“Please have at least 125 miles of range left when we pick it up.” That request from the people who look after the Cadillac press cars wasn’t going to be hard to honor. The electric Escalade IQ arrived with an indicated range of 440 miles (708 km), and with a full week of work to squeeze in, getting anywhere close to needing to recharge it seemed unlikely. With more than 200 kWh of lithium-ion battery between its axles, range is one thing the big electric Caddy needn’t worry about.

Designed and debuted during a time of greater EV optimism, the Escalade is Cadillac’s statement that swapping out a V8 for a pair of powerful electric motors is no compromise to its ambitions, even if the brand’s future will now include a mix of electric and combustion cars beyond 2030. It shares a battery pack and much else with other full-size GM EVs we’ve tested: the Chevrolet Silverado EV, the GMC Sierra EV, and of course the divisive Hummer EVs. And like those trucks and SUVs, the Escalade is large and heavy—just small enough to fit into a standard parking space, with a curb weight sufficient to push it into the Class 3 truck category.

So, the side mirrors are flat, and there’s no formal EPA range—Cadillac says it achieves 460 miles (740 km) on the EPA test cycle—but there are plenty of airbags, even though the 9,046 lb (4,103 kg) curb weight does not require them. Yes, you did read that right, it does weigh 4 tons. And yes, the electric Escalade does weigh a third more than the last gas-powered one we tested.

The Escalade IQ holds its own among the medium-duty trucks.

The (CCS1) charge port is located at the back, so back into charging bays.

Since the loss of the EV tax credit, the Escalade IQ has been a harder sell.

The (CCS1) charge port is located at the back, so back into charging bays.

Since the loss of the EV tax credit, the Escalade IQ has been a harder sell.

Behind the wheel

However, it drives better. Like many a modern luxury EV, the Escalade IQ is held up by air suspension. Controlled by computers, air suspension is remarkably effective at concealing a car’s mass, although here it has been tuned for a rather floaty ride. In lesser electric SUVs—ones that weigh a mere 3 tons or less—you can often forget that curb weight entirely until it’s time to brake. Here, you just need to drive over something, like a recessed utility hole cover on the road, for the transient shock that makes its way into the cabin to remind you.

From behind the wheel, I find it slightly sobering, perhaps no bad thing when taking responsibility on the road. It’s easier to drive than one might expect, particularly at low speeds where the rear-wheel steering gives the car a shorter effective wheelbase than its actual 136.2 inches (3,460 mm). It might fill a parking space, but it’s not hard work getting it in or out. Forward visibility is good, but I found the passenger mirror less than completely effective and was glad for the blindspot monitoring camera that appeared when I used the turn signals, even if the camera quality was just the right side of potato.

At highway speeds, the rear wheels steer with the front wheels to effectively lengthen the wheelbase and thus increase straight-line stability. Nominal power and torque are 680 hp (505 kW) and 615 lb-ft (834 Nm), which you can increase to 750 hp (560 KW) and 785 lb-ft (1,064 Nm) with the V button on the steering wheel—this engages Velocity Max mode. It’s not ever going to ripple the tarmac like that electric Porsche Cayenne, but you can still hit 60 mph (97 km/h) from a standstill in less than 5 seconds should you need to.

But seriously this picture quality is terrible.

But seriously this picture quality is terrible.

Super Cruise is standard and works well on its premapped roads. The one-pedal driving calibration is, as always on GM EVs, very well-calibrated on its highest setting. It’s very effective for city driving, as you quickly adjust to its rate of deceleration to judge stops perfectly. There’s also a paddle on the steering wheel that will add regenerative braking on demand, should you wish to slow more but don’t feel like using the brake pedal.

The 460-mile range estimate is entirely believable, even with little attention given to driving efficiently. As you’ll note from the photos, on shorter trips the Escalade IQ reported efficiencies that wouldn’t be out of place in something like an Ioniq 5. But at highway speeds, you don’t get to recuperate nearly as much energy, and once it all averages out, the answer is close to 2.1 miles/kWh (29.6 kWh/100 km). Cadillac doesn’t provide a 10–80 percent fast charging time for the Escalade IQ—only that it can add 100 miles in 10 minutes—and by the end of the week, I was still at 65 percent state of charge, so a full DC fast-charge time remains a mystery. (But at least the car had plenty of range when it was collected.)

A tech-filled experience

Even if the Escalade IQ isn’t Cadillac’s flagship EV—that’s the hand-built $300,000 Celestiq sedan—the automaker has still packed in as much technology as it could. In front of the driver is a 55-inch display that encompasses touch-sensitive panels either side of the main instrument display and stretches across the width of the dash. On the left are the trip computer and lights, and to the right of the instrument display is the main infotainment touchscreen, which runs Android Automotive OS.

Why can’t Google’s voice recognition understand the command “set Sirius radio to channel 43?” But it can’t.

Why can’t Google’s voice recognition understand the command “set Sirius radio to channel 43?” But it can’t.

The dial controller on the center console allows you to interact with the infotainment, so you don’t need to use the touchscreen or try voice commands, something that worked here with moderate success. I would expect a slightly better scroll action considering the $153,490 sticker price for our Escalade IQ Premium Sport, but like the 55-inch display, the hardware is shared across the Cadillac EV range. Climate controls are on a separate touchscreen, this one ahead of the center console and below the infotainment.

Another touchscreen serves the front-seat passenger, plus a pair for the middle row (the optional $1,995 rear-seat entertainment system). These stream video from a wide range of platforms—the industry mostly adopting Android Automotive OS has meant plenty of app support—and the screen for the front passenger has a filter that prevents the driver from seeing what’s being displayed while the vehicle is in motion. You can use your phone as an input controller, either as a keyboard or to play games, although it’s a little kludgy.

It is roomy in the back, and the middle row moves fore and aft. This can give the third row more than enough legroom for long journeys, although the lack of vertical space to put legs means that sitting back there involves knees next to faces.

I can see the appeal of the Escalade IQ as an alternative to the traditionally powered Escalade. It might not be very efficient for an EV, but 2.1 miles/kWh is still the equivalent of more than 70 mpg (3.3 L/100 km), whereas a standard V8 version only manages 16 mpg (14.7 L/100 km) combined. And you have to stop and fill that one up with gas almost 80 miles (129 km) before the electric one runs out of range.