The Cadillac Escalade IQ is MotorTrend’s 2026 SUV of the Year

MotorTrend

The Cadillac Escalade IQ just claimed MotorTrend’s 2026 SUV of the Year—and it’s redefining what luxury means in the EV era. From its jaw-dropping 55-inch dash display to its 415-mile real-world range

Transcript

00:00What defines an American luxury car? Not just who makes it and where, but its

00:07essence. For as long as there have been American luxury goods, the answer has

00:11been space. Whether it's land, the mansion built on that land, or the car parked in

00:16the driveway, luxury has been directly correlated with how much space you own.

00:21What you fill that space with of course matters. Comfort, convenience, and

00:26quietness have always been essential, motivating countless technological

00:30innovations along the way. American luxury isn't just about being the

00:35biggest. It's about being the plushest. It's about having most toys. Sometimes

00:40it's just about plain old extravagance. The Cadillac Escalade IQ delivers on every

00:46single count. That's why it's Motor Trends 2026 SUV of the Year.

00:56This year was one for the record books. 45 vehicles from 34 nameplates, 23 of them

01:03EVs. That's more than half the field. That's never happened before. Everything

01:07from entry-level first cars, all the way up to world-class luxury. But as always,

01:12SUV of the Year is not a comparison test. The vehicles are not being judged

01:17directly against one another. Instead, they're being judged against our six key

01:22criteria. Advancement in design, engineering excellence, performance of

01:26intended function, value, safety, and efficiency.

01:30We have to start with advancement design because it's as big as this vehicle.

01:36Cadillac designers were tasked with turning an iconic car into an EV and

01:41that's never an easy job. But they've done it. This is unmistakably an Escalade. But

01:46it's also unmistakably something new and different. But all the Cadillac cues are

01:51there. The vertical lights are new but integrated beautifully. The light grille

01:56gives its own distinct signature. The proportions are perfect. The sculpted

02:01sides break up some of that visual mass and help it look smaller. And that

02:06tapering roofline makes it look almost sporty. Never has a vehicle this big

02:10looked this elegant. The story is the same inside. It used to be certain luxury

02:18brands, even Cadillac, would try to save a buck here or there on the interior when

02:23they think you weren't looking. But no more. Now, it's all about attention to detail.

02:27The Celestic made a statement and that has carried down across all of the Cadillac EV

02:33lineup. That means that when you see metal in here, it's real metal. When you see wood,

02:38it's real wood. When you see leather, it's real leather. And it's not just the materials,

02:42but it's how they're used. The leather, for instance, has interesting patterns cut into it.

02:48The metal speaker grills are laser cut with interesting patterns. Even the wood is actually

02:55laser etched so that the ambient lighting shines through at night but disappears during the day.

03:00And it's not just for the people in the front seats either. Unlike some luxury cars,

03:06the quality carries through all the way. Altogether, it creates an environment of comfort and serenity,

03:11whether you're being chauffeured or the car's doing the driving or whether you prefer to drive yourself.

03:17Let's go for a ride and I'll show you.

03:24This kind of environment right here really showcases why our judges loved the Escalade IQ so much. The

03:31engineering excellence in this vehicle really is top to bottom. It rides down the road in a way that a

03:37car this heavy just shouldn't be able to. I mean, this thing is 9,100 plus pounds and, you know, it's not

03:45a Rolls Royce Cullinan, but if the Cullinan weighed 30% more, yeah, maybe it would be about the same. And that

03:54doesn't mean it drives like a boat either. This is an enormous luxury SUV and those are not known for

04:01their handling. But this one goes around the corner with a surprising confidence. It's a vehicle that,

04:08despite how big it looks, even looking over this hood, feels so much smaller when you drive it. It

04:14feels comfortable doing this, right? We're not spinning any speed records here, but I don't have

04:18to slow way, way down for every corner so I don't throw my passengers around in the cabin. It's

04:24controlled. It's elegant. And instead of feel like you're driving a, you know, a penthouse apartment, I

04:30mean, it feels like a much smaller, easier to drive vehicle than it is. And that makes it a much easier

04:38car to drive, especially when you're going a long distance, right? This has an estimated 460 miles of range.

04:45That's six hours of driving on the highway, even more. And even in our road trip range test,

04:52where we drive at a constant 70 miles an hour until the battery's gone from 100% down to 5%,

04:58that still goes 415 miles. My personal favorite criteria is performance of intended function,

05:05because it means how does this vehicle do the job that it was designed to do? And what was this one

05:10designed to do? This was designed to be the ultimate luxury SUV. It is designed to be very quiet. It's

05:19designed to be very comfortable. It's designed to cater to all your whims and wants and things you

05:25didn't even know that you wanted in a vehicle. But it's also designed to carry up to seven people and

05:31all of your luggage. It has to do a lot of things. And there's not a single one of those where it

05:37struggles. And that's what really put it over the top for a lot of our judges, that you can't point

05:44to it and say, oh, well, it charges too slow. Or, oh, well, it doesn't go far enough. Or the ride

05:50quality in the back is terrible. And who would ever want to be chauffeur? You can't say any of those

05:53things. It does every job that it's asked of it. And it does them very, very well. It makes for an

06:00incredibly well-rounded vehicle. And that's how you win this kind of competition. And most of what

06:07we've talked about already is baseline luxury. But you can make this vehicle even more luxurious,

06:13especially if you don't feel like driving yourself. If you prefer to be driven, well,

06:17there's the executive rear seat package, which gets you heated, cooled, massaging, reclining

06:24second row seats with a big center console like you get in the front that has its own command screen for

06:29all the vehicle's functions and cup holders and wireless phone chargers and everything you could

06:34possibly need on your way to the airport for your private jet flight off to your glamorous vacation.

06:43And then there's the piece de resistance, super cruise. On major freeways, on state highways,

06:49fully hands-free driving so long as you're looking at the road. This is something that comes in so

06:56handy, whether it's sitting in traffic on your commute or whether you're on that big, long six

07:02hour road trip we talked about between charging stops. Why not let the car do some of that work for

07:07you? And this is a system that GM promises will get better in the future. You'll be able to even look

07:12away from the road sometimes. But already we think it's the best system on the market. It's the most consistent

07:19and is safe and makes you feel comfortable with it. You know, you're not worried that it's going to do

07:27something weird on you. We've had some other systems that suddenly make strange turns or stops or things

07:35that are really unsettling. It never happens with super cruise. And more than that, it's tied into other

07:42systems on the car. It'll do an automatic lane change if the car in front of you is going slower than you

07:48like. It also is integrated with Google Maps. So it knows within a couple miles of your exit that you should

07:54be on the right lane and they'll start moving you over there. And then just before you get to the exit, it'll

07:59tell you, hey, you're leaving the map road soon. You should take over so that you can continue driving. It really

08:08takes a lot of the mental load off of sitting in that bumper to bumper traffic or cruising on that endless

08:17arrow straight highway. And more than that, as it makes a perfect unassisted lane change all by itself

08:25right now to go around this slower car in front of us. And it's not just for the daily commute or the

08:31you know, occasional road trip either. You want to take your boat to that lake that's four hours away or

08:36take the trailer camping in the mountains. No big deal. Super Cruise works with trailers as well. So it's just

08:44one more feature in this car that makes driving so much easier and less stressful.

08:53Cars have been quiet and comfortable for a very long time. So modern luxury is about more than just

08:59that. It's about all the extras, all the things that the car does that maybe you don't necessarily

09:06need, but that you want, or that you didn't even know you wanted, but once you have them,

09:12you really like them, right? Like, does it need four wheel steering that makes it super maneuverable?

09:18No, but it's really nice. Does it need a 42 speaker AKG studio reference stereo system? No, but it sounds

09:27amazing. Do you need power opening doors and an arrival mode at the club? No, you don't need any of

09:34these things, but these are all features that surprise and delight. And once you use them,

09:40you kind of like them and you notice that a lot of the direct competitors don't offer them.

09:50The Escalade IQ is absolutely loaded with technology, technology that makes it easier

09:56and more pleasant to drive, that makes it more comfortable and convenient for everybody on board

10:00and makes them safer too. Technology that basically eliminates range anxiety and makes charging a

10:06minor chore, not a big burden, even when you're towing. All of that wrapped up in a package is

10:14artfully crafted inside and out, a value that none of its closest competitors could even come close to

10:20matching at the same price. And that is why the Cadillac Escalade IQ is Motor Trend's 2026 SV of the year.

10:27For more, go to Motor Trend.com.

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