Meet the Escalade’s not-so-baby brother: it’s the new Cadillac Vistiq

Cadillac has revealed a big car for that subset of consumers who want an Escalade but don’t want all of an Escalade and also want it electric. This is the new Cadillac Vistiq, a three-row SUV that continues Caddy’s war on the letter ‘c’ in its shiny new model line-up.

Unmistakably a new-era Cadillac – for that read handsome, cleanly detailed and also huge - this one definitely mirrors big brother Escalade IQ with its RoboCop-esque face and grille, raked windscreen and upright stance. Cadillac cites ‘Brutalist architecture’ when talking about its design and, yeah, it doesn’t look happy about something alright.

Underneath there’s a twin-motor electric setup as standard – one motor on the front axle, one on the rear – powered by a giant 102kWh battery. In this launch spec that means 615bhp, 650lb ft of “near instant” torque, up to 300 miles of range and – with something called ‘Velocity Max’ engaged – 0-60mph in 3.7s. Velocity indeed.

Adaptive air suspension is also standard-fit, Cadillac saying this offers a “comfortable ride while handling like a much smaller vehicle”. There’s active rear steer, 21s as standard, and ‘road noise cancellation’. Taking a leap here and guessing that means… less road noise in the cabin?

Speaking of, it offers “three rows of stately architecture”, and TopGear.com is all in on stately architecture. It looks predictably lux inside, with lots of leather/carbon fibre/wood/fabric (depending on trim), lots of screen real estate, padded armrests, lots of storage, some cupholders, USB chargers and a fully reconfigurable interior.

An interior that’ll be subjected to 23 speakers’ worth of AKG stereo, offering Dolby Atmos and 3D sound. Lots of driver and safety assistance. Bi-directional charging. That sort of thing.

There’ll be three trims available from launch – Luxury, Sport and Premium Luxury (no mention of a Premium Sport, Cadillac?). A Platinum trim – with even more performance and options and luxury – will be available from summer 2025.

In the here and now? Prices, ahem, kiqk off from £78,790.