On the concrete arteries of America, one entity reigns supreme — the Cadillac Escalade. From Hamptonites to well-to-do Midwestern hockey parents to Texan oil barons to Hollywood stars, no luxury vehicle of the past 25 years has found such broad appeal in the land of the free and the home of the brave. However, it’s not alone. There’s an entire pack of luxury SUVs circling the Escalade like wolves, clamoring for the crown, so Cadillac isn’t staying still. The 2025 Cadillac Escalade gets more tech than ever before to remind everyone who still runs these streets.
Let’s start off with, there’s no other way to put it, some properly disappointing news that’s sure to put a damper on your afternoon. The diesel Escalade is dead, which is a shame because it was fantastic. Not only was the three-liter turbodiesel inline-six properly torquey, it was also shockingly economical. Along with a solid 528-mile cruising range, it gave Cadillac’s big SUV better fuel economy than a Kia Telluride, returning 20 mpg city, 26 highway, and 22 combined in EPA testing. Let me tell you, it’s not hard to beat that EPA highway fuel economy figure, which meant that the diesel Escalade was really a case of having your cake and eating it too. It will be greatly missed.
However, you know what gets to live? The all-beef Escalade V, complete with its 682-horsepower supercharged 6.2-liter V8. Not only does this enormous family hauler have a serious set of legs, it’s incredibly comfortable and now gets a whole bunch of carbon fiber interior trim to tell every passenger that they’re in a fast one.
Zooming out a bit, all Escalade variants are getting some changes for 2025, starting with the face part of the whole facelift thing. With a beadier lighting signature and massive combined vertical daytime running light and headlight clusters, the front end of the new Escalade looks a whole lot more like the one on the incoming electric Escalade IQ. Speaking of features ported over, how about available 24-inch wheels? Eat your heart out, “MTV Cribs.”
However, it’s on the insider where gargantuan changes have truly occurred. The 2024 Escalade may have featured more screen space than the average dorm, but the 2025 model kicks things up a notch by filling the entire dashboard with screens including a new passenger entertainment center with web browsing and streaming capability. We’re talking about 55 inches of total diagonal screen space in the first row alone, a shocking figure that makes you wonder if anyone’s checked in on Xzibit lately.
Oh, and screens aren’t just confined to the first row, so long as you tick the box for the Executive Second Row package, which turns the second-row captain’s chairs into proper thrones. Not only does this package add twin 12.6-inch screens for second-row occupants, it also adds a separate panel for controlling vehicle functions from the rear seat, stowable tray tables, massaging second-row seats, two wireless smartphone chargers, and it turns available 36-speaker AKG audio system into a 40-speaker surround sound setup thanks to headrest speakers in the second row. BMW X7, who?
Oh, and while we’re on the subject of toys and trinkets, the 2025 Cadillac Escalade gets even more knurled controls, available power exterior doors, optional night vision, fourth-generation magnetorheological dampers on all trims except the base model, standard Super Cruise Level 2 advanced driver assistance, and an available full-color HUD. Nice.
With the luxury SUV arms race at an all-time high, a king doesn’t rest on his laurels. The fact of the matter is that the 2025 Cadillac Escalade isn’t just a formidable name in the posh family hauler space, the Escalade brand might even be stronger than the Cadillac brand itself. With more tech, updated suspension, and an available posh rear seat package, Cadillac seems intent of keeping ahead of the pack. Shame about the death of the diesel, though.
(Photo credits: Cadillac)
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That front end is a terrible monstrosity in the top pic- the straight on view isn’t as bad but still. Same w/ that dash- a million fucking screens, fuck that. No thanks
How tall is it at the hood at the base of the A pillar? I feel like that’s 5’ tall… that grille looks like it exists to mow down 4th graders on bikes.
Not really the least bit surprised the diesel model was dropped and I actually knew it existed. Granted I’m certainly not in the market for such a thing. I just can’t imagine a Cadillac Escalade with a 3.0 straight 6 turbo diesel would have actually found very many buyers over the big 6.2 gas V8s. The kind of people that can (genuinely) afford a 6 figure land yacht class SUV (not those leveraging themselves to the hilt for a status symbol) aren’t really going to care about the improvement in fuel efficiency the diesel will bring to the table. Sure there was a very niche buyer for that spec, but we’re probably talking something like 2-3% of all Escalades sold, maybe?
FWIW, I think the diesel lives on in Silverado and Suburban/Tahoe. (Maybe GMC too?)
The cheapest variant with the diesel is the Silverado. Still gets excellent MPG.
More and more bad news, no diesel, bigger screens, bigger tyres, cost more than 400 guinea pigs.
Can we get comments from Mad Mike on whether this could pass as a “Pimp My Ride” car from the factory now?