Cadillac Getting Huge Brand Boost From Its EVs

Support CleanTechnica’s work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe.

As I’ve been reporting for a while, Cadillac has become one of the real leaders in electrification among legacy automakers. At its peak last quarter, nearly 40% of its sales came from electric vehicles. Even before that peak quarter, nearly 27% of Cadillac’s sales in Q2 were electrics. So, while it’s still easy to bash legacy automakers for dragging their feet on EVs, that doesn’t seem to fit with Cadillac, and the brand even seems to be thriving thanks to EVs.

This was highlighted this week twice by Motor Trend. First of all, the Cadillac Escalade IQ won the 2026 MotorTrend SUV of the Year award. No small feat considering how much SUVs dominate the market. Did it win because it’s super big and super fancy? Probably to some extent, but that’s not all. The IQ also won for innovating in a useful way. Here’s a snippet of Motor Trend’s article explaining why the Escalade IQ won:

“Hiding underneath the Escalade IQ’s gorgeous mile-long lines are engineering innovations that solve today’s problems while also preparing for the future—the latest in a long line of great Cadillacs to do so.

“Back in 1949, we awarded our first ever Car of the Year award to Cadillac, partly because its new overhead-valve engine allowed for both more power than existing L-head engines and because the new valve technology was ‘a definite must for getting the most potential advantage from higher-octane fuels—provided, of course, that such fuels become available at economical prices.’ In other words, this technology made the Cadillac a car for both 1949’s fuel and the future developments in gasoline to come.

“That same principle exists 76 years later in the Escalade IQ. Its massive 205-kWh battery pack is effectively two 400-volt Cadillac Lyriq battery packs wired together in parallel. The pack operates as two separate batteries when running the Escalade IQ’s front- and rear-mounted permanent-magnet motors, which produce up to 750 hp and 785 lb-ft of torque. When plugged into common but increasingly outdated DC fast chargers such as Tesla’s V3 Superchargers, this system allows the Escalade IQ to maximize the charger’s peak 250-kW output quickly and ride it for a prolonged period, minimizing the charging time. What happens on more modern 350-kW (and higher) chargers is even more impressive, as the Escalade IQ’s battery pack operates in series, showing the charger 800 volts and allowing it to charge at peak rates of up to 352 kW in our testing.”

But then Motor Trend had a separate article on the Cadillac VISTIQ. The VISTIQ is a brilliant addition to Cadillac’s lineup. Cadillac first brought out the LYRIQ, a vehicle in the kind of standard SUV size. It’s a fancy Cadillac that’s a bit longer than very popular XT5 but similar in length to the XT6. However, it’s also notably more expensive than the XT5 and even the XT6. Then the brand brought out the OPTIQ, which is much more comparable to and competitive with the XT5. These models are doing well, but the halo Cadillac is the Escalade. As noted above, Cadillac now has an electric version of the Escalade that is super luxurious and advanced, and expensive. Naturally many buyers of the lower-end Cadillacs dream of coasting around town in the Escalade. Perhaps they can increase their salaries a bit and get close to that, but it’s a big leap from the XT5 to the Escalade.

Enter the VISTIQ. The VISTIQ is like the Escalade on a diet, a sleeker and more fit version of the Escalade. What’s not to love! And it’s a bit cheaper as well. Now we’ve got a new aspirational vehicle for Cadillac lovers. It offers Escalade-like dreams but doesn’t look so bloated and Tahoe like. It’s more expensive than the LYRIQ and the OPTIQ, but it’s worth it! I know a “Cadillac family,” and I can tell you, this is how the VISTIQ is being seen. Rather than competing directly against other models, the VISTIQ opened up a whole new avenue, and Cadillac is likely to reap some rewards for that, in terms of both sales and profit margins.

Motor Trend is on board with the new gemstone in the Cadillac family as well. “The Cadillac Vistiq Proves Caddy’s Back If You Can Live With Its Main Flaw,” the outlet titled another recent piece. “General Motors has finally allowed Cadillac to define itself as a luxury benchmark for today. The 2026 Cadillac Vistiq is strong evidence that was a wise move, and it is so compelling we named the new three-row a finalist in our 2026 SUV of the Year competition.” Note: that’s the award the Escalade IQ won.

“The Vistiq excels in terms of advancement in design, one the six criteria we use to judge our SUV of the Year program. The exterior is bold and cohesive, with huge on-road presence and distinctive lighting. In addition to having an attractive stance, the Vistiq’s etched Mondrian glass is a signature element that announces this SUV’s heritage.”

“This is my idea of what a luxury SUV ought to be,” senior editor Aaron Gold said. “It’s very quiet, and the ride is ridiculously smooth, just like a classic old Cadillac.”

Overall, it’s a large but not ginormous luxury SUV. People like those. The one big issue the Motor Trend team had with the vehicle was disappointing highway range. Personally, I think they were being overly concerned, but it’s an important note for people who plan to drive several hundred miles at a time on road trips on a regular basis. (They recommended looking at the larger, more expensive Escalade IQ for that, but we don’t all have Shaq’s salary.)

Naturally, this is not the market for most of us. I think the VISTIQ is a brilliant, attractive, luxurious vehicle — but I’m never buying one. But not everyone is going to buy a Tesla, a Kia EV6, a Hyundai IONIQ 5, a Ford Mustang Mach-E, or a Chevy Equinox EV. We need EV models of all types that are going to appeal to new buyers. That’s one of the things I love the most about the VISTIQ. I think it will pull in many new EV buyers.

It looks like Cadillac is nailing it. How long until it can reach the huge milestone of 50% of its sales being electric?