Q-Tip: Cadillac Introduces 2026 Vistiq

Matthew Guy
by Matthew Guy

The onslaught of all-electric vehicles into the Cadillac lineup continues unabated with the introduction of this, the three-row Vistiq.


Said to slot between the Lyriq and Escalade IQ, the Vistiq can be thought of as taking the XT6’s lot in life compared to that model’s stature against other gasoline-powered cars in the Cadillac showroom. Details such as power and battery size weren’t disclosed today but a quick glance at this car shown today reveals a ‘600’ badge on its rear hatch, a detail which provides plenty of clues.


In case you need a reminder, someone deep within the bowels of Cadillac thought it was a great idea to place badges on the rumps of all its vehicles indicating total torque output in newton-meters, rounded to the nearest 50th because why not. In this case, ‘600’ works out to roughly 450 lb-ft of twist, a sum (and badge) also appearing on the smaller two-row Lyriq crossover. With this in mind, there’s an excellent chance at least some trims of the Vistiq will have roughly 500 horsepower and 450 lb-ft torques. 


In that Lyriq, a 102.0-kWh battery pack provides just over three hundred miles of driving range on a fully charged battery as per the federal eggheads measuring this type of stuff. As such, this larger and heavier three-row Vistiq could slide in just under the 300-mile limbo bar, a performance which would put it in line with the three-row Kia EV9. The fact we’re talking about Cadillac and Kia in the same breath is a development not lost on us.

Styling of the Vistiq takes much from its Escalade IQ larger brother, with a shield of sorts living on the front fascia where a grille would usually reside on a gasoline-powered car. Scads of LEDs line its face and will likely animate themselves in some sort of Vegas approximation when the owner approaches with key in pocket. Around back, the weirdo taillamp arrangement has been lifted almost wholesale from the Escalade IQ, creating a vertical look that’s separated about halfway up the D-pillar and massively flared at its bottom. This reminds us of the old Mirai, and not in a good way.


Promoted as a 2026 model, there’s a solid chance we’ll see this thing in the metal at an auto show sometime in the next calendar year - along with more items featuring the letter Q.


[Images: Cadillac, Toyota]


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Matthew Guy
Matthew Guy

Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.

More by Matthew Guy

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  • Mike Beranek While the product may appear to be "better", only time will tell. The American automotive environment can chew a car up and spit it out. Will these Chinese EVs survive like a quarter-century old Cavalier, or will they turn out like VinFast's "cars"?
  • Mike Beranek This police vehicle will be perfect for when the State of Florida starts tracking every pregnancy.
  • Dave M. The Highlander hybrid, a larger, heavier vehicle, gets better mpgs. Why? Also, missed opportunity - if Toyota had made this a hatchback, they could have scooped up the "want a Tesla S but not ready for a full EV" crowd, however small or large they may be....
  • TheMrFreeze Difficult call...the more the mainstream automakers discontinue their more affordable models and only sell crazy overpriced EVs and trucks, the more appealing the idea of letting in cheap imported cars becomes with the buying public. If the government is going to impose tariffs on Chinese vehicles, at the same time they need to be getting with the Big 3 and telling them to fill the void with affordable models and not use the tariff as an excuse to simply raise prices. Otherwise, public pressure could see the tariffs withdrawn.I seem to recall the last administration put a 25% tariff on Chinese steel, at which point the US manufacturers immediately used the opportunity to raise their prices 25%...that needs to not happen.
  • Daniel J The real problem I see is it's about 8K too much. I'd prefer a lower trim but they don't offer enough HP for my tastes.
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