2026 Cadillac Vistiq Road Test and Review

2026 Cadillac Vistiq Sport ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Cadillac is going electric. The brand now has every size of SUV in gas-free form, from the compact Optiq to the full-size Escalade IQ. In the middle is the all-new 2026 Cadillac Vistiq – a three-row crossover that’s less bulky and expensive than the Escalade IQ. 

Priced from $77,395, the Vistiq takes over from the gas-powered XT6 in the Cadillac lineup. It’s much more expensive than the XT6, which started at around $50,000. But it promises a much higher level of performance, efficiency, and technology. 

For this review, we spent a week testing the new Vistiq to learn how it compares with other high-end gas-free SUVs. Keep reading to learn about its pros and cons to see if it’s the right three-row EV for you. 

The IQ Lineup

Cadillac has four electric SUVs with names ending in IQ. (Of the four, “Vistiq” is perhaps the least word-like.) The Vistiq shares its boxy silhouette and three-row seating with the top Escalade IQ, but the Vistiq isn’t as big or expensive as Cadillac’s $130,000 flagship. 

The other two EVs are the two-row Optiq and Lyriq. The Optiq is an extry-level compact crossover priced from the low $50,000s, while the Lyriq is a mid-size five-seater that starts at a little below $60,000. 

Between the Lyriq and the Vistiq, the former has a lot of advantages. It costs a lot less, it goes farther on a charge, and it’s sportier to drive. But when you want a lot of passenger and cargo space, or a higher seating position, the Vistiq gives you seven seats without making you spend six-figure money on an extra-decadent Escalade IQ. As we mentioned, the Vistiq is a boxy “baby Escalade” – at least to the extent that a big 206-inch-long SUV can be called a baby. It doesn’t look so different at a glance from a 2020 Cadillac XT6, at least until you notice its light-up grillework and split taillights. By contrast, the Lyriq looks like a low-slung limousine or sports sedan. 

Cadillac Escalade IQ, Vistiq, and Lyriq ・ Photo by Cadillac

305 Miles per Charge

The 2026 Cadillac Vistiq can travel an EPA-estimated 305 miles per charge, which is good for a big three-row EV. We were also on track to blow past this estimated range. After we traveled 203 miles, the car reported 143 miles of remaining range and a 41 percent remaining battery charge. Both of these figures would work out to nearly 350 miles of total range on a charge. 

However, range varies by driving style. Hard acceleration or lots of high-speed freeway driving both take their toll, as do cold or very hot weather. Over the previous 2,000 miles of driving before our test, the car’s estimated efficiency would have yielded about 280 miles per charge. It’s not the fastest-charging EV in the world, but at a public DC charging station, you can get up to 80 miles in your first 10 minutes of charging and bring a low-charge battery to 80 percent in about 45 minutes. You can also add 29 to 47 miles per charge (depending on the trim level) using a 240-volt car charger or 3.7 miles per hour via a 120-volt household outlet.

Part of the Vistiq’s range comes from a big battery. The rest comes from efficient operation. The EPA estimates that it uses the energy equivalent of 93 mpg in the city, 78 mpg on the highway, and 86 mpg combined. That’s four times as efficient as the old Cadillac XT6. And as we’ll discuss, that efficiency is despite the Vistiq’s incredible acceleration. 

2026 Cadillac Vistiq Sport ・ Photo by Brady Holt

615 Horsepower and Hands-Free Driving

The XT6 has a choice of 235-horsepower and 310-hp gas engines. That’s enough to keep up with minivans in the next lane, but not to justify a luxury price tag. The Vistiq may be expensive, but it’s also wildly fast. 

Every Vistiq has 615 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque, enough to rocket this 6,300-pound SUV to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds. The selectable Velocity Max mode unlocks this full potential, but the Vistiq is always effortlessly quick. A few competitors are even more absurdly fast, like the Rivian R1S, but the Cadillac has more than enough speed for its purpose. It’s easy to drive gently, too, when you want to use a mere fraction of its potential. 

The Vistiq also includes General Motors’ excellent Super Cruise system, which supports hands-free driving on most U.S. highways. The system accelerates, brakes, steers, and changes lanes automatically. And it can automatically raise or lower your speed in response to changing speed limits – without tethering you to the limit. If you set the cruise control speed at, say, 5 mph over the limit, it’ll keep you at 5 mph over the new limit as well. 

Hands-free driving is a good fit for the Vistiq because it’s not a driver’s car, available crazy acceleration or not. The steering and handling feel natural and confidence-inspiring when you aren’t pushing the car hard. It can glide smoothly even along a winding road, as long as the changes of direction aren’t too rapid. That’s when this big Cadillac would reveal its lack of precision and road feel – nothing disastrous, but not sporty and fun like a BMW iX. Upper trim levels add an adaptive air suspension and four-wheel steering. 

2026 Cadillac Vistiq Sport ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Attractive Interior With Some Quirks

Inside, the Vistiq shares a 33-inch dashboard screen with its smaller siblings. (The Escalade IQ gets a 55-inch display.) The Vistiq’s curved display spans about two-thirds of the dashboard, and it includes the speedometer behind the steering wheel and an infotainment touchscreen at the center of the dash. It’s an attractive and nicely finished interior, and it has plenty of technology without trying to reinvent every wheel like some EVs. 

Still, as nice as it is, the Vistiq’s interior isn’t an upgrade over the much cheaper Lyriq. You’re paying extra for the Vistiq’s space, not opulence. We also thought the Lyriq’s more consistently curved dashboard looks more cohesive than the Vistiq’s mix of curved and straight lines to the right of the big screen. Also, some textured plastic on the Vistiq’s upper dash creates big reflections on the windshield in certain lighting; it’s an odd choice given that you would rarely see or touch this trim anyway. And the turn-signal stalk doesn’t feel as solid as we’d like for $80,000. 

The screen is also a mixed bag. Its built-in Google software works well, and you can customize both the speedometer and the touchscreen with a variety of display options. But the Vistiq doesn’t support Apple CarPlay or Android Auto smartphone integration, locking you into the factory infotainment system whether you like it or not. The headlights are controlled only through the touchscreen. And there’s no stop-start button; the Vistiq guesses for you when to switch on or off, and not always correctly. (You can also go through a touchscreen menu to turn the car off manually.) Some rivals are even more frustrating, but the Vistiq would be a more relaxing luxury SUV if it kept things simpler. 

Three Rows of Seats

The Vistiq’s main selling point versus the Lyriq is its extra seating capacity. It can seat up to seven people if you choose a second-row bench seat, or six if you opt for second-row captain’s chairs like on our test vehicle. 

The front seats are comfortable, and you sit up higher than in the Lyriq. Even the base model includes heated, ventilated, and even massaging front seats, plus a heated steering wheel. 

The second row also has ample space when you’re not using the third row. The third row isn’t huge, but as long as the second-row passengers are willing to give up some knee space, it’s habitable. That’s more than we can say about most three-row EVs. 

2026 Cadillac Vistiq Sport ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Boxy Cargo Hold

In addition to extra seats and a higher seating position, the Vistiq has a lot more cargo room than the Lyriq: up to 80 cubic feet with all the seats folded down and 43 cubic feet behind the second row. The Lyriq has just 61 and 28 cubic feet in those cases, respectively. Cargo space is skimpier with the third row in use, at just 15 cubic feet; that’s enough for some groceries, but you’ll need to fold down the third row to carry much more. 

The Vistiq can tow a trailer weighing up to 5,000 pounds, similar to a typical three-row gas-powered crossover. Just know that pulling a trailer cuts sharply into an EV’s range.  

2026 Cadillac Vistiq Sport ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Nearly Everything Comes Standard

As we mentioned, the 2026 Cadillac Vistiq starts at $77,395. Once you add a mandatory $1,695 destination charge, that’s nearly an $80,000 vehicle before you even add any options. 

The good news is that unlike most luxury cars, you don’t actually need to add many options. It’s decadently equipped from the start. The base Vistiq Luxury lives up to its name with everything from massaging seats to a panoramic sunroof to a 23-speaker AKG stereo. The big dashboard screen and the Super Cruise hands-free driving system are standard. So is the wild 615-horsepower powertrain with all-wheel drive. You also get a surround-view parking camera and a rearview camera mirror, 21-inch alloy wheels, and two wireless smartphone chargers. 

Our test vehicle is the next-up Sport trim level, which costs just $500 more. It has a few appearance tweaks over the Luxury but the same features. Our test vehicle came to $81,315 with the destination charge, $800 for second-row captain’s chairs, and $1,225 worth of extra-cost paint colors. 

Two other trim levels – Premium Luxury and Platinum – have a few mechanical and trim upgrades. That’s where you get the adaptive air suspension and rear-wheel steering, plus a few fancier interior materials. They’re a pretty wild price bump at $91,895 and $96,495, respectively. On the other hand, if you want the best Vistiq money can buy, that’s still $35,000 less than a base Escalade IQ. 

We think many people would be happy with a base-model Vistiq that pares back a few of the fripperies and makes about half the horsepower, assuming Cadillac could sell that for significantly less money. But once you get over the base sticker shock, we can’t complain about the features for the money the Vistiq provides – if those are features you are interested in paying for. 

2026 Cadillac Vistiq Sport ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Vistiq vs. the Competition

For a time, there were few options for true three-row electric vehicles. Now, the Vistiq comes to the market facing a number of strong rivals. 

The most similar competitor is the new Volvo EX90, which has a more richly finished interior and sharper handling than the Cadillac. And it has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. But the Vistiq is roomier and faster, and its controls are easier to use than the extra-fussy Volvo’s. 

Next, the Rivian R1S is a posh but rugged off-roader with wild power and slick technology. It’s available with even longer range and quicker acceleration than the Vistiq, or a lower price tag, though you have to choose one. The Cadillac has a smoother ride (though still not extra-gentle) and more traditional styling, and its steering and handling feel more natural for someone who isn’t trying to drive a big SUV like a race car.

Two smooth, sleek rivals are the Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV and the Lucid Gravity. Both start at around $100,000 and have smoother rides, sharper handling, and richer interior decor than the Vistiq. The Lucid also has an electric range of more than 400 miles per charge. We’d pick a Gravity in particular over a fully optioned Vistiq, but recall that the Cadillac is already packed with features for some $20,000 less. 

That’s also the price of America’s first three-row EV, the aging Tesla Model X. It’s still fast and efficient, but its third row is tiny and it feels like a cheaper, tinnier car than newer six-figure EVs. 

We’d also shop the Vistiq against the Hyundai Ioniq 9. It’s not a luxury-branded vehicle, and a top-trim model costs nearly as much as a base Vistiq. The Cadillac also has longer real-world range in our experience, and it’s much quicker and more agile. But the Ioniq 9 has a smoother, quieter ride and a roomier, more richly finished interior – all at a much lower starting price. 

2025 Volvo EX90 ・ Photo by Volvo

Three-Row Electric Luxury

The 2026 Cadillac Vistiq isn’t the flashiest, most opulent, or most fun-to-drive luxury EV on the market. But it’s a usable three-row SUV that goes about its business quickly, quietly, and efficiently. And between its light-show exterior and 33-inch digital dashboard, it still packs some visual punch. 

The Vistiq is still a little caught between sensibility and showing off. You’ll find that in the juxtaposition of its mild-mannered handling and its 610-horsepower straight-line performance, plus in the way the interior is both fairly traditional yet also sometimes frustrating. And its high starting price, standard features or not, puts it out of reach for many families. 

Still, it’s an agreeable luxury vehicle with the performance, efficiency, and refinement benefits of an EV. It travels a respectable distance between charges. And it doesn’t take a 20-page guide to figure out its basic functions. When you want a high-end EV for the whole family, check it out. 

2026 Cadillac Vistiq Sport ・ Photo by Brady Holt