Jonathan Gitlin
The 55-inch display spans the dash.
Jonathan Gitlin
Jonathan Gitlin
Why can’t Google’s voice recognition understand the command “set Sirius radio to channel 43?” But it can’t.
Jonathan Gitlin
Jonathan Gitlin
Passenger apps.
Jonathan Gitlin
Why can’t Google’s voice recognition understand the command “set Sirius radio to channel 43?” But it can’t.
Jonathan Gitlin
Passenger apps.
Jonathan Gitlin
Jonathan Gitlin
Jonathan Gitlin
Jonathan Gitlin
Jonathan Gitlin
Jonathan Gitlin
Jonathan Gitlin
The dial controller on the center console allows you to interact with the infotainment, so you don’t need to use the touchscreen or try voice commands, something that worked here with moderate success. I would expect a slightly better scroll action considering the $153,490 sticker price for our Escalade IQ Premium Sport, but like the 55-inch display, the hardware is shared across the Cadillac EV range. Climate controls are on a separate touchscreen, this one ahead of the center console and below the infotainment.
Another touchscreen serves the front-seat passenger, plus a pair for the middle row (the optional $1,995 rear-seat entertainment system). These stream video from a wide range of platforms—the industry mostly adopting Android Automotive OS has meant plenty of app support—and the screen for the front passenger has a filter that prevents the driver from seeing what’s being displayed while the vehicle is in motion. You can use your phone as an input controller, either as a keyboard or to play games, although it’s a little kludgy.
It is roomy in the back, and the middle row moves fore and aft. This can give the third row more than enough legroom for long journeys, although the lack of vertical space to put legs means that sitting back there involves knees next to faces.
I can see the appeal of the Escalade IQ as an alternative to the traditionally powered Escalade. It might not be very efficient for an EV, but 2.1 miles/kWh is still the equivalent of more than 70 mpg (3.3 L/100 km), whereas a standard V8 version only manages 16 mpg (14.7 L/100 km) combined. And you have to stop and fill that one up with gas almost 80 miles (129 km) before the electric one runs out of range.
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