This luxurious, sedate, small electric SUV is as quiet as it gets and has an epic interior. Cadillac is now charging extra, though, for what used to be standard.

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The 2025 Cadillac Optiq is the US brand’s shot at capturing buyers of small, high-end EVs in North America and several other markets. It’s the latest in a lineup of five electric models from a brand recasting itself as all (or mostly) electric, tech-forward, and truly global—unlike its US luxury-barge image of past decades.

I spent eight days in an Optiq in early May, and drove 840 miles throughout upstate New York and environs, and also New York City. It’s a quiet and comfortable small-SUV EV cruiser, and has real promise. I came away mostly impressed, with a few reservations around its software that I hadn’t seen in other GM vehicles with the Ultium battery and ...