadillac. But the company believes its Nuvoluxe interior to be as good as leather, while also being lighter-weight and more resilient.

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How posh is this? Cadillac showed the Escalade IQ with headrest speakers in the front and rear seats. This means you can turn up the music in your seat and not drown out your passengers, or, allow them to sleep. And vice-versa.

And, because this is Cadillac, the sound system is a premium one from AKG with either 19 or 36 speakers, all custom designed for the Escalade IQ.

We’ve been crushing on floating center consoles lately. They are elegant. They add a sense of airiness. They add storage—and are a great place to tuck away a handbag. This one is particularly elegant, with a single textured metal multimedia system dial and textured metal-lined cup holders, something we also admired on the Cadillac Optiq. And then, there’s always the attention to detail; there’s even a Cadillac logo on the storage bin under the console.

The “pillar to pillar” screen is actually designed to reduce distraction. It will display what you need to see as a driver, and the passenger screen will entertain your navigator, who will also be able to use the system to set up directions, look at vehicle settings, charge information and more. The low-set screen and below it, a panel that allows for climate and other functions to be accessed, are the trend because they reduce distraction and allow the driver to keep her eyes on the road more.

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So we could all get a good look at the pillar to pillar screen, Cadillac set up a demo screen. We could see all the controls on the lower panel and how they display on the large screen. A dial on the center console also helps the driver and passenger to access information. Note the passenger screen, too. Lots of streaming options!

We love night vision: It picks up people, pedestrians and large animals that you may not be able to see in the dark. A screen on the driver display shows what you may not see even with your bright lights on.

Another feature that buyers will be excited about is Super Cruise hands-free highway driving. This will be standard on all Cadillac Escalade IQ models, and it’s a great thing to have. It really reduces stress on the highway.

The model shown here, and the one we saw at the Cadillac Escalade IQ reveal, features an executive setup in the second row: A center console with a climate screen, cup holders, USB ports, tray tables for a laptop, screens and wireless headphones. For those who buy this car for driving dignitaries or to be driven around by a chauffeur, this is a great setup. For those who will be doing the driving of family, friends, kids and other regular-person stuff, there will be more traditional options, including captains chairs with and a passthrough for reaching the 3rd row. And yes, there’s a 3rd row!

Here’s another look at the center row executive console as we saw it at the Escalade IQ reveal so you can see what this looks like. Screens are not powered so they are a bit hard to see, but the control screen is angled on the center console between the arm rest and cup holders. There is storage under the console, too, which is a nice touch.

And this one looks quite nice! It’s carpeted and deep, more the size of a trunk than a frunk. It has a lip that will prevent things from rolling out, and outlets and work lights. This will prove to be a good place to stow things out of view of others.

The crafted front face of the Cadillac Escalade IQ combines classic heritage details with lights and the new Cadillac badge for a very modern, premium effect. It’s clearly Cadillac, but also, very fresh and new.

When the Cadillac Escalade IQ comes to market it’ll straddle the luxury electric SUV sector: The Lucid Gravity, a 3-row all electric SUV will just be hitting the market with a much lower starting price of about $80,000; and on the upper end, the Mercedes-Maybach, which also puts a premium focus on the the interior and rear seat (though it is a 2-row only) and carries a starting price of $180,000. And then, there’s GM’s own Hummer EV SUV, which shares the powerplant and some similar features, but is much more adventure focused.