The 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ Is The King Of The Highway
2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ
Many mornings I would emerge from my house and walk around this giant, quick-as-hell (0-60 in a little over 4 seconds) Fort Knox-like machine and feel like an ant. Even Tony Soprano, a big guy who famously drove and escaped an assassination attempt in an Escalade, might take pause at the sheer size of the IQ. Last night, for example, I passed an older Escalade and marveled at how small it was.
Let's take a closer look.
2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ
The 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ is visually gargantuan, but it's deceptive. From a distance, it looks like a standard SUV, but up close, its elephantine proportions are truly apparent. The fastback roofline starts at the B-pillar, and the long dash-to-axle ratio gives it a sleek stance. Curiously, though, over a week's test, I didn't get one stare, one honk or one compliment.
This is arguably GM's finest interior ever—excluding the upcoming $340K Celestiq. The cabin is, again, massive, refined and free of parts-bin plastics. A sweeping 55-inch curved screen spans from A-pillar to A-pillar up front. Material quality and design flourishes abound, from the 42 speaker grills to the Executive Rear Seat package with massaging second-row seats.
2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ
Thanks to the absence of a transmission tunnel, exhaust or fuel lines, the interior space feels open and unencumbered. Lousy day? Get in, boss. You'll feel fine pretty soon. There's no ignition. You just sit and belt up and you're ready to roll. Look left, look right. You're the biggest cat in the jungle, everywhere you roll.
Tech and Sound System
The 55-inch curved display offers 8K resolution for the driver and 4K for the passenger. It's matched by a class-leading 42-speaker AKG Studio Reference sound system that envelops the cabin in crystal-clear audio. Super Cruise hands-free driving comes standard and performed well in testing, though I probably did not give it its proper due because of traffic everywhere I drove - I simply didn't need it.
2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ
With Arrival Mode for diagonal moves, Low Ride mode for dramatic exits, and air suspension paired with MagneRide dampers, the tech delivers real benefits, not gimmicks. It's a lot to know and a lot to get used to.
Motor
Dual motors produce a whopping 680 hp and 615 lb-ft of torque. Engage Velocity Max mode via the red V button and output jumps to 750 hp and 785 lb-ft. Power is fed by a 205-kWh usable battery pack that's one of the biggest, and is one reason the vehicle weighs so much. The result? A claimed 460 miles of range. Cadillac reports a peak charging rate of 352 kW, with 204 miles added in just 20 minutes.
2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ
The Drive
At 9,134 pounds, the Escalade IQ is the heaviest passenger vehicle I've ever sat behind the wheel of. Even the Hummer H1 I had back in the 00s weighed a little over 7,000 pounds. But you'll never know it. In a straight line, it's quicker than the Escalade-V: 0–60 in 4.6 seconds versus 4.7. The ride is serene—Cadillac aimed for 'isolated precision'—and got it.
With four-wheel steering and a sub-39-foot turning radius, it's surprisingly nimble. Braking distance is 133 feet from 60 mph—acceptable given the mass. Up and down the mountain terrain part of its test took place in, it hugged the road. You'll need to get used to the acceleration's abrupt flavor, but you'll also get off on calculating when and how much to back off your right foot when approaching stopped traffic to halt the vehicle. It's an art, and it's just part of the fun of driving the IQ.
Room for improvement
That mass remains the elephant in the room. It affects braking, energy use, and environmental impact. There's no way around it - you are one of the reasons some people loathe SUVs. No one can see around you. You hit something, that something is definitely going to feel it more than they would in a Rav4 or Honda Civic. With this giant machine comes giant responsibility. For long trips, it's a sweetheart. But when you've got to do several errands around town like the supermarket, the post office, the gym and Target, the sheer bulk gets tiresome. If you buy the IQ, you should also buy a scooter to do those things, and leave the big boy for long trips.
The IQ's center console is the pinnacle of the 'kitchen sink' mentality of auto design, and if that's your jam, you'll have hours of pleasure finding out what each feature does. If you're the more burger and fries type of simpleton, like yours truly, you may find yourself a little irritated by some of its features, like making you go into the software and through two screens to open the glove compartment.
Safety
2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ
Though the Escalade IQ exceeds 10,000 pounds when you factor in a full load of passengers, cargo and fluids, which exempts it from some NHTSA testing, it includes advanced driver aids like automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise, blind-spot monitoring, and Super Cruise.
Warranty
Cadillac offers a limited warranty covering four years or 50,000 miles, and a powertrain warranty of six years or 70,000 miles. EV components get eight years or 100,000 miles. Cadillac also provides complimentary maintenance for the first visit.
Conclusion: It took a few days to grow on me - or the other way around - but when I fell, I fell hard. If you've got the coin and the desire to be king of the road, this is a honey of an SUV.
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