Cadillac’s entry-level Optiq electric SUV is downsizing done right

Electric cars aren’t just great because of their environmental friendliness and greater tech potential. They also upend the norms of the auto industry.

Badge-engineered luxury cars are a tedious but necessary part of any automaker’s bottom line. The potential profits from having luxury and mainstream brands share platforms and powertrains would make a Ferengi smile. But hide that prole DNA then needs to be hidden, something the gasoline Cadillac XT6 doesn’t do very well, but that the all-electric Cadillac Lyriq excels at.

So I had high hopes for the 2025 Cadillac Optiq, the smaller crossover SUV that now slots below the Lyriq in Cadillac’s EV lineup. The Optiq shares its version of General Motors’ EV architecture with the Chevrolet Equinox EV, which is already a pretty good car and a solid basis for a Lyriq-style glow-up. But while the Optiq does enough to justify its price premium over the Chevy, it’s not better in all respects.

2025 Cadillac Optiq: design

The Optiq proves that the design features from Cadillac’s larger electric SUVs work well on a smaller scale. Where the infamous Chevy Cavalier-based Cadillac Cimarron looked tacky wearing the grille and hood ornament from the bigger Caddies of the time, the dual-element taillights and toothy illuminated grille of the Cadillac Escalade IQ and Lyriq look right at home here.

The styling is indeed distinctly Cadillac, but an elevated ride height and some marketing copy are really the only things that make it an SUV. The low roofline and slicked-back windshield really say “hatchback” or “station wagon,” but those terms are unappealing to most U.S. new-car shoppers. And that’s why Cadillac isn’t alone in this: the Audi Q4 e-tron, Genesis GV60, and Lexus RZ don’t exactly look like rugged SUVs either.

Speaking of those rivals, the Optiq offers comparable headroom and legroom across both rows, as is the 26 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats (57 cubic feet with the rear seats folded), making the frunk that Cadillac doesn’t include unnecessary. The boxier Mercedes-Benz EQB and Volvo EX40 come closest on cargo space, while also offering more traditional SUV looks.

The interior is also a nice place to be, truly feeling more upscale than that of the Chevy Equinox EV the Optiq shares a platform with. On nearly every surface, the plastic that is acceptable at the Chevy’s much lower base price is replaced nicer stuff, including a fabric material covering large chunks of the door panels and dashboard that’s a nice alternative to the predictable leather. The fact that only leatherette, rather than real leather upholstery, is available is a tell that the Optiq is an entry-level model, but it’s dressed up nicely to look like the real thing.

2025 Cadillac Optiq: specs

2025 Cadillac Optiq: tech

The Optiq’s standard tech features certainly justify its luxury-car status. That starts with the 33-inch curved display, which spans the left two-thirds of the dashboard and includes a small control panel and digital instrument cluster for the driver, plus the central touchscreen for infotainment functions. It’s a similar setup to the well-executed one in the Lyriq, keeping things within easy reach of the driver without ignoring the front passenger. The minimalist graphic design is also clear and easy to understand, even if it doesn’t provide many opportunities to exploit the screen’s 9K resolution.

All new General Motors EVs use an Android Automotive OS-based infotainment system, without standalone Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. Fans of Apple’s apps are out of luck, but Google Built-in apps mean drivers get Google Maps, Google Assistant, and the Google Play Store whether a phone is connected or not.

My experience with the interface was uneventful; the issues previously experienced in an early-production Chevrolet Blazer EV running similar software did not re-emerge, and it was easier to find things than on the larger screen in the Cadillac Escalade IQ I drove back-to-back with this smaller EV. Cadillac also did a good job of dividing labor between the touchscreen and physical controls, using the latter for simpler functions while leaving others to the screen.

Among those physical controls is a volume knob connected to a 19-speaker AKG audio system with Dolby Atmos for extra clarity and 3D effects when using premium services like Amazon Music. This isn’t new tech, even for this price range — the Mercedes-Benz EQB also offers Dolby Atmos as part of its optional 12-speaker Burmester system — but Cadillac earns points for offering it as standard equipment.

One more impressive piece of standard equipment is Super Cruise, General Motors’ hands-free highway driving system. Capable of keeping a vehicle cruising along as the name says without any control inputs, Super Cruise is already available in many other GM vehicles — including most of Cadillac’s lineup — but it was pleasantly surprising to see that Cadillac wasn’t charging extra for it in the Optiq given this EV’s entry-level status.

2025 Cadillac Optiq: driving experience

While the Chevy Equinox EV it’s based on comes standard with front-wheel drive, the Optiq features dual-motor all-wheel drive as standard equipment, with an output of 300 horsepower and 354 pound-feet of torque that’s also more than you get with the Chevy’s optional dual-motor powertrain. The Equinox EV and Optiq share an 85-kilowatt-hour battery pack, though.

This is a healthy amount of power for a car of this size, and puts the Optiq within range of most competitors without giving it a decisive advantage. Mercedes’ EQB has less horsepower in dual-motor form, but more torque if you spring for the 350 4Matic version, and the Audi Q4 e-tron makes 335 hp in dual-motor form. But dual-motor Volvo EX40 models make 402 hp and 486 lb-ft of torque, and Genesis offers a Performance version of the GV60 with 429 hp and 516 lb-ft.

And while it’s not the most powerful EV around, the Optiq still seemed to have issues applying that power to the road. Even on dry pavement, hard acceleration brought a tug at the steering wheel characteristic of torque steer, which is normally a problem in front-wheel drive cars, where the wheels have to handle all the power, along with steering and most of the braking. It was weird to experience it an all-wheel drive vehicle, but it seems the front motor is doing most of the work here.

The drive route took me from the streets of San Francisco up a particularly twisty section of the Pacific Coast Highway north of the city and back. Normally, this would be a great way to show off a small car like the Optiq, but this is one car that drives bigger than it looks. The steering seems inspired by stereotypes of old Cadillac land yachts, because changing course required a surprising amount of steering input.

Handling wasn’t quite as stereotypical, but this is certainly more of a traditional American luxury car than the sportier Euro-inspired variety one might enjoy hustling down a fun road. That’s not a bad thing, as driving enthusiasts aren’t really the target audience for a car like this. The Optiq was also fairly comfortable, which is never a bad thing. But given its weird steering and powertrain tuning, the basic front-wheel drive Equinox EV is the better car to drive.

2025 Cadillac Optiq: range and charging

Cadillac estimates 302 miles of range from the Optiq’s 85-kWh battery pack, which is pretty good considering that none of the Optiq’s rivals surpass the psychologically-important 300-mile mark.

The extra range helps make up for mediocre charging performance. Where the Genesis GV60 can DC fast charge at up to 350 kilowatts, the Optiq is stuck at 150 kW. That’s still enough to recover 79 miles of range in 10 minutes of charging, according to Cadillac.

For Level 2 AC home charging, the standard 11.5-kW onboard charger can replenish 33 miles of range per hour, while an optional 19.2-kW charger can boost that to 55 miles per hour, according to Cadillac. Like other GM EVs, the Optiq is hardware-ready for bidirectional charging, and GM is selling kits through its home-energy division that let it use that capability to serve as an emergency backup power source.

2025 Cadillac Optiq: How DT would configure this car

A major plus for the Optiq is a simple pricing structure, with only a handful of trim levels and options. The basic Optiq Luxury 1 starts at $54,390, while the Luxury 2 grade offers a handful of additional features — including a head-up display and 360-degree camera system — for an extra $2,200. Sport 1 ($54,990) and Sport 2 ($57,090) models are also available, but the differences are mainly cosmetic, with similar feature content to the Luxury grades.

The standard 33-inch display, 19-speaker audio system, and Super Cruise, combined with all-wheel drive and a 302-mile range, make the Luxury 1 base model a fairly complete car for its price. The base price aligns with most rivals, but no other luxury brand offers all of these features in an entry-level EV as standard equipment. With those brands, you have to spend more to get a well-rounded vehicle, but with Cadillac you don’t.

There are still reasons to consider the competition, though. The Genesis GV60 sees the Optiq’s well-appointed interior and raises it better charging performance. The Volvo EX40 is more powerful and nicer to drive. And the Mercedes-Benz EQB has a bit more interior space, and looks and feels more SUV-like. But the Optiq’s compelling value proposition (for a luxury model, at least) makes a strong case for the Cadillac.

And for GM customers looking to trade up — as the automaker’s ladder-like brand structure — is built around — the Optiq is definitely not just a warmed-over Equinox EV. The interior is a huge step up from the Chevy, the styling is different enough to hide any similarities, and Cadillac gives buyers a lot for upgrading. It’s too bad the basic Equinox EV’s pleasant driving experience was lost in that transformation.