When you’re playing catch-up and trying to make a statement, it’s not good enough to be good enough. You have to nail every facet of execution and be excellent. General Motors recently dethroned Tesla as the best selling EV vehicle maker in Canada, and cars like the 2025 Cadillac Optiq are the reason why.
GM may be one of the largest corporate entities in the world, but even their enormous power, influence, and mountain of resources — both in engineering talent and abyssal pockets — needed more than a decade to even begin mounting an offensive in the EV space against the now-infamous and grossly overvalued juggernaut that is Tesla.
Growing pains
For a company as large as GM, spawning and scaling an EV operation to realistically serve the needs of a company needs to be very carefully considered and planned well in advance. Even with deep pockets, it’s an unfathomable expense that absolutely needs to pay off, both from the product and business end. Electric vehicles were, and for the large part still are loss leaders for most companies, and this is still technically true for GM, too. It took a while for them to get the ball rolling reliably, but as of January this year, GM turning a profit on individual vehicles, though they’re still recouping R&D and retooling costs. Still, GM is making it work; they expect to have it paid-off this year.
You may also be surprised to read the electric vehicles are a losing game from the money side, given how much more money they cost than their gas counterparts. But that delta is rapidly shrinking, and it’s all the more impressive that the lumbering giant of GM is leading the charge to profitability with a line of aggressively priced EVs. Their unique Ultium battery technology allows for competitive capacities without the use of nearly as much costly Rare Earth minerals.
For example, this all-new 2025 Cadillac Optiq is loaded with all the frills you’d expect and then some. At $59,999 to start, it has the best driver assistance tech in the industry, class-leading cabin space, handsome styling, a 19-speaker AKG sound system, a lovely 33-inch screen, and an interior design that’s simultaneously intuitive and intriguing. It also has a big 85 kWh battery pack giving it 486 kilometres of range, two electric motors giving it 300 horsepower and 354 pound-feet of torque, and and all-wheel-drive. Our tester’s 21-inch wheels, black roof, metallic paint, blue leather interior with massaging seats, and the faster 19.2 kW onboard charger adds a bit to the bottom line, but not as much as you’d think, ringing in at $67,884 as-tested.
2025 Cadillac Optiq: first impressions
I have mixed relationships with screens in cars, but I like this one a lot. It’s large but doesn’t feel grotesque, and Cadillac did a fabulous job using your line of sight through the steering wheel to organically divide it into distinct sections. It’s also incredibly sharp and vibrant, has excellent contrast levels and slick animations, and it’s snappy. GM does a somewhat similar core layout and interface in all their new vehicles, but I like Cadillac’s execution the best, and by a distant margin.
The only function that feels too buried for its own good its the surround-view camera shortcut. GM can be bad about this; some Chevys have their headlights hidden in a menu, and I couldn’t figure out something as essential as shifting gears in the Yukon AT4 right away. Otherwise, the Optiq’s interface is free of big flaws, and is very easy to understand and live with. Some may take issue with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity outright missing here, but whatever, I think they’re played-out. I prefer the more cohesive experience that proper, built-in software offers, and this Google-powered Android Automotive system works brilliantly.
Interior comfort and ergonomics
Many manufacturers are moving in this direction, anyway. It makes for a better user experience, instead of trying to force your phone to play nice with increasingly complex built-in systems. They and you and I also all know damn well you’re going to play with your phone anyway, despite ever-increasing illegality. To that end, the Optiq has the most clever placement of a phone holder/wireless charger I’ve ever seen. It’s sneakily tucked between the centre console and the armrest, simultaneously out of the way and right there. Masterful ergonomics, guys.
The rest of the interior is about as thoughtfully laid-out, with tons of storage space, simple controls, and no silly EV gimmicks like hidden electric door handles. Cadillac has been thoughtful about materials, too. The textiles on the doors and dash are all recycled, no animals had to die for the Inteluxe leather, and the “newspaper veneer” on the center console is made from tulip wood and newspaper. Yes, really. You can see between the veins of the veneer if you look close.
Everything in the 2025 Optiq looks and feels of quality more than enough to flatter it’s relatively modest price tag. The bigger-brother Lyriq we tested earlier this year was outfitted with a lot of the same kit, and we liked it just fine at nearly $90,000 as-tested. Granted the Optiq is smaller, but it doesn’t feel small, just right-sized, and still plenty commodious. No one is going to complain from any seat.
How does the Optiq drive?
Naturally, the Optiq rides quite comfortably. Even the massive wheels and tiny tires on our tester failed to upset this chassis. It’s also exceptionally well-isolated from wind and road noise, even among the already-quiet class of EVs — which allows the AKG audio to shine. Despite being so serene, the 2025 Optiq is about the farthest thing from being sloppy, with excellent body control, direct steering, and athletic chassis reflexes.
Some EVs really start to come apart under their own heft and horsepower, but the Optiq is not among them. It deftly does double-duty as a sports sedan and a cozy transportation pod all at once. Similarly, there are EVs out there with neck-snapping acceleration off the line and unwieldy torque, but the Caddy always feels composed, and to be clear, never slow. It’s plenty quick for effortless merging and passing. You know, like a luxury car.
Final thoughts
That is perhaps the most impressive thing about the 2025 Cadillac Optiq: it feels like a properly luxurious, well-thought-out vehicle; it’s simply a very nice thing all around. It’s also allegedly a compact crossover despite being so spacious, and shares its bones with the Chevy Equinox EV — itself a pretty good vehicle, but not a nice thing like this little Caddy. It isn’t even that much more of a spend over said Chev, having has so much more to offer and a far clearer sense of identity. The Optiq has the right-size footprint, right range, right feature set, right styling, and … it’s just right. Small wonder GM is beginning to conquer the EV game if this is what’s driving the charge.
