2025 Cadillac Optiq review

7NEWS

3 days ago

In case you haven't noticed, Cadillac now sells cars in Australia.
General Motors' luxury brand has made a low-key entrance Down Under, where it's opened just one 'experience centre' (another one is coming this year) and introduced just one model, while deliberately avoiding talking about sales targets.
For all the talk of 'exclusive volumes', however, it's the Cadillac Optiq here that represents the brand's best chance at taking a slice of the luxury electric vehicle (EV) market in Australia.
Due for release here in 2026, when it will slot in under the Lyriq already on sale, the Optiq will serve as an entry point to the Cadillac lineup that will also grow next year to include the large, three-row Vistiq and sporty Lyriq-V.
All of these are electric SUVs, and despite its entry-level positioning the Optiq isn't exactly small – measuring 4820mm long, 2126mm wide (including the mirrors) and riding a 2954mm wheelbase, it's 28mm longer than a Tesla Model Y and rides on a 64mm longer wheelbase.
We had the opportunity to drive the Optiq, Vistiq, and a raft of other General Motors EVs at a recent drive day in Michigan. But I also nicked the keys to an Optiq and set off for Chicago for a weekend getaway.
This was a model year 2025 (MY25) Optiq, mind you, and Cadillac recently announced some significant changes for MY26 which are expected to be largely reflected in the Australian-market model. More on that later.
How much does the Cadillac Optiq cost?
It's hard to predict how successful the Optiq will be as Cadillac has yet to announce how much it will cost in Australia, nor what the local lineup will look like.
It will almost certainly come in under the Lyriq, which is priced from $122,000, but how close it'll come to other mid-size electric SUVs like the Audi Q6 e-tron and Polestar 4 remains to be seen.
In the US, the MY25 Optiq range opens at US$54,390 (~A$84,000) for the Luxury 1 and tops out at US$57,090 (~A$88,000) for the Sport 2 tested here. For 2026, the lineup has been reshuffled and opens at US$52,395 (~A$81,000) for the rear-wheel drive Luxury, rising to US$58,595 (~A$90,500) for the Premium Luxury AWD.
The new Optiq-V, which hasn't been confirmed for Australia, costs US$68,795 (~A$106,000).
The Lyriq lineup, in contrast, is priced from between US$63,590 and US$72,490 (~A$98,000 to $112,000), though there are also more affordable rear-wheel drive variants not offered in Australia. These start at US$60,090 (~A$93,000).
Even if it wears a sharp sticker, the Optiq is going to be hamstrung by Cadillac's limited dealer network. We're predicting a slow rollout like that of Genesis, and Cadillac is consciously avoiding sharing its sales targets.
What is the Cadillac Optiq like on the inside?
From a design point of view, Cadillac has nailed this interior. Not only has the brand managed to maintain an upscale appearance for its most affordable EV, but it's also avoided making it look just like a carbon copy of its larger, more expensive EVs. Instead, it has given it a more youthful feel.
Sure, there are some shared design elements, such as the 33-inch curved display, and the row of tactile physical climate controls underneath which have a satisfyingly clicky operation.
You'll find other parts of the interior that are shared with more expensive Cadillacs, such as the power seat controls on the door – a rather Mercedes-Benz like touch – as well as the tactile metallic knobs for the air vents and the gorgeous metallic speaker grilles for the excellent AKG sound system.
But the Optiq goes its own way in some respects, including with the very attractive recycled fabric upholstery covering the tops of the doors, onto the A-pillar, and then running across the (quite low) dash.
While this is grey, it's a pale grey tweed-like material that manages to look upscale – this isn't like the grey cloth you'd find on, say, a Toyota Corolla's doors. It even feels nice, too.
Other unique touches for the Optiq include patterned trim that runs above the climate controls, and on the doors.
This can be finished in either white or bright blue; the white works, the blue is a bit questionable. It feels like Cadillac designers had more fun with the Optiq interior than its other vehicles, perhaps because it's aimed at younger buyers.
You may also dislike the evidently recycled material that's used in the door pockets and on the centre console tray, to help prevent things from rolling around.
These door pockets can accommodate large water bottles, while the tray is large enough for a handbag.
Where the Lyriq has an opening but uselessly small compartment in the minimalist centre stack, the Optiq has an open compartment that's surprisingly deep and is softly lit at night. This helps make up for a tiny centre console bin, though there's no way to conceal this cubby.
It's also not where the wireless phone charger sits, as this is in a little upright pocket ahead of the centre console bin. There are a couple of USB-C outlets next to the cubby, however.
The centre console is split-level, comprising a large tray just above floor level, and a higher level with attractive woven metal trim and more of this fabric upholstery.
On this, you'll find another little pocket at the very end, a pair of cupholders with textured metallic surrounds, a rotary dial for the infotainment system, a pair of haptic shortcut buttons, and a metallic volume wheel.
If we were being fussy, we'd point out the soft-touch surface of the dash top ahead of the passenger isn't exactly flush with the harder trim at the base of the screen – likely a design issue and not an example of poor build quality, as we didn't experience any creaks in the cabin.
Also, having to press a button on the touchscreen to open the glovebox – even if it's an anchored shortcut button – strikes us as ridiculous.
Mind you, the technology in the cabin is hard to fault. The touchscreen has a row of anchored shortcut buttons and is part of a 33-inch curved display that also includes the digital instrument cluster and a separate, small touchscreen by the driver's door.
This smaller screen can be used to control the headlights, view trip information and change the instrument cluster layout.
It's all really slick technology, with attractive graphics and good configurability – for example, you can move all the icons around on the touchscreen. That's handy, as the Optiq is missing physical shortcut buttons for features like the camera or drive mode selection.
GM is pushing buyers, at least in the US, to use the embedded Google Maps in vehicles like the Optiq which use Google built-in.
Thankfully, we're getting both wireless smartphone mirroring and the functionality that comes with Google built-in. This includes smart routing.
When you put in a destination, Google Maps will calculate when and where to make charging stops, and will tell you what the battery charge level will be when you arrive at your destination. Additionally, the battery will pre-condition itself as you near a charging stop.
At first I was disappointed that Google Maps doesn't extend across the whole display like in, say, a Genesis vehicle, but then I realised you could have two different views. Perhaps it's a bit obsessive-compulsive of me, but it does bother me somewhat that each map display is a different shape…
And while Google Maps is typically vastly better than embedded navigation in many cars, it's not perfect – it managed to get bamboozled by Chicago's twisted web of motorways on a couple of occasions.
As it features Google built-in, the infotainment system therefore includes Google Assistant and an array of Google apps, with more downloadable via the Google Play Store.
Still, there's no access to messaging apps, and it is a bit disappointing to see a company get us so used to having smartphone mirroring and then take it away. Fortunately, this won't affect Australian buyers – apart from the absence of Super Cruise (more on that later), we're arguably getting a better suite of technology than Americans.
At the bottom of the touchscreen, always visible, are shortcuts for the one-pedal drive mode; glove box; the map, media, home and charging menus; as well as information like the time, temperature and signal for the 5G hotspot.
The infotainment system worked well, apart from one instance where the screen went blank as I neared a much-needed charging stop in the dead of night in regional Michigan. It did sort itself quickly, however, without my having to restart the vehicle.
Unlike in the Australian-market Lyriq, there's a head-up display. Behind the steering wheel you'll find a combination wiper/indicator stalk, the Mercedes-Benz-style gear shifter, and the Regen on Demand paddle.
The steering wheel is tactile and wrapped in leather, with solidly constructed metallic switches plus touch-capacitive ones with haptic feedback. The black bar at the top tells you the status of Super Cruise, which is handy, but it does feel a little creaky and plasticky.
There were no build quality issues with the Optiqs we drove, but if we're nit-picking, the stalks on the column could be better-damped.
There's gloss black on the steering wheel, and on the door-mounted seat controls, and small splashes elsewhere in the cabin. It looks great, but it'll attract smudges and dust more than any other interior surface known to humankind…
While the Cadillac's interior doesn't look like a Mercedes-Benz's, as mentioned there are a handful of design elements that take inspiration. Not included among these is the ambient lighting – it's colour-adjustable like in a Benz, but it's a helluva lot more subtle. It appears from behind the white or blue contrast trim, with a chequered appearance.
There's also subtle back lighting for the door pockets, storage shelf, and the open and deep centre stack storage cubby.
Step into the rear and there's sufficient headroom, though at 180cm my hair brushed the headliner when I sat upright. There's an expansive fixed glass roof, which features a power sunshade that fortunately does do a good job of blocking out the sun.
The Optiq's rakish roofline does mean visibility out the back is compromised, with a narrow and steeply raked rear window. However, there's a digital rear-view mirror.
Cadillac has also included rear-quarter windows. You might not see them from the outside, as they're concealed behind that 'Mondrian' pattern and only visible in certain lights, but you can see out of them easily.
There's a comfortable rear bench with plenty of leg- and knee-room and an almost completely flat floor. The centre console does eat into the centre-seat occupant's legroom a little bit, but it includes a pair of USB-C outlets, an open cubby, air vents, and a power outlet.
While the soft-touch trim of the front doors carries through to the back, the front seatbacks are hard – not that you'd know it at first, given their prominent stitching elements. They do feature soft map pockets, however.
Open the power tailgate and you'll find there's enough room for a large suitcase and a large duffel bag, but don't try stacking suitcases here – the raked tailgate compromises vertical load space. A cargo cover conceals the area.
What's under the bonnet?
We drove an MY25 Optiq, but for MY26 there have been some significant mechanical changes to Cadillac's entry-level electric SUV.
For starters, the Mexican-built Optiq is now available with a single-motor powertrain – with rear-wheel drive, not front-wheel drive like in the Chinese-built Optiq – producing 232kW of power and 450Nm of torque.
That's not far off the outputs of the dual-motor all-wheel drive MY25 Optiq we tested, which produces 224kW and 480Nm.
But dual-motor versions have received a massive power bump for MY26, to 328kW and 675Nm. There's also an even hotter Optiq-V packing 387kW and 880Nm plus other enhancements like the addition of Continuous Damping Control adaptive dampers.
Whether we're talking MY25 or MY26, the Optiq has an 85kWh nickel manganese cobalt (NCM) battery. Range is 486km on the stricter US EPA cycle for the MY25 AWD, 482km for the MY26 RWD, and 451km for the MY26 AWD.
The maximum DC fast-charging rate is unchanged at 150kW.
In the MY25 Optiq we drove, we saw energy consumption of 18.3kWh/100km while driving around Detroit, and in highway driving this rose to as much as 21.4kWh/100km.
Over a total of 1100km of driving, much of which was on the highway, we saw energy consumption of 19.4kWh/100km.
The Optiq's energy consumption, charging rate and range therefore are far from class-leading for a mid-size electric SUV. The Model Y Long Range AWD, for example, has 526km of range on the US EPA cycle (600km on the WLTP cycle), and has a maximum DC charging rate of 250kW.
How does the Cadillac Optiq drive?
It wasn't just a steering wheel on the left-hand side and a lack of smartphone mirroring that made our Optiq test car different to the vehicles we'll get here.
As mentioned, the dual-motor all-wheel drive Optiq has received a significant bump in power for MY26, which is likely to carry over to the Australian-market version.
Australia will get a global suspension tune, too, though GM says it won't be too different from the American tune.
That's a good thing, as this is one plush, comfortable EV. It may not have adaptive dampers but it scarcely needs them.
Cadillac says its 'Passive Plus' system, which includes an extra valve in the damper, gets it close to the ride comfort of adaptive systems without the cost of all the electronics.
It's not just marketing hype. The Optiq manages to soak up crappy surfaces without impact harshness, while managing crests and dips without losing body control. It felt smooth at train crossings, too.
In short, ride comfort proved excellent across pockmarked roads – particularly the poorly surfaced, badly damaged ones in Illinois.
The steering is nicely weighted – light enough that steering around town and parking remains entirely manageable, without feeling so light that you don't have confidence in the vehicle.
But there's no hiding that long wheelbase in really tight parking garages, where the Optiq can be a bit of a handful. One downtown Chicago parking garage turned into a stressful ordeal with 180-degree turns on its ramps.
Sadly, we didn't get to drive the Optiq on too many windy roads – we were in the American Midwest, after all, where the terrain is mostly flat and the roads are mostly grids. When you get excited for a highway on-ramp, you know there's not a lot of great driving roads around…
On these on-ramps, the Optiq could be steered confidently and presented well-managed body roll. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it feels more nimble than the larger Lyriq, which we have driven on twisty roads and found to generally handle well.
Push the accelerator and you'll find throttle response is nice and progressive. Cadillac engineers were conscious of what is referred to as lash, and as a result the Optiq gets up to speed gracefully without rocking you back in your seat… or feeling sluggish, either.
You can pop it in Sport mode, which gives it a little bit more squirt while adding some noticeable weight to the steering without making it burdensomely heavy.
However, we expect if you want thrills from your EV, the Optiq-V – not yet confirmed for Australia – will deliver more of them.
The steering may be good in this car, but for a lot of my driving I wasn't steering at all. Instead, I was letting the car do it.
That's because the Optiq comes standard in the US with Super Cruise, which allows for hands-free driving across over a million kilometres of roads in North America.
Sadly, it's not coming here due to the cost of engineering this system for our roads. And that's a bloody shame, as Super Cruise made highway driving a breeze, slowing down and speeding up where appropriate, and keeping the car centred in its lane while managing heavy rain, construction zones, and other complications.
You still need to keep your eyes ahead, but the system never made an alarming move, and if you're approaching an unmapped stretch of road or you're not paying attention, the car will warn you via a large light on the steering wheel.
There's even an automatic lane-change feature, and the Optiq is actually a bit impatient like a human when it comes to being stuck behind cars on the highway. The seat vibrates your left or right butt cheek when it's about to perform a lane change, so as not to alarm your passengers.
And if you do feel like taking back over from Super Cruise, you can put your hands back on the wheel and it doesn't feel like you're wrestling with the system. The transitions are seamless.
Our tester was an MY25 vehicle, so it didn't have the latest Super Cruise advancement that sees the vehicle automatically change lanes to keep you on the route you've set in Google Maps.
However, even in MY26 vehicles with Super Cruise, the mapping still doesn't include typical urban streets, and the system can't detect traffic lights or stop the vehicle at them. Unlike Tesla, GM says it isn't looking to add this functionality to its semi-autonomous driving tech.
While we won't get Super Cruise in Australia, we hope GM's new Hands-on Lane Centring Assist function – launching in certain MY26 vehicles in the US – is made available here. Without this, the Optiq will be left with just lane-keep assist, as in the Australian-market Lyriq, which is insufficient for a luxury car in 2025.
The Optiq's speed sign recognition system didn't throw up any false alerts. Let's see if the Australian-market system is as well-calibrated.
The embedded Google Maps, once you punch in a destination, will tell you your estimated battery percentage at the end of your journey and suggest charging stops along the way if necessary. Battery pre-conditioning is also linked to Google Maps, with the Optiq getting its battery ready for charging as you get closer to your destination.
All of this worked well for the most part, apart from one leg of the journey when the estimated charge level at my destination bounced around a bit before settling.
A serene cabin also made the Optiq an excellent highway cruiser. Tyre roar is well suppressed, and there's just a little bit of wind rustle around the mirrors but nothing objectionable. There's a choice of two artificial propulsion sounds and neither is obnoxious.
My Mode allows you to configure your preferred steering, brake and acceleration feel, and propulsion sound settings.
There's a one-pedal drive mode which works well, plus Cadillac's Regen on Demand feature that allows you to brake the vehicle by squeezing a paddle.
If there's a way to make the park brake automatically engage when you put it in park, I couldn't find it. At least the park brake button is conveniently located next to the door.
We'd like a physical button for selecting drive modes or activating the camera, though.
The camera system boasts good if not class-leading (ie: BMW-grade) resolution. The cameras can also get a bit washed out at night and in rain, while the wide but not overly tall touchscreen means the camera projection isn't that large.
What do you get?
Cadillac has reshuffled the Optiq range for 2026, and it hasn't locked in what the local lineup will look like.
2026 Cadillac Optiq equipment highlights (in the US):
Fixed panoramic glass roof
Power tailgate
Proximity entry and start
Remote start
20-inch alloy wheels
LED headlights
Automatic high-beam
Rear privacy glass
Digital rear-view mirror with washer
Heated exterior mirrors
Super Cruise
Semi-autonomous parking assist
33-inch curved display
Google built-in
19-speaker AKG Studio sound system
Heated front seats
8-way power driver's seat
6-way power passenger seat
'Inteluxe' leatherette upholstery
Tilt and telescoping steering column
Wrapped steering wheel
Heated steering wheel
Alloy pedals
Dual-zone climate control
126-colour ambient lighting
Stepping up through the range brings additional equipment such as:
LED cornering lights
Head-up display
Ventilated front seats
Heated outboard rear seats
Is the Cadillac Optiq safe?
The Cadillac Optiq is being launched in Europe but hasn't been tested by Euro NCAP yet, and there's no ANCAP rating available yet either.
Cadillac's new entry-level EV also hasn't been tested yet by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in the US.
Standard safety equipment in the US includes:
Adaptive cruise control
Autonomous emergency braking (AEB)
Blind-spot assist
Driver attention monitoring
Lane-keep assist
Rear cross-traffic assist
Safe exit warning
Surround-view camera
Traffic sign recognition
8 airbags
How much does the Cadillac Optiq cost to run?
Cadillac Australia hasn't yet released local servicing or warranty information for the Optiq. However, the Lyriq is currently backed by a five-year, unlimited-kilometre vehicle warranty and an eight-year, 160,000km battery warranty.
The Lyriq also comes with five years of free roadside assistance and free scheduled servicing, with visits to a service location required every 12 months or 12,000km.
CarExpert's Take on the Cadillac Optiq
Cadillac's Optiq, Lyriq and Vistiq are all recognisably part of the Cadillac family, and yet each offers a unique look and feel.
Together, they make for a compelling electric SUV trio. None of them will compete in particularly high-volume segments, mind you, but then Cadillac makes no bones about its plans to sell vehicles in 'exclusive volumes' in Australia.
The Optiq is likely to be the most popular and, despite being Caddy's entry-level EV, it's an impressive all-round offering. But EVs from brands like Cadillac find themselves at risk of being squeezed in Australia.
There's market-leader Tesla, which offers sharp pricing and established EV bona-fides; luxury brands like BMW and Mercedes-Benz, which offer a wider dealer network and arguably more luxury cachet; and then a growing number of Chinese models that offer impressive performance and range figures, plus bags of tech.
The Optiq doesn't offer the best range, charge rate or efficiency among its mid-size electric SUV peers, but what it does offer is its own unique style. It's smooth to drive, and comfortable and well-appointed inside.
With the right price, it shapes as a compelling alternative to electric SUVs from other luxury brands.
Pros
Smooth ride
Comfortable, well-appointed interior
Stylish inside and out
Cons
So-so charge rate
Pricing remains unknown for Australia
We won't get Super Cruise here