The 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ Gets Impressive Tech and a Six-Figure Starting Price

Chris Teague
by Chris Teague

There are Cadillacs, and then there’s the Escalade. The hulking luxury family hauler has been around since the late 1990s and has become a showcase for the automaker’s technology and design prowess, but GM is going electric, and a three-ton V8-powered SUV doesn’t fit with that vision. Of course, Cadillac couldn’t just drop the Escalade, so it’s going electric with the 2025 Escalade IQ, an impressive and expensive EV that looks every bit as deluxe as its liquid dinosaur-guzzling counterparts. 


The IQ’s $130,000 starting price buys a three-row SUV with curvier lines than the current gas model, and Cadillac said it’s the most aerodynamic Escalade to date. Riding on 24-inch wheels, the SUV has air suspension, a 450-mile range, and eye-popping specs. It delivers up to 750 horsepower using the Velocity Max setting, and there’s a whopping 785 pound-feet of torque. Those numbers enable a sub-five-second 0-60 mph time and up to 8,000 pounds of towing capacity. 

Like the GMC Hummer EV, the Escalade IQ has rear-wheel steering and its own version of the funky crab walk feature that helps the big-boy Cadillac maneuver in tight spaces. The IQ also offers one-pedal driving and adjustable regenerative braking. Cadillac also equipped a heat pump system that improves range and speeds up charging. It can also redirect heat from the battery to the SUV’s climate control system.


The current Escalade’s cabin is packed with screens, and the IQ will follow suit. It features 55 inches of screen that stretches across the dash. The system uses a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and runs Google built-in. That said, one of the most notable stories about the IQ’s tech comes from what it’s missing: Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. GM promised that the features would not be available in its upcoming EVs, and we’re now starting to see the controversial policy in action.

Cadillac equips a long list of safety features, including intersection automatic emergency braking, blind spot steering assist, and an HD surround-view camera system. Super Cruise comes standard with a three-year free subscription through OnStar, bringing hands-free driving on more than 400,000 miles of highway in the U.S. and Canada.


The IQ will be built in GM’s Factory Zero in Michigan and enter production in the summer of 2024. 

[Images: Cadillac]


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Chris Teague
Chris Teague

Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.

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  • MaintenanceCosts MaintenanceCosts on Aug 10, 2023

    This is what results when your answer to any engineering issue that crops up during development is "MAKE IT BIGGER!"

    • Peter Peter on Aug 11, 2023

      MERICA


  • Art_Vandelay Art_Vandelay on Aug 11, 2023

    wow...some posts deleted here. I guess some folks don't like being reminded of the Motors Liquidation Corp

    • RHD RHD on Aug 11, 2023

      Lots of posts were deleted. What, we can't say that when someone buys an Escalade IQ, they get too much of the former and lack too much of the latter?


  • Tane94 Too wagon-ish to succeed in the U.S. See Volvo V60 and V90 and Buick Regal X for reference.
  • Golden2husky I'd never recommend a modern Ford at this moment in time - not only the continual recalls, but there seems to be a lot of marginal parts and poor engineering ideas (an internal water pump, really?)...Almost overnight I am seeing Cybertrucks with increasing frequency. Teslas in general are thick on the ground around here but was surprised to see the trucks appear so quickly. They need better assembly quality and in the right light, some of the stainless panels seem to be a different hue from the neighboring panel.
  • Kosmo Millville MN (motocross track). Best in the land, and I could actually afford a vehicle that would do it justice!
  • Michael S6 Interesting how Toyota is filling every niche. My wife recently test drove a RX350h and this Crown Signia will probably save $5-10 thousand and offer a similar package. Toyota must be making a killing as our local Toyota dealers have hardly any stock.
  • Nrd515 GM: If you are going to revive the Camaro again, PLEASE do the following:[list=1][*]Make it actually good looking, and avoid the first gen "tribute" disaster of the last 14 years. You managed to take the pretty ugly 2010 to 2106 cars and then make them even uglier for the last years. And you wondered why it didn't sell? Look at the back of the car and you really think that's a good look?[/*][*]Make the car's trunk actually useful for more than golf clubs. [/*][*]Make it slightly larger inside, the last two gens have been almost like being in a small cave. The interior was hideous, too. Boring is fine, as long as it's in black.[/*][/list=1]I am a 2 time Camaro owner ('79 and '86), and a one time Trans Am ('79) owner. Instead of a Camaro, I have owned 2 Challengers.
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