Cadillac Optiq vs Volkswagen Touareg

What's the difference?

The lonely Cadillac Lyriq finally has some company, with the iconic US brand tripling its range down under with the launch of the much bigger Vistiq (which we've already tested) and this entry-level Optiq, which Cadillac describes as the gateway to its electric family.

It's a medium all-electric SUV with plenty of equipment and – depending on whether you see it as an established premium player or another newcomer brand – pretty sharp pricing.

Cadillac says it has the German big three in its sights with the Optiq, so how does it stack up?

It’s big, it’s fast, it’s luxurious, Volkswagen’s Touareg has always been a stand-out large SUV.

This one, the full-fat R is the latest take on the halo Volkswagen model. It has big shoes to fill.

See, top-spec Touaregs in the past are hardly rivals to the Toyota LandCruisers and Hyundai Palisades of this world. They’re a different breed, with the first-generation Touareg powered by a variety of engines up to a 5.0-litre turbo-diesel V10, and the second-gen version packing petrol and diesel V8s in its upper levels.

They were the ultimate sleeper family SUV, ridiculous engines with rich VW Group lineage in a seemingly mainstream family-friendly package.

But this third-generation version can’t quite replicate the over-engined craziness of its predecessors. It has to think outside the box as emissions regulations crack down the world over.

This Touareg R is a plug-in hybrid. A performance-focused one at that. Can it hope to replicate the unhinged nature of its forebears and find an appropriate place atop the hierarchy of Volkswagen’s R models? Let’s find out.