Over the last few years, OEMs have seemingly tried to electrify everything. Even the Cadillac Escalade, a borderline bus-sized, V8-powered, symbol of American opulence now comes as a dual-motor BEV.
I recently had the opportunity to try that EV out: the Cadillac Escalade IQ Sport to be exact. Cadillac has a solid record when it comes to EVs. The Lyriq is one of the best things I’ve driven in recent months, and I may have given the regular Escalade a car of the year award somewhere. So I was a bit excited about driving this $137,000, 750-horsepower, beast. It’s a shame that a glaring, unforced, error on GM’s part soured the whole thing a little.
The Cadillac Escalade IQ has a weird reverse-TARDIS thing going on
You know that phone box Dr. Who flies around in, before he stops off to lecture an alien about science or whatever? It looks tiny on the outside but it’s massive when you get through the door. Well the Cadillac Escalade IQ is a bit like that in a weird way.
It looks massive on the spec sheet. On paper, it’s longer than the regular Escalade by a whole foot, and the Escalade is far from a stubby vehicle. But from the outside in real life it looks relatively small. Honestly, before I looked at the spec sheet and subsequently spat my coffee out I was convinced it was around the same size as a Ford Explorer. The fact it’s bigger than its gas-equivalent was a massive shock to someone who had driven it around for three days and commented on how reasonably sized it is compared to its boat of a brother.
Then you get to the interior dimensions and things make less sense. Although both vehicles have the same amount of cargo space on paper, the Escalade IQ has less leg room for the third row and less rear space behind that third row too. Both vehicles have the same amount of space in the first and second rows, so where the extra space has gone, who knows? With that being said, the Escalade IQ doesn’t have to cram a V8 up front so you get a generous frunk which provides over 12 cubic feet of extra storage space. If you remember it exists. The frunk is also included free, which is nice because making it an optional extra would be very silly.
The other space-aged thing in the vehicle is SuperCruise, GM’s Level-2 self-driving system. It does all of the advanced stuff – automatic lane changes, hands-free driving, distance and lane control – but it does it better than anyone else. To put it into perspective, I picked up the Escalade in New Jersey, got on to I-87, and the only time I remember touching the wheel between the Jersey border and Albany was when I decided to pull into the New Baltimore rest stop for some food. It’s just that good. To top it off, I’d have had a similar experience if I’d chosen to ditch the interstate and suffer my way up Route 9 instead, SuperCruise will seemingly work anywhere you have a decent stretch of road without a stop light or stop sign. I’ve even SuperCruised my way right through the middle of Roscoe, New York.
Cadillac’s Escalade IQ is a surprisingly good performance vehicle
The best thing about the IQ feeling weirdly small is the added performance that brings with it. Considering it’s one of the heaviest production vehicles available, and the size of a barn, it should not feel as nimble, pacey, and agile as it does.
But as mentioned, it felt like driving a mid-sized SUV, not a full-sized behemoth. I felt like there was plenty of room to maneuver in parking lots, highway lanes seemed generously spaced, and at no point did I worry about making it through a gap due to the vehicle’s size.
Then there’s the speed. In a normal drive mode you have 680 horsepower and 615 lb-ft of torque, which is a lot. Tap the little red V (Velocity Max) button on your steering wheel though, and you’ll unleash the dual-motor system’s full 750 horsepower and 785 lb-ft of torque. Which is more than a lot. This massive, massive vehicle will go from 0 to 60 in 4.7 seconds, and handles as well as an SUV half of its size.
When you see the word “sport” on a modern vehicle, you don’t tend to think much. It’s a bit of a buzzword – it usually means “smaller and cheaper” but can also mean “second cheapest trim” or “yeah, we tuned it to give an extra 15 horsepower.” I’m gobsmacked Cadillac has made a genuinely sporty Escalade. This SUV 100% deserves that title, and OEMs abusing the term should be called out.
The Cadillac Escalade IQ handles the snow surprisingly well
My testing period for the Cadillac Escalade IQ coincided with a string of snow storms in upstate New York. Which was bad for commuters, but great for winter vehicle testing. The Escalade did very well.
I initially had worries because of the vehicle’s immense weight. Its battery pack alone has the same amount of mass as a Toyota Corolla, and GM has basically slapped a large SUV on top of that. Usually immense mass + speed + slippery surface means you aren’t stopping. You’re going in the ditch. But (as I found out on a 4 am trip to the airport during a blizzard) the Escalade IQ handles and stops beautifully in snow.
The trip involved maintaining the speed limit, overtaking, and braking for a few stop lights. Obviously, I was extra cautious but I didn’t feel any loss of traction from the vehicle, it stayed very true under braking, and stopped in a reasonable distance.
As you may know, winter weather impacts EV range and bigger batteries tend to fare worse when it gets cold. I didn’t feel like the Escalade suffered too much despite the mercury dancing around 0F for several days. I lost between five and 20 miles of range per night, depending on exactly how cold it was. Which I didn’t think was too bad. I did forget to prime the battery before recharging though, which resulted in about half of the charger’s total wattage actually making its way into the juicebox while I shivered away outside taking photos like a moron. If I had any sense, I would have moved into the passenger seat and made the most of the stopover.
The infotainment hardware in the Escalade IQ is great, but could be better
Cadillac has embraced the panoramic display, giving you a fully customizable 55-inch display stretching across the length of the dashboard. This isn’t unique, with Lincoln, BMW, Mercedes and several other luxury brands offering similar experiences. But it is a wonderful touch in many modern vehicles.
The display itself is bright, and adds a lot to the vehicle. I found it easy to mess around with the layout while also configuring things like lighting to fit my mood. It is worth noting the particular trim I had lacked the smaller screens behind the driver and passenger headrest designed to give those in the second row something to watch.
It did have the far right section of the display dedicated to the front passenger, which I thought was a nice touch. The passenger can use a separate and self-contained YouTube app, or any other streaming service, to look up a show or other video. They could then either use the general car audio or connect a set of headphones and entertain themselves. Provided the car was in park. Which sort of defeats the object of the whole thing.
Other companies, like Mercedes, have found ways to entertain passengers without distracting drivers. Mercedes has an extra camera which blacks out the passenger display if the driver is caught peeking at it. There’s already a camera tracking the driver’s eyes to make sure they’re watching the road while SuperCruise is engaged, so you’d think coding this in wouldn’t be a lot of trouble.
Then there’s a different solution, which may stop the display being used as part of the main infotainment system, but would allow your passenger to watch a show while you’re on the move. Some vehicles use special glass that allows the person in front of the screen to see it, but blacks it out for anyone viewing from an angle. Like from the driver’s seat, in this example. It isn’t particularly rare or expensive stuff, you can buy a screen protector for a phone or laptop that works the same way and only costs a few bucks.
GM has made a horrible mistake
Then there’s the biggest infotainment issue. I praised GM for keeping the V8 earlier, and now it’s time to condemn it to the proverbial stocks and toss some rotten fruit like words at it for doing something awful to its customer base.
No OEM likes surrendering potential profits and vehicle information to a third party company. I get that. But GM’s decision to ditch Apple Car Play and Android Auto is one of the worst things I’ve encountered in the last few years. You, the person dropping six figures on one of their vehicles, do not benefit from this in the slightest. It makes your daily life, and luxury vehicle experience, worse.
While it’s nice to have an OEM’s own infotainment as an option I, like many people, prefer Car Play or Android Auto 90% of the time. All my accounts run through my phone, so I’m not staying logged in on an extra “device.” The same can be said for my calls and messages, that all remains on my phone and not being tracked by a car. This is basic privacy stuff.
Then there’s actual usability. GM’s system is Google-based, but rather than just having everything working within a minute or two you need to download and sign into every app you intend to use in the car. YouTube, Spotify, Waze, doesn’t matter. You’re taking a significant amount of time out of your life to set it all up.
When we get to compatibility, things go from bad to awful. Listening to, and responding to, text messages is bordering on home dentistry levels of discomfort. Your phone pings, some time in the next six to eight business days you’ll see a popup, that takes a while to load if it even registers the fact you’ve poked it. Then from there it may read the message out to you, but half the time you’ll have to navigate through a bunch of awkward menus to find it.
It’s even worse with music. If you don’t want to sign in to the car’s Spotify app you’re essentially stuck using your phone to pick what track you want. Because the voice commands get confused going between the vehicle and your phone. It’s a good thing SuperCruise is so good, because GM’s made their infotainment system so frustrating that you’ll wind up committing a severe traffic violation in an effort to dodge an Adele track.
GM, making mistakes is fine if you can admit it and move forward. Please, please, just realize you’re wrong about this and roll it back. This problem can be fixed with a software update. And ideally prevented by burying anyone who suggests doing something this stupid under your company parking lot instead of allowing them to call the shots.
Would I buy a Cadillac Escalade IQ?
I can see a lot of positives in the Escalade IQ. It drives very well for its size, its range is awesome, there’s a solid amount of storage space. I do prefer the V8 Cadillac though. The traditional model’s interior is a bit more refined and old school. Like the bridge of a yacht. It’s what you expect from the Escalade badge.
The IQ is very sporty and new, and would be a pick if you’re looking to blend size, prestige, performance, and faux concern for the environment. SuperCruise is also a huge bonus, I’ve made the argument that it’s the best Level 2 self-driving system on the market at the moment. I don’t believe I’m incorrect there.
But would I personally buy it? Not until GM does a hard U-Turn on the infotainment policy. Lincoln doesn’t have an electric option but at least it plays nice with my Google Pixel 10.
