The Big Kahuna

Cadillac Escalade IQ HIGHS: Undeniable visual presence, genuine interior finery, 380-mile real-world highway range. LOWS: Outsize mass, surprisingly cramped third row, long stopping distance.

- Jonathon Ramsey

Cadillac hunted all corners of cyberspace to find this 55.0-inch rack of screen to hang on the IQ's mantel.

WHY DOES A MOOSE SEEM so unaccountably large? Even if you've seen a moose on video, a real-life encounter is likely to begin with “Wow, that thing's huge.” Sure, a moose is big, but so are elephants and bison, and they look as imposing as one would expect. The key to the moose's astonishing presence is in the proportions. Something about the way moose are built makes every sighting a revelation.

So it is with the Cadillac Escalade IQ. With the air springs in their normal position, the big electric rig is only about a half-inch taller and 1.2 inches wider than a Chevrolet Silverado 1500 with the crew cab and short bed, and it's 7.6 inches shorter in length. Meaning, many lifted full-size pickups and all heavy-duty models are taller and longer than this electric juggernaut. But it's the Cadillac you'll remember. Something about the ratios of the Escalade IQ creates unexpected visual magnitude.

Without something in the frame for scale, the IQ's proportions seem mostly normal. Here's some perspective: Those wheels are two feet across.