Compare the2025 Cadillac Escalade IQVS 2024 Mercedes EQS SUV

Both the Escalade IQ and EQS SUV have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Escalade IQ has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The EQS SUV’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

The Cadillac Escalade IQ has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The EQS SUV doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.

The Escalade IQ has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The EQS SUV doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, Full-Time Four-Wheel Drive is standard on the Escalade IQ. But it costs extra on the EQS SUV.

A passive infrared night vision system optional on the Escalade IQ helps the driver to more easily detect people, animals or other objects in front of the vehicle at night. Using an infrared camera to detect heat, the system then displays the image on a monitor in the dashboard. The EQS SUV doesn’t offer a night vision system.

Both the Escalade IQ and the EQS SUV have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, around view monitors, rear cross-path warning and driver alert monitors.

Cadillac’s powertrain warranty covers the Escalade IQ 2 years and 20,000 miles longer than Mercedes covers the EQS SUV. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 6 years or 70,000 miles. Coverage on the EQS SUV ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

The Escalade IQ’s corrosion warranty is 1 year longer than the EQS SUV’s (6 vs. 5 years).

There are over 47 percent more Cadillac dealers than there are Mercedes dealers, which makes it easier should you ever need service under the Escalade IQ’s warranty.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Cadillac vehicles are more reliable than Mercedes With 22 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks Cadillac higher than Mercedes.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Cadillac vehicles are more reliable than Mercedes vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Cadillac 13 places higher in reliability than Mercedes.

The Escalade IQ’s electric motors produces 395 more horsepower (750 vs. 355) and 366 lbs.-ft. more torque (785 vs. 419) than the EQS SUV 450+’s standard electric motor. The Escalade IQ’s electric motors produces 395 more horsepower (750 vs. 355) and 195 lbs.-ft. more torque (785 vs. 590) than the EQS SUV 450 4MATIC’s standard electric motors. The Escalade IQ’s electric motors produces 214 more horsepower (750 vs. 536) and 152 lbs.-ft. more torque (785 vs. 633) than the EQS SUV 580 4MATIC’s standard electric motors. The Escalade IQ’s electric motors produces 101 more horsepower (750 vs. 649) and 85 lbs.-ft. more torque (785 vs. 700) than the Maybach EQS 680’s standard electric motors.

The Escalade IQ can travel longer on a full charge than the EQS SUV on a full charge:

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Escalade IQ has standard 24-inch wheels. Only 21-inch wheels are available on the EQS SUV.

The Cadillac Escalade IQ’s wheels have 6 lugs for longer wheel bearing life, less chance of rotor warping and greater strength. The Mercedes EQS SUV only has 5 wheel lugs per wheel.

The Escalade IQ has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The EQS SUV doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Escalade IQ’s wheelbase is 9.8 inches longer than on the EQS SUV (136.2 inches vs. 126.4 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Escalade IQ is 3.1 inches wider in the front and 2.6 inches wider in the rear than on the EQS SUV.

The Escalade IQ uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The EQS SUV doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

The Escalade IQ has 2.8 inches more front headroom, 4.6 inches more front legroom, 3.7 inches more front shoulder room and 4 inches more rear shoulder room than the EQS SUV.

The Escalade IQ’s cargo area provides more volume than the EQS SUV.

The Escalade IQ’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the EQS SUV’s (8000 vs. 3500 pounds).

A Trailer Sway Control is standard on the Escalade IQ, using the StabiliTrak® sensors to detect trailer sway, then uses individual brakes to counteract any swaying and help keep the tow vehicle and trailer steady. A trailer sway program costs extra on the EQS SUV.

J.D. Power and Associates surveys of service recipients show that Cadillac service is better than Mercedes. J.D. Power ranks Cadillac fifth in service department satisfaction. With a 25% lower rating, Mercedes is ranked 17th.

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the Escalade IQ has a standard rear fixed intermittent wiper with a full on position. The rear wiper standard on the EQS SUV only has an intermittent setting, so in a hard rain visibility isn’t as good.

The Escalade IQ has standard front air conditioned seats and offers them optionally in the second row. This keeps the passengers comfortable and takes the sting out of hot seats in summer. The EQS SUV doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats for the second row.

The Escalade IQ has a standard heated steering wheel to take the chill out of steering on extremely cold winter days before the vehicle heater warms up. A heated steering wheel costs extra on the EQS SUV.

Both the Escalade IQ and the EQS SUV offer optional massaging front seats. The Escalade IQ also offers optional massaging second row seats in order to maximize comfort and eliminate fatigue on long trips. Massaging second row seats aren’t available in the EQS SUV.

The Cadillac Escalade IQ stands out above the Mercedes EQS SUV by offering not one, but two Qi-compatible phone chargers in the front seat. This convenience helps travelers with multiple devices to keep powered up on-the-go. Wireless charging eliminates lost or cluttered charging cables and and two of them provide more flexibililty. The Escalade IQ has twoQi chargers in the second row seat compared to only one in the EQS SUV.

The Cadillac Escalade outsold the Mercedes EQS SUV by almost five to one during 2023.