# Cadillac's cheap EV punches above its price

> The Optiq starts under $50,000 and feels like a proper luxury car, but hard plastic and missing Apple CarPlay remind you what you're not paying for.
- Title: Cadillac's cheap EV punches above its price · Business Insider
- Summary: The Optiq starts under $50,000 and feels like a proper luxury car, but hard plastic and missing Apple CarPlay remind you what you're not paying for…
- Keywords: cadillac optiq, electric vehicles, luxury cars, ev pricing, car review, business, technology, Cadillac's, cheap, punches, above, price
- Source: Business Insider — https://businessinsider.com/cadillac-optiq-review-pricing-ev-2026-9
- Author: Ben Shimkus
- Published: 2026-09-19T09:01:01.292+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: cadillac optiq, electric vehicles, luxury cars, ev pricing, car review, gm, business, technology
## Cadillac's cheapest EV arrives
The Optiq is Cadillac's entry-level electric crossover, starting just under fifty thousand dollars. That's less than the average American car price, making it the cheapest way into a GM luxury EV.
## The test drive setup
A two thousand twenty-six Cadillac Optiq Premium Sport with rear-wheel drive stickered at fifty-eight thousand nine hundred seventy-six dollars with options including twenty-one-inch wheels, two-tone exterior paint, and Autumn Canyon leather interior.
## Luxury feel at entry-level price
The Optiq nails first impressions with stacked LEDs, a curved thirty-three-inch dashboard display, and caramel-colored seats that look expensive. The steering is accurate, suspension smooth, and road noise virtually nonexistent.
## Performance and charging reality
The rear-wheel-drive Optiq accelerates leisurely but merges comfortably onto highways. At a Level three charger, it added forty-one point four seven kilowatt-hours in twenty minutes, taking the battery from thirty-two percent to seventy-two percent.
## Cost-cutting shows through
Hard plastic abounds inside. The floating center console has a black appliqué that looks like wood but isn't. Silver rings around cupholders appear to be hammered metal but are plastic. More critically, there's no Apple CarPlay on the infotainment screen.

> losing CarPlay is a dealbreaker
## The Optiq's place in Cadillac's lineup
Cadillac now sells six electric vehicles: the Optiq, the slightly larger Lyriq, the three-row Vistiq, the Escalade IQ, the Escalade IQL, and the built-to-order Celestiq. The Optiq is the entry point, though only the Lyriq offers Apple CarPlay.
## Key takeaway

Cadillac's entry-level Optiq EV starts just under fifty thousand dollars and delivers luxury feel and solid performance, though cost-cutting materials and lack of Apple CarPlay limit its appeal.