Overview
The Cadillac Escalade is a pop culture icon. Soon, the huge luxury SUV will scoop on another helping of enormity with an all-electric powertrain. The 750-hp Escalade IQ will arrive during the summer of 2024, and it follows the arrival of GM’s most luxurious EVs to date: the Lyriq compact crossover and the upcoming Celestiq sedan. The Caddy of mega-SUVs is loosening up its corporate cufflinks to go green and will serve as an antonym to the current gas-only Escalade V that’s powered by a supercharged 682-hp V-8 and sucks down fossil fuel at an EPA-rated 11 mpg in the city. Caddy’s range goal for the all-electric Escalade IQ is 450 miles, which is more than the GMC Hummer SUV and Silverado EV that it shares a platform with.
What’s New for 2025?
Since the Escalade debuted in 1998 it’s shouted wealth, power, and luxury with a distinctly American accent. Soon, for the first time ever, it will play to buyers’ environmental sensibilities with an all-electric powertrain. The electric-only Escalade IQ will go on sale in the summer of 2024.
Pricing and Which One to Buy
Pricing hasn’t been announced yet, but using the current gas-powered Escalade as a reference, which starts at roughly $83,000, we’d expect the additional technology and cost of going all-electric will create an Escalade with tons of standard options that push its starting price to nearly three figures. Expect big wheels, tons of cargo space, and a mountain of leather.
EV Motor, Power, and Performance
The Escalade IQ is all-wheel drive and will generate as much as 750 horsepower and 785 pound-feet of torque. That’s only in Velocity Max drive mode, which unlocks peak output for as long as you keep it enabled, rather than a brief boost mode common in other EVs. Cadillac hasn’t spilled the details on specifics but says that, in normal driving conditions, the Escalade IQ should make over 650 horsepower. With a claimed launch to 60 mph in under five seconds, the all-electric Escalade IQ’s closest competitor is the gas-powered 682-hp Escalade V, that can do it in 4.3 seconds. The Escalade IQ will certainly outweigh its 6290-pound V-8-powered alternative, and will likely crush the scales closer to the 9640-pound GMC Hummer H1T it shares its platform with. We’ll update this space after we’ve sampled the first-ever fully-electric Escalade and provide the results from our comprehensive vehicle-testing regimen.
Towing and Payload Capacity
What good is a rolling monolith if it can’t pull its towering toys behind it? No problem says the Cadillac Escalade IQ’s 8000-pound towing capacity. That’s only 200 pounds behind the 8,200-pound max towing capacity of the gas-powered Escalade but the real challenge of using an EV to tow isn’t so much weight as it is the diminished driving range caused by the additional weight and rolling resistance.
Range, Charging, and Battery Life
The EPA hasn’t certified a driving range estimate for the Cadillac Escalade IQ yet, but GM says their goal is for the all-electric Escalade to travel 450 miles on a single charge. To do it, the Escalade IQ’s 200.0 kWh Ultium battery pack will need to work smarter rather than harder. Once it’s time to recharge its giant battery bank, the Escalade IQ’s 800-volt architecture will keep downtime to a minimum; the system is said to support DC-fast charging rates that can supposedly deliver a gain of 100 miles of range in 10 minutes. When charging at a Level 2 charger, the IQ is good for 19.2 kW AC, or roughly 36 miles of range per hour. We’ll update this space with EPA estimates and results from our own 75-mph highway driving range test when that information becomes available.
Fuel Economy and Real-World MPGe
While the EPA hasn’t officially said what the Escalade IQ’s miles per gallon gasoline-equivalent is, we can create an estimate of 59 MPGe highway based on the IQ’s 200 kWh useable battery capacity and its maximum driving range estimate. That estimate is also based on the Chevy Silverado EV Work Truck which has similar maximum-range estimates and uses the same platform as the Escalade IQ. For more information about the Escalade IQ’s fuel economy, visit the EPA’s website.
Interior, Comfort, and Cargo
The Escalade IQ interior dedicates much of its surface area to screen space. The dashboard consists of a 35.0-inch driver display that connects to a 25.0-inch passenger screen. Another 11.0-inch touchscreen adjusts climate and ambient lighting, but beyond the plethora of pixels are the leather wrappings of luxury, with polished aluminum accents and ambient lighting integrated into the door panels just above the armrests. All Escalade IQs used captain’s chairs in the second row and have a 60/40 split power bench in the third row. To appease the chauffeured, Cadillac offers an optional Executive Second Row that adds a rear center console complete with an additional touchscreen display and two 12.6-inch rear headrest monitors. Its lack of neither an engine nor a transmission tunnel (versus the gas-powered Escalade) allows for a 12 cubic-foot frunk under the hood.
Infotainment and Connectivity
The 66 inches of digital real estate across the Escalade IQ’s dashboard is powered by a Google-based operating system, but lacks Apple CarPlay. That missing feature is intentional, as GM announced earlier in 2023 that it will eliminate Apple CarPlay from its EVs (but keep them in gas-powered vehicles) for the sake of better integration. These touchscreens highlight the evolution of the Escalade from a traditional to a more digital-first SUV. There are two knob-like dials on the center console and haptic buttons integrated into the steering wheel, but most of the Cadillac’s tech features are operated with the press of a finger or thumb.
As more information becomes available, we’ll update this story with more details about:
- Safety and Driver-Assistance Features
- Warranty and Maintenance Coverage
