Cadillac reveals its biggest, burliest EV yet

It’s over 5.8m-long and it’s no doubt one heavy beast. Meet the Cadillac Escalade iQL.

When the Escalade iQ electric SUV was revealed in 2023, it stood out with a tailgate that was rather rakish compared to the combustion-powered Escalade which has always been a particularly traditional, boxy SUV.

The iQL not only gives Cadillac’s flagship electric SUV an appearance more in line with Escalade tradition, it also adds a lot more length as the ‘L’ on the end of its name implies.

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It measures 5803mm long, 2167mm wide and 1933mm tall on a 3460mm wheelbase.

That means it has an identical wheelbase to the regular Escalade iQ, with the extra 106mm in overhang only.

That has seen third-row legroom increase by 168mm to 933mm, with shoulder room up incrementally and boot space behind the power-folding third row expanding 16L to 686L.

Cadillac also offers the combustion-powered Escalade in two different lengths: the standard Escalade, which measures 5383mm long on a 3071mm wheelbase, and the Escalade ESV, which is 5765mm long but rides a longer 3407mm wheelbase.

For reference, the combustion-powered Escalades are 2158mm wide and 1938mm tall.

Cadillac doesn’t quote a kerb weight figure for the Escalade iQL, but it uses the same enormous 205kWh nickel manganese cobalt aluminium (NCMA) lithium-ion battery as the regular Escalade iQ.

The powertrain is the same, with dual electric motors producing total outputs of 505kW of power and 834Nm.

These figures are bumped up to 560kW and 1064Nm in Velocity Max mode.

The Escalade iQL can be charged at up to 350kW using a DC fast-charger, with up to 187km of range able to be added in 10 minutes of charging. The big Caddy also supports vehicle-to-home (V2H) bidirectional charging.

Cadillac estimates total driving range of over 724km, the same figure as the Escalade iQ.

The suspension setup is also the same, with Short-Long Arm suspension with air springs and Magnetic Ride Control 4.0 magnetorheological dampers.

Towing capacity drops 226kg to 3402kg.

Inside, there’s a pillar-to-pillar screen with a 55-inch diagonal, with a 21-speaker AKG 4 Studio sound system standard, and 38- and 42-speaker sound systems optional.

An optional Executive Second Row package, as seen on the Escalade iQ, brings stowable tray tables, a rear “command centre”, 12.6-inch rear screens, dual wireless charging pads, and heated, ventilated, massaging and 14-way power-adjustable second-row seats with headrest speakers.

While Cadillac says the Escalade iQL will be sold globally, the luxury brand has yet to confirm even the regular-length iQ for our market.

Production will commence in mid-2025.

In the US, the Escalade iQL will open at US$132,695 (~A$209,000) for the base Luxury, or around US$5000 more than the cheapest Escalade iQ.

That makes it a whopping US$40,000 (~A$63,000) more than the most affordable V8-powered Escalade ESV.

There’s some jockeying for the title of Cadillac’s flagship.

The supercharged V8-powered Escalade-V has a higher base price than the Escalade iQL at US$159,995 (~A$252,000), while the Celestiq is a highly customisable, ultra-exclusive liftback for which Cadillac says pricing is “by inquiry only”.