Car Review: 2026 Cadillac Vistiq Sport

Spending a week with a new car unveils attributes and issues that online research, a conversation with a salesperson, or a test drive may not easily uncover. It’s hardly the same as living with a vehicle for a few years, especially after the bumper-to-bumper warranty has expired. But from time to time, I’m surprised at how different the reality of a new offering is from what my perception may have been.

The 2026 Cadillac Vistiq, the luxury brand’s fully electric seven-passenger SUV, seems to be a sensible fit in the company’s portfolio. It certainly appears big enough, with its 122-inch wheelbase and 205.6-inch overall length. While I didn’t rush up to Pismo Beach to test its sand crawling prowess, I’m betting its 21-inch all-season tires wouldn’t leave me stranded. And it’s hardly petite at a curb weight of 6,326 pounds, but that’s nearly 3,000 pounds lighter than Cadillac’s Escalade IQ, an EV built on the Hummer-size battery. 

Cadillac has determined that “IQ” will be the suffix of their electric vehicle offerings, so I spent little time wondering about the origin of Celestiq, Lyriq, Optiq, or Vistiq. Cadillac’s executive designer Bryan Nesbitt has refined the brand’s appearance and Zhou Fang expressed bold character in the sheet metal. Our Vistiq was finished in Radiant Red Tintcoat, a color that reminds some of us of the Candy Apple metallic paint applied to hot rods and custom show cars. The top and bright surfaces were finished in gloss black with the entire appearance package a reasonable $1,225 option.

This very expressive Cadillac is a rolling mainframe computer, anxious to welcome a proper key fob carrying operator with LED illumination and flush door handles that unfold. I discovered that door operation is electronic, with no apparent mechanical connections. Good thing there’s a very big battery underneath so one might not be stuck outside or inside this Caddy. I walked around to the back of the big fella and waved my foot beneath the bumper to see if the tailgate would respond. No dice. But later in the week, the same tailgate would arise when I was simply walking past it. I assume it was trying to make up for its earlier disappointment. And while I’m nitpicking, there’s one more default, in my judgment. GM has ditched Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in their new electric vehicle offerings. The reason is “to create a unified, integrated, and subscription-based infotainment system.” 

On the very positive side, this is a lovely driving vehicle. Its length and mass are nicely offset with suspension engineering and a few degrees of rear-wheel steering for surprising maneuverability in close spaces. The superb 23-speaker AKG audio system fills the nicely modern interior and you’ll enjoy journeys up to 305-miles between charging. Even bidirectional capability is built-in to power your home during a blackout. Of course, that capability needs $6,000 or more of connection hardware on the receiving end. Despite my quibbling, the new Vistiq is a worthy contender in the large, luxury-electric SUV category.

Type Dual-motor, all-wheel drive
Horsepower 615 equiv
Torque 650 lb.ft. equiv  
Battery 102 kWh
Range 305 miles
MPGe 93 city, 78 highway, 37 kW-hrs per 100 miles
Base Price $77,895
As Tested $81,915