Cadillac Optiq's Supercharger Experience: More of a Slow Burn Than a Quick Charge, Baby!

TL;DR: The 2026 Cadillac Optiq, rocking a native NACS port and Supercharger access, just got put to the test, and the results? A bit of a slow burn. While it's great to have more charging options, the Optiq's charging curve meant a 25-minute pit stop only got it to 65%, leaving plenty of room for improvement on those promised fast-charging times.

Meta: A test of the 2026 Cadillac Optiq at a Tesla Supercharger showed disappointing charging speeds, with the vehicle reaching only 65% charge in 25 minutes due to its charging curve.

Alright, alright, settle in, 'cause we just took the new 2026 Cadillac Optiq, with its fancy Tesla-style NACS plug and native Supercharger access, out for a spin and a charge! You'd think with all that seamless access to Tesla's network, it'd be like greased lightning, right? Well, honey, it was more like a slow burn. While it's always great to have more places to plug in, my experience at a Tesla Supercharger with the Optiq left me feelin' a little... underwhelmed. It was like going to a fancy restaurant and ordering a hamburger, and it comes out cold. Not terrible, but not what you expected!

Now, the Optiq's got a decent 85-kilowatt-hour battery, bigger than a Model Y's, and it's part of GM's Ultium family. But the max charging speed is 150 kW, which, in today's world, is kinda mid-pack. GM says it'll add 81 miles in 10 minutes, but my real-world test, starting at 14% charge, showed it was gonna take a predicted 35 minutes just to hit 80%. And that's if it held the speed. It jumped to 147 kW at first, but then, like a comedian losing his audience, the power dropped off, quickly. By 60% charge, it was down to 85 kW, almost half! After 25 minutes, I pulled the plug at 65%, with about 194 miles of range. My wife was gettin' annoyed, and frankly, so was I.

The Tale of the Charging Curve

So what gives, you ask? It's all about that 'charging curve,' baby. Most EVs charge fast when the battery's low, then slow down as it fills up, like filling a glass of water – you pour fast at first, then slow down to avoid spillin'. But the Optiq's curve? It drops faster than my ex's interest in a second date. Compared to a NACS-equipped Hyundai IONIQ 5, which holds a consistent 126 kW, or a Subaru Solterra that stays strong past 65%, the Optiq tapers off much quicker. That means you spend more time on the plug for less juice, which ain't ideal when you're on a road trip or just tryin' to get home.

I like the Cadillac Optiq, I really do. It's stylish, comfortable, powerful, and it delivered its promised 300-plus miles of range. GM's making big strides with its EVs. But fast-charging? That's an area where they still need to step up their game. Even the Lyriq and Blazer EV max out at 190 kW, which is starting to feel uncompetitive. You can have the coolest car on the block, but if it takes forever to fill up, folks gonna start lookin' elsewhere.

What's Next?

While NACS compatibility is a big win for GM, the actual charging experience still needs refinement for the Optiq and other Ultium platform mainstream EVs. This test highlights that simply having access to Superchargers isn't enough; the vehicle's internal charging architecture needs to keep pace. GM needs to optimize its charging curves to deliver more consistent, higher-speed charging across its lineup. Consumers are demanding faster, more reliable charging, and the Optiq, while a good car, leaves some room for improvement in that department. The race for efficient charging ain't over, baby!

More chargers are good, but faster chargers are better. And that's the bottom line, 'cause Eddie said so!