Cadillac teases electric Escalade IQ ahead of reveal (video)

Cadillac has released a short teaser video of its upcoming Escalade IQ EV, in advance of a planned reveal on August 9.

Cadillac first announced the coming Escalade EV in May, but we learned almost nothing about it at the time.

Today’s announcement doesn’t show us much more – just the front end and a few close-up shots of various parts of the car. Though Cadillac also confirmed that the Escalade IQ will be produced at Factory ZERO, GM’s new name for its Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly center after a $2.2 billion retool focusing exclusively on electric vehicle production.

So without further ado, here’s the 26-second teaser video:

The only really solid shot we get to see is of the front end, which doesn’t look much like the current generation of the Escalade, and in fact looks extremely similar to the Cadillac Lyriq and Celestiq front end.

And while Escalade is an established brand and Lyriq and Celestiq are new, the Escalade “IQ” name means all three end in the same two letters.

So Cadillac looks like it’s establishing somewhat of a brand identity for its EVs here, between the front end and naming scheme.

The IQ branding also suggests that GM will not completely replace the Escalade with an electric model. The fifth generation of Escalade started selling in 2021, which means it will likely stick around through at least the 2027 model year. Cadillac has previously announced that it will only introduce EVs from here on out and plans to only sell electric cars starting in 2030.

As for more details, we’ll hear more about them on August 9. Stay tuned and we’ll bring you the latest here at Electrek.

Electrek’s Take

I’ve said over and over again that we need smaller cars, so this particular one won’t be for me. It seems like everyone is coming out with three-row EVs this year and I’d really like it if the trend could go in the opposite direction.

Especially given that if the Escalade has a Hummer-sized battery, in the realm of 200kWh, then GM could put a lot more EVs on the road by producing ~4 Ultium-powered Bolts rather than one giant Escalade.

But, there’s no question that the Escalade has been a cultural touchpoint, and thought of as a vehicle of status. It’s also Cadillac’s best-selling model. So attaching this premier name to an EV is a strong statement.

GM did something similar with the Hummer. That car hadn’t been made for many years, but it was resurrected to attach to an EV. And now here we are with another huge, probably low-volume EV to act as a halo vehicle, to further make the statements that EVs don’t necessarily mean having to make a compromise.

Making an electric Escalade sends a message that Cadillac and GM as a whole want their high-status vehicles to have the right kind of powertrain in them – and that right kind of powertrain is electric.