6/19/25 UPDATE: This review has been updated with instrumented test results.

"Seeing is believing" only goes so far. At some point, you've got to lay hands on metal and experience something firsthand. And so it is with the new 2025 Cadillac Optiq, a small luxury EV from a storied brand that, for some reason, has decided to append a suffix pronounced "ick" to the names of its electrified vehicles. But as it turns out, there's nothing icky about this new Cadillac EV whatsoever. In fact, they may have a fledgling hit on their hands.

Size Wise

It starts with the look, which is pleasingly proportional and free of faff. Compared to most others in the segment, the hood is a bit shorter, the windshield is more aggressively raked, and the rear window is slightly laid back. The resulting vehicle is uncommonly long, with a 116.3-inch wheelbase and an overall length of 189.8 inches. Compare that the Audi Q4 e-tron's relatively stubby wheelbase of 108.7 inches and somewhat short length of 180.6 inches. Or the Mercedes-Benz EQB, which has a 111.4-inch wheelbase and is 184.4 inches long. Meanwhile, the Genesis GV60 is only a couple of inches shy in the wheelbase department but is a whole foot shorter from stem to stern.

2025 Cadillac Optiq

But the wheelbase in question gives the Optiq more than just a sleek profile. It enables the fitment of an 85-kWh battery, the biggest in this group. This in turn gives it the most range of the bunch, a particularly strong EPA-estimated 302 miles, which is a big chunk more than you'd get from the EQB (207 miles), the Q4 e-tron (258 miles), or the GV60 (264 miles).

Driving Dynamics

Two electric motors lie under the skin, one at each end. The front one is a permanent-magnet synchronous motor (PSM) that is always on duty, while the unit at the back is an induction motor that chips in when necessary—including acceleration, thankfully. We have no problem with the use of one induction motor, because there's no need for a clutch to take it offline. But the Mercedes and Audi have their PSM at the back and induction motor up front, which seems wrong-headed. You want your primary PSM where Cadillac puts it for the stabilizing effects of regeneration at the front. Regardless, the Cadillac makes 300 horsepower and 354 pound-feet of torque at full boil. That's not quite as much as the Audi, but solidly midpack. The Optiq lags a little bit behind at our test track, where it reaches 60 mph in 5.7 seconds. The Audi Q4 Sportback 55 e-tron needs just 5.0 seconds, although the Q4 50 e-tron took a similar 5.6 seconds.

On the braking front, the Cadillac feels smooth and linear when you press the left pedal. Regeneration works as expected, and the limits are high enough to encompass most normal driving. But occasionally, you might have to supplement the recuperation with friction braking because it's not quite as predictable as other systems. Still, we sailed through a tricky winding descent using nothing but regen. When you whack the pedal in a panic stop from 70 mph, it takes 182 feet to stop. That's a little bit behind the Q4 Sportback 55 e-tron's 177 feet but still comfortably in the ballpark.

2025 Cadillac Optiq

The Optiq has all the steering feedback you could ask for. When driving straight it delivers the subtle feel necessary to keep it subconsciously on your desired path, and when you turn in you get a nice increase in effort. It was, in a word, faultless. Its limits are modest but approachable. It orbits the skidpad at o.80 g, which again is a tad shy of the Sportback 55's 0.83-g effort. When it comes to cruising the highway, the Optiq includes standard Super Cruise, so you can take your hands off the wheel completely, even during suggested lane changes.

The Cadillac's price point is not the place to find a height-adjustable air suspension and adaptive dampers, but the Optiq's passive setup is expertly tuned. There's nothing wrong with steel springs and passive dampers, especially on the Optiq, which uses something Cadillac calls Passive Plus dampers. These units have a second valve inside that makes their response frequency-dependent, which means the damper will stay firmer at the sorts of low-piston speeds that characterize cornering, but they'll open up to soften the impacts of discrete bumps. All dampers attempt to do this, but this second valve gives the suspension tuning engineer a much more definitive tool for dialing everything in. It absolutely works, because while the ride felt sporty in corners, it also breathed fairly well on rough sections.

2025 Cadillac Optiq

Meanwhile, that long wheelbase makes the Optiq's cabin a nice place to spread out. There's plenty of room in both rows, and the furnishings are surprisingly spectacular. The star is the coarse-weave fabric that sits atop the doors and dash. It looks luxurious rather than cheap, and it's made from recycled materials. The fabric lies next to stitched faux-leather armrest panels and matching seats. Before you is a 33.0-inch screen as seen in the larger Lyriq, with manually adjustable climate vents located elegantly in a slot below.

There's one drawback to the drawn-out look, though—that sloping rear roofline does take a wee bite out of cargo space. Still, 26 cubic feet is pretty decent in this segment, and Cadillac placed the charge port on the front fender to preserve as much as they can back here, albeit at the expense of a frunk.

2025 Cadillac Optiq

When you do charge at home, it's a pretty simple matter of plugging in and going inside for the night when using the standard 11.5-kW charger (our test car had a potentially faster 19.2-kW charger). When charging on the road, it took us 55 minutes to fill from 10-90 percent because the Optiq's max charge speed is limited to 150 kilowatts. You'll also get 240 miles from a full charge, if you replicate our 75-mph constant-speed test pattern.

The real star of the cabin show is the standard AKG Studio system with Dolby Atmos, which includes 19 speakers behind stainless-steel grilles sprinkled throughout the cabin. Atmos allows Dolby's engineers to place different instruments in precise points in 3-D space, and they have remixed thousands of albums available through dozens of streaming services. But there is a catch, of course. You're not going to pair your phone as usual through Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. You'll still pair it, though, and get phone and music through Bluetooth, but Google built-in will handle the maps, and you'll be able to sign in to your music apps (if you wish) through the car portal. Not as handy for us journos, who tend to be in and out of different cars every week, but just fine for owners of the car.

Features and Pricing

Cadillac has priced and contented the Optiq quite aggressively. Every single piece of active safety equipment in the catalog is standard, as is Super Cruise, massaging seats, and the AKG Dolby Atmos system. You get your choice of Luxury or Sport themes, which cost $54,390 for Luxury 1 with chrome trim or $54,990 for Sport 1 for body-color trim and different wheels. You can step up to Luxury 2 or Sport 2 for $56,590 or $57,090, respectively.

The jump from equipment-level 1 to 2 nets you quite the bundle: For the $2100 or $2200 extra (depending on trim), you get a color head-up display, heated rear seats, ventilated front seats, eight-way power seats instead of six-way, fancier LED headlights and taillights, an air-quality sensor, and a cargo-area cover. Standalone options include the faster 19.2-kW Level 2 onboard charger (the standard 11.5 kilowatts is more than sufficient), 21-inch wheels instead of 20s (meh), and special interior and exterior colors (natch).

2025 Cadillac Optiq

Did we mention that the Optiq contains all this stuff and still costs less than similarly equipped versions of the Audi Q4, Mercedes-Benz EQB, and Genesis GV60? As we said, Cadillac seems to have a proper hit on its hands. Despite the unfortunate naming scheme, the 2025 Optiq gives us zero ick.