2025 Cadillac Escalade Debuts With Bold Restyling, 55-Inch Touchscreen & Super Cruise

2025 Cadillac Escalade Summary Points

  • The 2025 Cadillac Escalade inherits the bolder face of its all-electric namesake, the Escalade IQ, to align with the brand’s newfound styling idiom that started with the Celestiq and Lyric EVs.

  • The mighty Escalade-V soldiers on as America’s most powerful SUV with a 692-horsepower supercharged V8.

  • Cadillac has updated the 2025 Escalade’s interior with new color themes and an immersive 55-inch pillar-to-pillar infotainment touchscreen.

2025 Cadillac Escalade: What’s New?

The 2025 Cadillac Escalade is home to a few mindful exterior and interior updates. It has a futuristic countenance with vertical LED lighting elements similar to the Escalade IQ. The illuminated Cadillac front crest is new across the range, while the V-Series and Premium Luxury Platinum add an illuminated grille surround.

“Escalade is about being bold, arriving with style, and making a statement,” said Vicente Beire, Cadillac Escalade lead designer. “The 2025 Escalade continues the design story introduced in the 2021 Escalade, but with thoughtful and dramatic updates that showcase the best of what Cadillac has to offer.”

The 2025 Escalade features up to 24-inch wheels, the largest ever fitted to a production Escalade. Meanwhile, it will debut in three new paint colors: Latte Metallic, Deep Sea Metallic, and Aegean Stone.

An ESV or extended wheelbase variant will again be available for the 2025 model year. The Escalade ESV has an overall length of 227 inches compared to the standard Escalade at 211.9 inches. Wheelbase measurements are 134.1 inches for the ESV versus 120.9 inches for the standard Escalade.

2025 Cadillac Escalade Powertrain

The 2025 Cadillac Escalade remains standard with a burly 6.2-liter naturally-aspirated V8 that produces 420 horsepower and 460 lb-ft. of torque. It connects to a 10-speed automatic with a standard rear-wheel drivetrain or an optional four-wheel drivetrain.

Meanwhile, the Escalade-V has a 6.2-liter supercharged V8, a refreshing sight amidst the horde of downsized V6 hybrids or electrified four-cylinders in the large SUV market. It pumps out 682 horsepower and 653 lb-ft. of torque, enough to push the Escalade-V to 60 mph from a standstill in 4.4 seconds and run the quarter mile in under 13 seconds.

The sad news is Cadillac has discontinued the 3.0-liter inline-six turbodiesel for the 2025 model year, an engine that helped the Escalade return an EPA-rated 21/27 city/highway and 23 combined with rear-wheel drive.

The 2024 Escalade with the 6.2 V8 achieves an EPA-rated 14 in the city, 18 on the highway, and 16 combined. Meanwhile, the Escalade-V could return around 13 mpg in the combined cycle. Official EPA fuel economy numbers for the 2025 Escalade and Escalade-V are forthcoming.

Max Towing Capacity

The 2025 Cadillac Escalade is still riding on the fifth-generation GMT T1XX body-on-frame architecture introduced in 2021, helping it retain the towing capabilities people expect from a large SUV.

When properly equipped, the 2025 Cadillac Escalade can tow up to 8,100 lbs., while the Escalade-V has a maximum tow rating of 7,200 lbs. If you opt for an ESV variant, the towing numbers will drop by about 100 lbs.

Interior Technology

The 2025 Cadillac Escalade features a curved 55-inch infotainment touchscreen first seen in the Escalade IQ. The gigantic widescreen display has navigation, voice control, Google built-in functionality, and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity.

The spacious cabin seats seven or eight and is available in two color palettes: Renaissance Red and Jet Black and Sheer Gray. The former includes quilted and perforated leather upholstery and dark open-pore wood veneers with a high-contrast pore filler.

Meanwhile, the latter has contrasting quilted and perforated leather and gray fabric seats and high-gloss wood veneers. On the other hand, the Escalade-V has carbon fiber trim with Jet Black leather and perforated seats. All Escalades come standard with 126-color interior ambient lighting that features customizable lighting options in two zones.

Other tech-related features include a full-color heads-up display (standard to all trim grades except the base Luxury variant) and an available 5G Wi-Fi hotspot.

2025 Cadillac Escalade interior layout.
2025 Cadillac Escalade interior layout. Photo: Cadillac.

Executive Second Row Package

The 2025 Escalade has an available Executive Second Row package that includes folding tray tables, dual wireless charging pads, massaging seats with headrest speakers, 12.6-inch diagonal personal screens, and a rear command center.

The Platinum and V-Series receive night vision, power open-and-close doors, and an automatic opening driver’s door that opens when the driver approaches with the key fob. The standard audio system is a 19-speaker AKG Studio stereo, but the optional AKG Studio Reference system has 36 speakers (40 speakers with the Executive Second Row Package).

Cargo Space

The Cadillac Escalade’s roomy interior will accommodate your cargo and gear, plus the kitchen sink. It offers 25.5 cubic feet of room behind the third row and 72.9 cubic feet behind the second-row chairs. If you need more, folding the second row reveals 121 cubic feet of room.

The 2025 Escalade is still available in an extended wheelbase ESV body style. It measures over 15 inches longer and offers more cargo room: 41.5 cubic feet behind the third row and 94.1 and 142.8 cubic feet behind the second and first rows, respectively.

Every 2025 Cadillac Escalade is standard with a power-folding third row.

Super Cruise

Super Cruise is standard for every 2025 Cadillac Escalade as part of the three-year OnStar Cruise plan.

With an attentive driver and under the proper conditions, Super Cruise can permit the hands-free operation of the Escalade on more than 400,000 miles of compatible roadways in the United States and Canada. According to Cadillac, the network of compatible roads is expected to increase to 750,000 miles in 2025.

2025 Cadillac Escalade interior layout with Super Cruise.
With an attentive driver and under the proper conditions, Super Cruise can permit the hands-free operation of the Escalade on more than 400,000 miles of compatible roadways in the United States and Canada. Photo: Cadillac.

2025 Cadillac Escalade Starting MSRP

Cadillac will begin production of the 2025 Escalade at the GM Arlington Assembly plant in Texas by late 2024. Six trim grades will be available: Luxury, Premium Luxury, Sport, Premium Luxury Platinum, Sport Platinum, and V-Series. Cadillac’s Magnetic Ride Control 4.0 will be standard for every model, except the entry-level Luxury.

The official starting MSRP remains forthcoming, but we estimate the base prices to start at around $86,000 for the Luxury trim and up to $156,000 for the top-of-the-line Escalade V-Series.

Alvin Reyes is an Automoblog feature columnist and an expert in sports and performance cars. He studied civil aviation, aeronautics, and accountancy in his younger years and is still very much smitten to his former Lancer GSR and Galant SS. He also likes fried chicken, music, and herbal medicine.

Photos & Source: Cadillac.