2025 Cadillac Optiq electric SUV launched in China

US car maker Cadillac has launched its new all-electric Optiq large SUV for the Chinese market.

The 2025 Cadillac Optiq was rolled out at the 2024 Beijing motor show, with two variants on offer, but for China and the US only, with examples already arriving into local dealerships.

The Optiq is a new nameplate for the Cadillac brand, joining a growing number of electric models in its portfolio, all sporting the ‘iq’ nomenclature.

The Optiq comes in either Standard or Long Range form, with the former equivalent to the marque’s Luxury equipment level, while the Long Range is more akin to the range-topping Sport trim.

Standard features in China include autonomous emergency braking, electric front leather seats, smartphone virtual key support, dual-zone climate control, a panoramic glass roof, USB-C ports front and back, wireless Apple CarPlay, and interior ambient lighting.

Its showpiece, however, is an ultra-wide 33-inch curved screen fitted as standard which includes both the instrumentation display and infotainment system.

The lower grade offers a single motor mounted on the front axle developing 180kW and 330Nm, powered by a 68.4kWh battery pack providing a driving range of 536km according to China's more lenient test protocols (CLTC).

Meanwhile the higher-spec option utilises two motors, one on each axle to provide all-wheel drive, to generate a combined 211kW of power and 465Nm of torque. The Long Range is powered by a 79.7kWh battery with a claimed driving range of 600km (also CLTC).

The Optiq measures up at 4822mm long, 1912mm wide and 1642mm tall, with a 2954mm wheelbase.

Specifically manufactured in Shanghai for the home market, the 2025 Cadillac Optiq is now on sale in the brand’s IQ stores locally starting at 239,700 yuan ($AU50,750) for the Standard Range and 269,700 yuan ($AU57,100) for the Long Range.

The Optiq has also been confirmed for North America, but as yet it remains unclear where examples bound for that market will be built – though reports from the US suggest it will be in Mexico.

Parent company SAIC General Motors – a joint venture with MG's owner – is pushing the Optiq hard in the Chinese market, according to website GM Authority, offering benefits such as a lifetime warranty on the car’s electrical system along with other incentives.

At present there's no confirmation of the Optiq for our market, but as reported by Drive in July 2023, the name has been trademarked in Australia.

It is smaller than its five-metre-long Lyriq electric SUV sibling – which is set to re-launch the Cadillac brand in Australia later this year (albeit in electric form only), after an absence of more than five decades.