First Look At Cadillac’s Entry EV, The 2025 Optiq

Back in 2020 Cadillac began talking about having an all-electric portfolio of vehicles by 2030. As the growth of EV sales has slowed recently, GM CEO Mary Barra has announced that the automaker will bring plug-in hybrid vehicles to its lineup in the coming years without saying what vehicles or brands would get a multi-energy powertrain. Now as Cadillac introduces its fourth electric model, the message from 2020 has changed subtly to indicate that the brand will have a portfolio of all-electric vehicles in 2030. The entry point to that portfolio is the new Cadillac Optiq.

That slight change indicates that Cadillac is not absolutely committing to having all-electric vehicles exclusively in 2030. Depending on how things go in the next six years, it might be electric only or there could be a portfolio of electrics and a portfolio of gas or hybrid models. Either way, there will be at least the five battery electrics we already know about, the Lyriq, Escalade IQ, Celestiq, Optiq and Vistiq.

The Optiq slots in below the Lyriq and is 6.7-inches shorter overall. The Vistiq is a three-row crossover that will be just above the Lyriq in the lineup. But despite being the smallest and most affordable of the currently announced Cadillac EV range, the Optiq isn’t really a direct replacement for the current entry Cadillac, the XT4. Like the Chevrolet Equinox EV with which it shares most of its underpinnings, the Optiq is actually a midsize rather than a compact crossover. It’s about 0.4-inch longer than the XT5 and about 10-inches longer than the XT4.

One of the advantages of an electric vehicle architecture is that it’s relatively more straightforward to mix and match various components like Lego bricks. GM’s Ultium architecture consists of five different electric drive units of various power levels and standardized battery modules that can be combined in packs in various ways. The Hummer and Silverado EVs have up to 24 modules in two layers in the pack. The Lyriq and longer range versions of the Blazer EV get one layer of 12 modules in a pack that fits into a 121-inch wheelbase. The 116-inch wheelbase of the Equinox EV and Optiq get a smaller pack enclosure that fit a maximum of 10 modules adding up to about 85-kWh of usable energy capacity.

The Equinox is launching with a choice of front or all-wheel drive with a 213-hp permanent magnet motor at the front and a smaller AC induction motor at the rear axle for a combined 288-hp. The Optiq will launch only with the eAWD configuration but with slightly more power and torque at 300-hp and 354 lb-ft. The combination of AWD and the 85-kWh battery is projected to give at least 300 miles of driving range on a charge although the official EPA certified numbers aren’t yet available.

Another hardware element shared with the Equinox is the Macpherson strut front suspension. The longer wheelbase Lyriq and Blazer get a multi-link front suspension while all of the EVs get a multi-link rear setup.

Despite sharing underpinnings with the Equinox and Blazer, the Optiq looks nothing like it’s Chevrolet siblings. The design incorporates elements of what has been seen on the other electric Cadillacs with some distinct touches. The strongest resemblance is at the front where the laser etched “grille” enables similar walk-up lighting to the Lyriq. Similarly the vertical running lamps and headlights wake up with the lights cascading down from the top and filling the bars.

On the left front fender the charge port door is powered like the Lyriq but has a much simpler hinge rather than the more complex four-bar-link system on the larger model. The windshield is surprisingly raked back and only the Celestiq has a more steeply raked piece of front glass. The examples we’ve seen so far feature a two-tone look with the entire greenhouse and lower body area in black to contrast with the rest of the metal in red. This helps reduce the visual height further.

The rear portion of the greenhouse is the most distinct from the Lyriq with more glass rather than the massive D-pillars of the earlier model. The rear quarter glass has a unique appearance with horizontal graphics that are actually embedded between the layers of safety glass. The graphics align with the horizontal bars in the upper portion of the vertical tail lamps at the trailing edge. These are complemented by extensions that run down into the lower bodywork.

Inside, there is also a strong influence from the Lyriq with a similar 33-inch curved display that incorporates the instruments, infotainment and some auxiliary controls on the far left. Like other contemporary GM vehicles, the Optiq retains an array of physical controls for climate and audio functions that can be found in the center of the dashboard. Thankfully, unlike some other recent vehicles including the similarly sized Lincoln Nautilus, there remain manual controls to adjust the airflow from the dashboard vents rather than forcing occupants to dig through on-screen menus.

As with its Ultium architecture siblings, the Optiq is relatively heavy compared to competing midsize crossovers at 5,192-lbs. It’s six-inches longer than a Jaguar i-Pace and 3-inches more than the new Audi Q6 e-tron. It’s about 400-lbs heavier than the Jaguar and 700-lbs more than a dual motor Tesla Model Y. With just 300-hp, the Optiq is clearly not targeting performance models from Audi and Tesla, but it should be adequate for most uses and come close to the 6-second 0-60 of the eAWD Equinox.

Despite a decently long hood, there is no space under it for storage. Instead the front drive unit that provides most of the propulsion takes up that space with the power electronics module stacked on top and the heat pump climate controls taking up the remainder. Inside, both the front and rear seating areas are very spacious with plenty of leg and headroom in the back. The cargo volume behind the rear seats has the same 26 cubic foot volume as the Equinox EV.

GM’s hands-free Super Cruise assist system will also be included on all Optiqs and three years of connectivity for the required maps will also be bundled. Super Cruise already enables hands-off, eyes-on driving on over 400,000 miles of roads with quarterly updates coming over the next 18 months to expand that to 750,000 miles.

There will be two trim levels at launch, Sport and Luxury, both starting at $54,000 including delivery fees. Cadillac plans to offer the Optiq in 10 global regions including North America, China, and Europe. It will go on sale late in the fourth quarter of 2024.