2026 Best Full-Size Luxury SUV: Cadillac Escalade/Escalade IQ

The Cadillac Escalade and fully electric Escalade IQ are repeat winners of the annual AutoTrader Awards, winning in 2023, 2025, and again this year.

Winners in each category are voted on by a panel of 20 trusted automotive experts from across the country. This year, increased competition with the Lexus GX, Infiniti QX80, and Lincoln Navigator made it even more difficult for the Escalade to earn a repeat win. However, despite a few flaws, Escalade’s blend of tech, luxury, and comfort still sets the benchmark in the segment.

Part of the appeal is the Cadillac’s versatility, as it’s available in two lengths with either gas or electric propulsion. There’s even a V-Series version with a thunderous 6.2-litre supercharged V8 dropped in from the last-generation (C7) Corvette.

While the electric (IQ) and gas versions share the same design language, they are completely different under the sheet metal. The IQ runs on a dedicated electric architecture and is equipped with one of the largest battery packs in existence for a passenger car. At 205 kWh, the battery, which weighs about the same as a compact SUV, enables nearly 750 km of range.

Vehicles in this category are all about excess, and not for those uncomfortable with attention. Everything is as big as it gets in the Escalade, from its pillar-to-pillar 55-inch infotainment screen and 39-speaker sound system to its massive 24-inch wheels.

The IQ is equipped with dual electric motors that produce 750 hp and 785 lb-ft of torque, which is significantly more than the gas version’s 420-hp 6.2-litre V8. It can accelerate from zero to 96 km/h in just 4.7 seconds. Not bad for a vehicle that’s over 4,000 kg.

The Escalade can seat up to eight people when properly configured with a second-row bench seat, but if you don’t need all those seats, there’s an option for a full executive second row with reclining and massaging seats that can be controlled via a screen on a dedicated centre console.

As big and intimidating as the Escalade might seem, driving it is easy, especially in electric form. The magnetic dampers help soak up all the lumps and bumps, but also provide excellent body control during cornering. The IQ also gets four-wheel steering with a setting that allows it to move diagonally, but I’m still trying to figure out where that’s useful, unlike the power doors that can be opened and closed via the main screen.

With a starting price of $160,000 for the IQ (V8 versions start at $125,000), it certainly isn’t inexpensive, but it’s all relative.

A Rolls-Royce Spectre also has a whisper-quiet electric powertrain and power-operated doors and a similar level of equipment and technology, but it’s half a million dollars to start and not nearly as practical. And while no one will be cross-shopping them, it helps to put into perspective that there actually is value in the Escalade.

AutoTrader expert Chris Tsui, in his review of the Escalade IQ writes, “That’s a lot of money, but then again, the Escalade IQ is a lot of vehicle. The size, power, range, tech, ambiance — it all operates on a level that makes its price tag hard to argue against.”

The segment of full-size luxury SUVs is all about presence, pampering and excess, and Cadillac has been getting that formula right for decades. Competitors like the new Infiniti QX80, redesigned Navigator, and Jeep Grand Wagoneer are nearly as good, but the Escalade remains a cut above.