2025 Cadillac Optiq: Hard to sit in, hard to see out

2025 Cadillac Optiq AWD Sport 2 vs. 2025 Jeep Wagoneer S Launch Edition 4XE: A new class of EV SUVs.

This week: Cadillac Optiq

Price: $62,310 as tested. Black Onyx Package added $3,995; orange paint, $625; black roof, $600.

Conventional wisdom: Motor Trend likes its “great design, solid range” and that it’s “priced like gas-fed competitors.” But they called it “not all that exciting to drive; not fast, either”; and said that it “rides on the firm side.”

Marketer’s pitch: “Move into EV luxury.”

Reality: So meh except for the interior. For better and worse. Motor Trend seems to have nailed it.

The comparison: Say you have $65,000-75,000 to drop on an EV SUV. Here are two contenders for your money, although they take very different paths.

The Optiq takes the “slow” road, with just 300 horses and a reasonable 0-60 time. The Wagoneer S Launch Edition is in more of a hurry.

What’s new: The model is all-new for 2025, joining Cadillac’s expanding electrified lineup. As the tagline indicates, it’s an entry-level premium EV SUV.

One note: The Optiq matches the Blazer EV for assembly and components percentages. For those of you suspicious of gilded lilies.

Competition: In addition to the Wagoneer S, there are the Audi Q4 E-tron, Genesis GV60, and Mercedes-Benz EQB.

Driver’s Seat: The interior is quite attractive, with leather, carbon fiber, and a touch of cloth that feels quite premium. So we’ve definitely moved out of Blazer territory here.

But I have never put my butt in a Cadillac, or almost any vehicle really, that was so instantly uncomfortable. Sporty is one thing, but the Optiq was downright painful. The leather coverings felt nice but everything else about this seat was harder than the toughest Audi or Mazda — save maybe a long-ago RX-8 — I’d ever driven. Would it grow on me? Was I having a bad night?

I tried it again and again, and eventually it was less all-over pain and more just tough on the bottom. The Lovely Mrs. Passenger Seat didn’t mind it, but I sure did.

The real feat came when I turned on the massage feature — it didn’t help. I could hardly feel it, and I found the controls to be confusing. The seats were also heated and ventilated, moved eight ways and the lumbar moved four, but still, ow.

I called the Blazer’s seats comfortable and supportive, a rote phrase I’m getting tired of typing, but it suddenly means a lot more after riding in the Optiq.

Be on the lookout: Furthermore, while sight lines have become more and more of a problem in many modern cars, especially Cadillacs, I think the Optiq’s might be about the worst. The tall hood and dashboard combo make it difficult to spy just where the front corners are.

Looking to the rear is no better. If you have kids or pets around, know exactly where they are before you start moving.

The big dashboard doesn’t help all that much either, because so much information is hidden away in the corners. When the lights are on. Whether the high beams are on. What speed the cruise is set at. I’d lost all these details at various points.

Finally, the power consumption vs. regeneration flashes much more prominently than the vehicle’s speed. Perhaps there’s an adjustment that I missed, but why offer this one at all?

Night shift: I said “finally,” but I lied, because I have more complaints. The light controls are hidden in the touchscreen. At least in other GM vehicles — like the GMC Terrain, for instance — they have a dedicated screen icon outside the main screen. Not so in the Optiq. If it’s raining and the lights don’t switch themselves on, have fun fishing through the screen on freshly slicked roads.

Up to speed: The 300-horsepower dual-motor system gets you to 60 mph in 5.7 seconds, according to Car and Driver. That’s nice but it’s not a rocket like some EVs.

Shiftless: GM has started giving almost all its vehicles a wiper-stalk shifter à la Mercedes-Benz.

On the road: Handling in the Optiq is straightforward and fairly EV basic. It goes where you point it but doesn’t add a lot of fun to the ride. At least the ride is super smooth.

Friends and stuff: The rear seat is fairly comfortable and a little softer than the front. Legroom and foot room are generous, but headroom is tight. A center passenger won’t have a floor hump but the console intrudes backward quite a bit.

Cargo volume is 26 cubic feet behind the second row and 57 with the seat folded. Towing capacity is 1,500 pounds.

Play some tunes: Cadillac touts the 33-inch display having 1 billion colors, and it certainly is clear and flashy.

The volume is a roller knob on the console, and an old-style console knob helps with screen functions.

Sound from the system is pretty good, about an A-.

Keeping warm and cool: A long row of pretty silver toggles handles all the temperature and HVAC functions, highlighted by the usual colorful Cadillac labels. The vents that run the width of the dashboard and the silver control knobs evoke Cadillacs from the early 1960s, probably some of their most memorable years.

Range: The Optiq AWD as tested advertises a generous range of 302 miles, and says it takes 9.5 hours to charge on a 240-volt charger (which most EV owners should have). It can add 79 miles of range in 10 minutes at a fast charger.

Where it’s built: Ramos Arizpe, Mexico. U.S. and Canadian parts make up 12% of the Optiq; 46% comes from Mexico — including the motor and electric drive unit (transmission) — and 20% from South Korea.

How it’s built: Too new for Consumer Reports ratings yet.

Next week: How does the Jeep Wagoneer S measure up?