Woman Drives Electric Cadillac Escalade. Then She Brings It to a Tesla Supercharger

A Cadillac Escalade IQ driver demonstrated how you can quickly power up at a Tesla Supercharger, but her advice received some unexpected blowback.

TikTok user Techie Dani (@techiedani) posted a viral clip that accrued more than 98,000 views. In it, she walks users through the process of supercharging the large electric vehicle from General Motors. Dani was loaned the vehicle from GM for testing purposes. 

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Her Escalade IQ is compatible with Tesla's Supercharger network, but doing so requires a North American Charging Standard (NACS) to CCS adapter. Those are becoming more and more prevalent for modern EVs as other automakers sign on to use Tesla's network. While GM does not provide NACS adapters with the purchase of a vehicle, they can be purchased on the vehicles' mobile apps for $225. Third-party adapters exist, but they are not recommended for use by any vehicle manufacturer.

In time, more and more GM EVs will use the Tesla NACS standard, starting with the 2026 Cadillac Optiq and upcoming Chevrolet Bolt. But for now, the adapters are the way to go. 

Charging the Caddy

As Dani’s video progresses, she demonstrates plugging the Tesla plug into the CCS adapter. Following this, she cracks open the Caddy's charging port cover and sticks it into the vehicle. Afterward, she fishes out her smartphone.

“Open up the Cadillac app. Select charge here, these are all the different stalls,” she says, showing off the process to her viewers while locating the terminal she’d like to charge from. “We’re at 3C, and then it connects to the charger and then boom. In less than a minute it has started charging,” she says.

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At this point in the video, her smartphone depicts the percentage in which her vehicle’s battery is already charged. Dani goes on to state that more thorough analytics are available to Escalade owners within the vehicle itself.

Escalade Charging Stats

Once seated inside of the vehicle, Dani begins showing off what she’s referring to. “You can see we are at 55% and we are pulling 185 kilowatts from the charger, which is pretty decent,” the TikToker says.

Next, she pulls out her phone and shows that her car’s juice level has jumped to 58%, which should provide her with approximately 263 miles of driving. To get the Cadillac to completely top off its battery, however, would require another hour and 10 minutes of charging.

At the same time, it is worth noting that most fast-charging customers only charge their EVs to 80%, as the remaining 20% will take much more time. Most automakers recommend charging only to 80% in such cases. 

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“Something to note about the Escalade IQ is that it has a huge battery. [A] 200-kilowatt-hour battery, which is just enormous. So it’s great you go 450 miles, but it means the efficiency to charge is degraded a little bit because of that,” she tells viewers.

Consequently, Dani tells folks considering the Escalade IQ to keep this in mind. “So it’s gonna take a little bit longer to charge than some other vehicles out there,” she states.

It should also be noted that the Escalade IQ, like GM's other large EVs, can charge at a maximum of about 350 kW, among the fastest speeds in the U.S. market. Thus, finding a faster charger for this EV will yield much shorter charging times. 

To close out her video, she records herself backing up the EV into a Supercharger stall space, which appears to provide more than enough room for her to reach her charging port. This might influence some prospective buyers to consider the vehicle, seeing as other EV drivers have had to get creative with parking to juice up their rides due to Supercharger cable lengths. At the end of her clip, Dani recommends the $130,000 EV, especially because she said her fast charging experience was “smooth” and “easy.”

Commenters Sound Off

Folks who replied to Dani’s clip had varying opinions on the Escalade IQ. At least one person commended GM for its charging port placement. “Also, thank you, Cadillac, for putting the charging port on the driver's side in the back so they don’t take up two spots,” they wrote.

Another person who drives a non-Tesla EV said that they, too, were able to power up their vehicle without too much hassle. However, they stated that their process was a bit more straightforward than the method Dani showcased in her own clip. “Ford does Plug-n-Charge. Don’t have to do anything on your phone or app.”

There were others who weren’t sold on Cadillac’s luxury EV offering. “Way to make an EV inefficient and expensive to drive. Way to go, GM,” one said.

Another remarked that they aren’t fans of seeing non-Teslas at Superchargers due to the location of their charging ports. “I hate when other cars charge at a Tesla Supercharger... Takes up so much space," they wrote.

And someone else appeared to take issue with Dani congratulating GM on considering its drivers without giving props to Tesla. “Great job Cadillac? How about thanks Tesla for opening up their chargers to non-Tesla owners.”

InsideEVs has reached out to Dani via email for further information.

Correction: An earlier version of this story implied that GM's NACS adapters are included with the vehicle, and that Techie Dani owns this Escalade IQ. We regret the errors. 

 

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