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The 1959 Ford Galaxie 500 was Peak ‘50s2025 Cadillac Escalade vs 2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee
We compare the Escalade and the Grand Cherokee to see which one is the best luxury SUVs. We look at interior options, powertrain and more.
Which Big SUV is Best?
If we told you 25 years ago that the Cadillac Escalade and Jeep Grand Cherokee would compete head-to-head for the title of king of domestic luxury SUVs, would you have believed us? For this to happen, the Grand Cherokee would’ve needed quite the glow-up. Interestingly, that’s what Stellantis intended with the most recent generation.
Now that the Escalade and Grand Cherokee are closer in features than ever, let’s flesh both out to determine which is the right pick for your family.
Specs
In the engine department, the strictly gas-powered variant of the Escalade and the equivalent Grand Cherokee couldn’t be more different from each other. On the Jeep side, both the two and three-row models offer more options than team Cadillac.
The Grand Cherokee offers a 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 with an accompanying eTorque electric motor to deliver a solid combined 293 horsepower. With 19 MPGs in the city and 26 on the highway in its base rear-wheel drive (RWD) configuration, it’s not the worst fuel efficiency we’ve ever seen. A tow rating of 6,200 lbs. should suffice for all but the heaviest camper trailers. This V6 is ubiquitous throughout the standard Grand Cherokee long and short-wheelbase variants, but it’s far from the most interesting drivetrain option native to a new Grand Cherokee.
The Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe variant brings a plug-in hybrid drivetrain consisting of a 2.0 liter Stellantis GME four-cylinder engine and a 33 kW electric motor to the table. With a 17.3 kWh battery and an eight-cylinder automatic gearbox, 270 horsepower and a combined 56 MPGe are two figures that Jeep should be proud of.
As for Jeep’s rivals at Cadillac, they’ve had a hard time ditching a thumping-great V8. The same 6.2-liter L87 V8 we’ve seen under most Escalades since 2019 is still here and present in 2024. This brings you 420 horsepower and an abysmal fuel economy of 14 MPG in the city and 19 on the highway. You could also opt for the 682-horsepower Escalade V with the same LT V8 that’s out of a Corvette Z06 if you really don’t care about saving fuel.
Without ditching the fully gas-powered engine, you will be hemorrhaging money out of your wallet every time you hit the gas station in an Escalade. Old-school V8s sure do have their charm, but they look more and more ridiculous and silly as each year passes. Advantage, Grand Cherokee, and it’s not a close race despite the Escalade’s horsepower advantage.
Comfort and Interior
It’s easy to guess that while the Grand Cherokee and Escalade have some overlap, the Cadillac is clearly the established king of luxuries and features. While the Escalade protects its title, the Grand Cherokee fights back in the form of a huge trim lineup with enough choices of drivetrain, wheelbase, and feature packages that it needs some going over before it can be fully understood.
For interior, the 2025 Grand Cherokee runs the full gamut from standard cloth seats at the low end of the range, jumping to mid-range leather seats starting with the Limited trim, then perforated leather and front-ventilated seats with the Tech Group II package, and plush quilted leather for what can be called the halo trims of the range, the Overland, Summit, and Summit Reserve.
Further, old-school niceties like open-pore polished wood interior trim pieces in higher trims make for a space that melds old and new quite well. With a modern suite of driver assistance features, the 2025 Grand Cherokee is one of the most tech-heavy vehicles under the Stellantis tree. It’s a point driven home by Jeep’s flavor of semi-autonomous hands-free driving, Active Driving Assist.
For an SUV without a cheap lower end like the Grand Cherokee, leather quality is stellar across the board for any 2025 Escalade. Trinkets like adjustable cabin mood lighting, a console refrigerator powerful enough to work as a freezer while holding six 24-ounce bottles, and a massive dual-pane sunroof should be somewhat expected at this price point. It’s hard to say an Escalade is just a glorified Suburban in an expensive tuxedo like it was in the past.
Trim Levels
Starting at $36,495 for the most basic, rear-drive, three-row Grand Cherokee Laredo A, even the lowliest variant comes equipped with an 8.4-inch touchscreen. This goes alongside a 10.25-inch digital gauge cluster, falling in line with trends from other car companies who also equip base model SUVs with fancy digital clusters of similar clarity. Optionally, higher trimmed examples net a larger 10.1-inch screen plus a 10.3-inch separate touchscreen for a front-seat passenger to enjoy. This is especially true at the high end, where the range-topping Summit Reserve tips the scales at $63,040 before markups.
With nearly $27,000 worth of optional goodies between the bottom and top end of the Grand Cherokee lineup, there’s far too much variation between all the trims to break it all down. But all 2025 Grand Cherokees, be they the heavy off-road-inspired Altitude, Summit, and Overland trims, or family-focused Laredo or Limited, are available with either two or three rows of seating and powertrain options between two and four-wheel drive.
The only exceptions are the entry-level Laredo A, only available in RWD, and the 4xe range, only available as a two-row SUV. Not a bad getup for what’s still a Jeep at the end of the day, but can it hold a candle to Cadillac in the glitz and features?
The Escalade is downright stunning in its capability. Forget center screens and a dedicated digital gauge cluster, the 2025 Escalade takes it all and integrates it into one massive LED panel spanning the length of the dashboard. The center section of this display spans a staggering 55 inches, of which 35 inches make up the driver’s display panel. Meanwhile, the front passenger display portion takes up another 25 inches. Below this, an 11-inch HVAC control panel is larger than the entire infotainment screen of some entry-level hatchbacks.
That’s without mentioning dual 12.6-inch infotainment displays for two second-row occupants to enjoy independently of each other. Factor in an AKG Studio Reference audio suite packing a scarcely believable 36 separate speakers starting with the Premium Luxury Platinum trim, the Escalade blows the Grand Cherokee out of the water. Even the 19-speaker stereo in the base $89,590 “Luxury” trim matches the best audio you could bring home in a stock Grand Cherokee. For even more room, the entire range is available in an extended-wheelbase ESV flavor with a wheelbase of a staggering 227 inches.
The Verdict
You’ll be paying a hefty premium over even the most tricked-out stock Grand Cherokee. But at least on first impressions, you do get a lot for the extra money. But that begs the question, is the decision of which long-wheelbase domestic luxury SUV you should buy a question use case rather than one being “better” than the other? For occasional off-roading and general round-town and long-distance commuting, the more fuel-efficient Grand Cherokee is probably the choice for you.
But let’s say all you care about is the most refined and luxurious experience possible. Oh, and you’d like to trailer your boat back and forth from the local marina several times a summer. In that case, the Escalade, with its space-age interior and V8 grunt, will do you nicely. But still, it’s hard to ignore the price difference between the two.
Is the Jeep the more practical option? Yes, and then some. The most expensive, highest-trimmed, three-row Grand Cherokee Summit Reserve is very nearly half the price of the most expensive, non-V Escalade. At the end of the day, Grand Cherokee owners will enjoy the improved fuel economy and superior off-road capability as much as Escalade drivers gush over the nearly endless luxury inside.
