The Cadillac Escalade IQ is monumental, in that it’s practically both the size and the weight of a monument. We’re talking a machine 224.3 inches long in its standard-wheelbase configuration, weighing a minimum of 9,000 pounds, and carrying nearly 2.5 times the batteries of a Hyundai Ioniq 5. It’s a rolling love letter to conspicuous consumption, yet its standard color selection isn’t particularly conspicuous. Beyond a lovely orange and a deep shade of red, every other regular option is some sort of white, silver, grey, or black. That’s about to change, provided your pockets are deep enough.
That’s because GM’s poshest electric SUV is getting a Curated by Cadillac package, which adds a touch of Celestiq ceremony to an Escalade IQ. Much like the Curated by Cadillac package for the CT5-V Blackwing, the treatment for the Escalade IQ includes an enormous selection of paint colors, leathers, and trims, some of which are sure to suit your personal taste. Cadillac claims 160 different exterior finishes and 44 different interior colors are on offer, ranging from subtle to absolutely wild.
Granted, that doesn’t mean 160 distinct colors are on offer. That number seems to include high-gloss, satin, and matte finishes across select hues, although some of the selection is gloriously outrageous. Check out the color wall below. Yellows and oranges and a bright green loud enough to serve as a beacon. Fantastic. Also, browns. So many gorgeous browns.
Plus, it’s likely that 44 interior colors are underselling things a bit, judging by just how much varies in the photos Cadillac has released of demo units. Want contrasting inserts or whole bolsters? How about piping? Stitching? The console? The sheer number of permutations on hand is exceptional, as it should be, considering what the Curated by Cadillac program costs.
For context, Porsche currently charges $13,620 for extended-palette paint and $5,260 for deviated seat inserts and stitching on a Cayenne, and while that’s not as extensive as Cadillac’s program, it’s also not as expensive. However, process variations seem to be where pretty much all the expense lies. With Porsche’s PTS program and BMW’s Individual program, cars get painted in special runs and then put on the general assembly line for completion. With the Curated by Cadillac program, every special-order Escalade IQ gets pulled off the Hamtramck assembly line and finished by hand in the same Warren, Michigan facility where the mid-six-figure Celestiq electric sedans are built. It sounds labor-intensive, and Cadillac is charging $54,995 for the privilege.
That’s a huge amount of money for paint, leather, and trims. It’s more than an entire base-model Optiq crossover. More than wrapping a frankly enormous Escalade IQ once every five years for two decades. It’s expensive in the context of Porsche options, a rather bold move for Cadillac. Still, someone out there has to be brave and paid enough to spec their Escalade IQ in an outrageous hue, and I’ll salute them once it’s delivered. The world needs more bright and colorful things to deliver us from millennial grey.
Top graphic image: Cadillac
GM betting big on people having more money than sense.
Which, honestly, doesn’t feel like a bad bet these days. And at this price, they probably don’t need too many people to tick this box for it to be financially viable.
Although this does make me wonder what it would cost to just have a regular IQ repainted and reupholstered.
Hooray for color, but why just for rich people. For $54k you could have Xzibit wrap your car and have Katzkin custom color seat covers. Pimp Our Own Ride. P.O.O.R.
I’ll just take mine to Earl Scheib as a big middle finger to Cadillac.
Wider choice of colors = good.
Having to share the road with a four-and-a-half ton electric projectile = not so good.
That’s more than the price of two Toyota Corollas, and paying someone else to wrap them in whatever shade of yellow that your heart desires.
It’s also more then the weight of two Corollas.
For that price – shouldn’t you be able to paint it whatever color you want? Limits to the interior options I can see, but paint? It’s a neat offering, but, I think they’re going to run into a lot of people who expect more specialization for that kind of money.
Rolls Royce doesn’t limit you to just yellow.
I’ll paint it yellow for $200 and it will look a lot more…let’s say *uniq* than anything out of the factory.
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BanksyCheapsy original.I’d wrap it for a tenth of their asking price and you could have ANY color or patterns too. You could even refresh it every 3-5 years.
$200 is *uniq*, Is that just for the Rustoleum, or also the prep and masking consumables? I”m cheap too, so I have to ask if that was the total price.
I have a neighbor with an IQ. It looks huge, even when it’s parked next to their other daily, an F-250 SD.
People paying this much for an appearance upgrade certainly deserve to be separated from the cash, it’s just a shame they couldn’t pick a better place to blow it.
That lack of ability to pick a better place to blow it is the necessary ingredient to why they deserve to be separated from the cash. They go hand in hand.
Reminds me a lot of the old Chevrolet color Ochre. It’s awesome.
Just think about the one of one depreciation specials we can pick up in a year or two. The Boomer Boards beckon!
It seems crazy to offer this on the slow-selling, $20,000+ discounted IQ and not the regular Slade, but maybe it’s coming with the new generation?