“Who the hell said Cadillac needed an Optiq-V?” said a friend of mine who stays abreast of the electric car scene.
I don’t know who said that either, but General Motors wanted to make it, so here we are. The Cadillac Optiq is Cadillac’s cheapest electric model, starting at a reasonably thrifty—for an electric luxury crossover, anyway—$50,000. Underneath, it’s essentially a really nice Chevrolet Equinox EV: made in the same factory, using the same 85-kilowatt-hour battery, and the same front-biased all-wheel-drive system. I wasn’t sure how those guts would be worthy of the legendary Cadillac “V” moniker. It’s like making an SS version of the Chevy Bolt EUV.
Actually, scratch that. That sounds cool. I would drive that.
Photo by: Kevin Williams/InsideEVs
Anyway, Cadillac went and pulled a fast one on all of us after the Optiq was on sale for just one model year. GM’s engineers also decided the Equinox EV’s hardware wasn’t up for go-fast duty, so they swapped in electric motors from the 615-horsepower Cadillac Lyriq-V. Those changes are a needed glow-up for the standard 2026 Cadillac Optiq, but on the Optiq-V, they’re good for 515 horsepower and a claimed zero to 60 mph time of 3.5 seconds.
Well, that’s a bit more convincing, isn’t it? I’m always game for another sporty EV in a world of dull driving cars. So I drove to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to find out if the 2026 Cadillac Optiq-V is more than meets the eye.
(Full Disclosure: I drove myself from Columbus, Ohio to Ann Arbor to drive the Optiq-V. Cadillac gave me one night in a hotel and a catered lunch.)
Photo by: Kevin Williams/InsideEVs
2026 Cadillac Optiq-V: Specs And Overview
The Optiq may look like last year’s model, but there’s a lot under the skin done to give it a bona fide sporting drive.
Essentially, Cadillac wanted an Optiq-V from the jump, so it pulled a page from the classic hot rod playbook: put the bigger engine into a smaller body. Or in this case, much more potent electric motors. It was a pretty radical transformation that Cadillac is proud of, as it used AI and other internal GM and Cadillac digital modeling tools to fast-track a pretty major engineering change. This also means the whole Cadillac EV model line is now RWD or RWD-biased AWD.
Photo by: Kevin Williams/InsideEVs
That may help Cadillac keep up the immense sales success it’s had with its EV lineup in a world where tax credits (and possibly super-cheap lease deals) are going away. If EVs are going to succeed on their own merits, they have to be super compelling on their own merits, too. A small crossover with a 3.5-second 60 mph run is a good start. And while down on a power from the Lyriq-V, the Optiq-V’s smaller size may just lend itself to more agile cornering. That’s probably why Cadillac calls the Lyriq-V “elevated exhilaration”, but refers to the Optiq-V as “the driver’s car.”
For the performance you get, the electric range isn’t bad, either. The Optiq-V is rated at 275 miles of Cadillac-estimated range, not too far off the 280 miles and 300 miles, respectively, for the less powerful standard AWD and RWD Optiq models. Charging times remain unchanged: a fairly mid-tier max speed of 150 kilowatts, though that’s still good for a GM-claimed 70 miles in 10 minutes.
2026 Cadillac Optiq-V NACS
Photo by: Cadillac
Oh, and there’s another big change here: the addition of a Tesla-style North American Charging Standard (NACS) plug, a first for GM. The first of many, in fact. So not only does it offer standard Supercharger access, but you also won’t be messing with a bulky CCS plug anymore.
Tech-wise, it’s a mixed bag. You get GM’s proprietary software suite, which is getting better and better these days, but Apple CarPlay and Android Auto aren’t on the menu. Meanwhile, you do get Super Cruise, arguably the best hands-off highway automated driving system around.
Photo by: Kevin Williams/InsideEVs
Stylistically, the Optiq-V does set itself apart from the standard Optiq. Like the Lyriq V, the Optiq-V loses most of its chrome brightwork, and comes in racier colors like a really deep blue called Deep Ocean Tintcoat or a fiery orange named Monarch Orange. The lower rocker panels are black on the regular Optiq, no doubt to assure drivers that it’s a crossover ready for off-road driving. On the V version, that’s now body color, letting the Optiq look more like a sporty overgrown hatchback. I like it.
Photo by: Kevin Williams/InsideEVs
Inside, the Optiq-V’s interior is mostly the same, save for some dark sporty accents and the replacement of any Cadillac logo with a V-series logo. I’m not entirely convinced of the Optiq’s material quality, but it is pleasing to gaze upon. The door cards with the faux tweed uppers and seat adjustment on the door feel sufficiently swanky, but the mostly hard and hollow plastics on the dashboard are a bit of a turn off for me.
2026 Cadillac Optiq-V: Driving Impressions
Our journey with the Optiq-V took me around the scenic and city roads from the University of Michigan’s campus in Ann Arbor to the M1 Concourse racetrack in Pontiac and back. I even got an autocross section that let me stretch the Optiq-V’s running legs.
For starters, the Lyriq-V’s motors really make the Optiq no slouch, for once. I’ve joked before that GM’s EV products feel a bit slow in an era where not-so-old supercar power can be had by even the most mundane of family crossovers. The Equinox, Blazer and original Optiq EVs are all guilty of this; none will tear your face off with speed, like a Tesla on full blast.
Photo by: Cadillac
Well, the Optiq-V isn’t slow at all. The entire 519 hp can be used when in V-mode, and you can feel the rush onto those highway speeds.
The Optiq-V is kind of an interesting duck here. On public roads in its Tour Mode meant for comfort, the Optiq kind of… isn’t comfortable. The suspension feels too firm and uncontrolled, as if confused with a lack of body control for softness or smoothness. The steering feels a little too dead for sporty driving, too. Both my drive partner and I weren’t all that keen on how the Optiq-V rode.
Photo by: Cadillac
Until I put it in Sport Mode, anyway. With the steering, suspension, braking throttle control in sport, the Optiq-V’s ride, handling, and dynamics made more sense. The buckboard bounce ride tightened up into a fairly stiff, still, but supple driving corner. Take the Optiq-V on a curvy backroad, and it stays flat with little to no bounce. The steering is still a little less communicative than I’d like, but I still felt like it was a reasonably entertaining drive.
I found the Optiq-V’s weak points showed up on its provided autocross course. Yes, the Optiq is fast and is reasonably entertaining, but push it too hard and you’ll realize that you’re dealing with a 5,192-pound crossover. Push too hard, and the front end washes out, while the steering and structure just don’t feel as communicative as other models. I fear a Tesla Model Y would feel more at home in this environment.
I mean, I still had a ball thrashing the Optiq-V, though. And who the hell’s gonna autocross an electric luxury crossover, anyway? This is a highway and maybe backroad bomber. It’s solid at both.
Photo by: Kevin Williams/InsideEVs
2026 Cadillac Optiq-V: Pricing And Early Verdict
The Optiq-V comes in at $67,300 before destination, which puts it in a field of competitors that are dynamically better and can have better interiors. The Polestar 4, for instance, may not technically be an outright sport-trimmed EV, but it matches the Optiq-V tit for tat in AWD form for a cheaper price. It’s also got a better interior, quieter road manners, and just feels more mature behind the wheel and in the cabin.
The Cadillac will also be up against fearsome competition soon in the form of the BMW iX3 and Mercedes-Benz GLC with EQ Technology, both of which will boast more range, faster charging speeds and next-level tech. The Optiq-V may have both beat on outright speed, however—and it occupies a sweet spot pricing and performance-wise that not too many EVs have occupied yet.
Still, I think the Optiq-V is a valiant effort, even if I’m not always convinced of the final result. Clearly, there was a lot of work that went into it; the suspension, motors and styling updates weren’t easy to pull off in such a short amount of time. And, the final result shows, it’s solid in ways that most consumers would care about—although I hesitate to call it best in class.
Will the Optiq-V stand out in a field of very good competitors? We’re in for a very interesting year in the EV space soon, and we’ll find out as this hits dealer lots.
Contact the author: kevin.williams@insideevs.com
