I recently had a chance to drive the 2025 Chevy Equinox EV, and overall, I liked it. It’s a competent and fun machine, and it’s priced really well, relative speaking. But right now the EV market is in a tricky spot, and the new Equinox EV is entering the lion’s den. So I have to wonder: Would you buy one?
A couple weeks ago Chevrolet held a ride & drive event just outside an Erewhon, a grocery store whose spelling I can proudly say I had to look up.
Honestly, it was a brilliant little ad campaign. Erewhon shoppers are generally well-off, environmentally-conscious folks who love the idea of EVs but maybe aren’t huge GM fans. Come to think of it, I bet the environmentalist-GM shopper Venn Diagram doesn’t have a lot of folks in the middle, especially when compared to, say, Subaru or Tesla. Chevy, obviously, wants to change that.
So the brand set up camp just outside this hilariously boujee grocery store that’s become kind of a viral sensation in its own right, and in addition to offering free rides, the brand gave out a free “Electric Juice” made blue by “Spirulina,’ which I think is some kind of algae. Though many have joked that I have gone “Hollywood” since moving out of Detroit two years ago, the truth is: I’m more of a chocolate milk guy. Still, I decided to make the sacrifice and try out the chocho-filled blue “wellness beverage,” but only for you, dear readers. I also tested the Equinox while I was at it:
GM says Equinox sales are off to a good start, but the brand is really leaning on California, which has huge purchasing power in the EV space. From Chevy:
In August, Chevrolet had its best month ever for EV sales, powered by strong demand for the Equinox EV. Los Angeles is home to one of the country’s largest EV markets.
“We are looking forward for more customers to discover the Equinox EV – a fun-to-drive electric SUV,” said Steve Majoros, chief marketing officer, Chevrolet. “This relationship allows us to connect with potential new EV customers in southern California, an important market for Chevrolet.”
The car I drove was a 3LT, with dual-zone climate control, fancy wheels, an optional two-tone roof and Super Cruise-equipped Active Safety Package — as well as all the features a standard 2LT Equinox features like a 17.7-inch LCD display, power liftgate, and a front-wheel drive powertrain that offers 319 miles of range. All in, the car was probably in the low $40,000 range after $7,500 federal EV rebate.
You may be wondering: “What about the sub-$30,000 Equinox EV we were promised?” That’s the 1LT, and it’s not yet on Chevy’s configurator; that’s expected as a 2025 model, and while it will start around $35,000 (so around $27,500 after rebate), even the pricier 2LTs and up are getting discounts right now at dealerships. You can find sub-$30,000 brand new Chevy Equinox EVs right now. And that’s a decent deal, though again, is it enough given the crazy depreciation we’re seeing from EVs? We’ll get back to that.
For now I want to just focus on how much Chevy absolutely nailed the execution with the Equinox EV. You step into the car, buckle up, and then instead of reaching for a start button or a floor-shifter, you grab a lever behind the steering wheel:
Yes, a column shifter! No weird screen-shifter, no waste-of-space floor shifter — a column shifter. It’s the right shifter for 2024, and it frees up all this space for cupholders, a phone slot, USB-C ports, and a big storage bin just below the center stack:
Below all that is a nice, spacious storage bin, which is an acceptable use of space. A flat-floor or a floor-mounted bin that’s accessible from above for taller items would have been great, too, but Chevy’s setup works:
Overall, the car seems quite spacious, with a reasonably large two-tier cargo area:
The raked hatch limits how high one can stack a load, but there is some extra room below the floor:
The rear seats offer lots of leg and headroom, with a flat floor:
There’s no frunk, which I know is going to upset some people, but this hardware has to go somewhere, and if it’s not in the frunk it’s likely reducing cabin volume, so I’m sympathetic to that, even if I do like a frunk:
So, it’s a big enough car for most, and what’s more, the cab is just a nice place to spend time, with good quality materials and fun design-touches everywhere. How about that two-tone dashboard?:
And look at those gorgeous outer vents:
And notice how the HVAC and volume buttons are actual, real buttons:
The Human Machine Interface team at Chevy nailed the Equinox EV. You step in; you pull the satisfying shifter to drive off; you adjust your radio and HVACs via nice, well-located switches; the crisp and vibrant screen feels well integrated into the dash. It’s a great example of how to just get the fundamentals right and not try to overcomplicate things – something that has happened a lot in the EV space, especially in the early days when automakers felt all EVs had to feel like spaceships.
Once you’re in drive, you punch the pedal and the car drives off…quickly enough. It’s an almost 5,000 pound vehicle, which is quite absurd, but that’s thanks to a massive 85kWh battery pack needed to propel the vehicle over 300 miles on a charge. The 213 horsepower front motor should get the car from zero to 60 mph in around 8 seconds. The Equinox has about 25 percent more weight per horsepower than my BMW i3S, and it definitely felt that way when I punched the pedal. EVs are generally quick: The Equinox is only sorta-quick.
It still feels quicker than an ICE car with similar horsepower by virtue of the single-speed gear reduction in place of a multi-gear transmission as well as the relative lack of sound. I say “relative,” because there’s still a speaker outside warning pedestrians of an oncoming 2.5-ton SUV, and, especially under heavy acceleration, I heard — perhaps through the speakers — acceleration noise in the cabin that was helpful in giving me an understanding how quickly I was speeding up.
I’ve already voiced my concerns about EVs offering absurd amounts of power to the layperson, so it’d be foolish for me to complain about the Equinox’s 8 second 0-60 time. It’s totally fine. But just fine.
I didn’t play with the car’s regenerative braking settings, but it’s cool that it’s adjustable from “off” to “one-pedal driving.” I think I was driving in normal mode, which felt about as aggressive as, say, a gasoline car downshifting a gear or two (obviously, that’s a pretty general comparison given that not all downshifts are created equal, but the point is — it doesn’t jolt you to a stop, but it’s far from a simple coast).
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Anyway, the Chevy Equinox EV is spacious, it’s extremely intuitive to use, it’s got a modest but sufficient amount of power, it’s got all the tech you need, and — especially with the two-tone roof — it looks decent as well. It’s a compelling car, even at $35,000-ish bucks, though I’d still have a hard time suggesting that someone pay that much.
EV values are dropping like rocks; buying a new car only to have it depreciate 30%-50% in a couple years seems like a bad call. I mean, just look at what a 2022 Chevy Bolt — which had an MSRP of $32,000 — goes for these days:
Heck, you can buy a two year-old Tesla Model Y for only $30 big ones these days, too:
Ditto with Polestar 2s:
Equinox EVs are already seeing discounts from dealerships:
And while the 1LT will drop the price below $30,000 (after tax rebate), the question is whether that’s going be enough to make the car a sales success. That’s what I’d like to ask you all today. If you want a fuller review of the car, go ahead and read Sam A’s review on our site, but first let me know in the comments how you think the Equinox will fare in what has become a really difficult new-EV market.
Oh, and in case you were wondering: I hate to admit it, but Electric Juice was delicious. It tasted like a blend of almond milk and coconut milk — it was oat-y and milky and, honestly, fantastic. But then, you’d hope it would be given that it probably would have cost me $20 if I had to pay for it myself.
I don’t think I’d have GM on the shopping list due to their stance on Apple CarPlay. I wouldn’t exactly make a decision based on this but given this segment is more of an appliance and you can cross-shop so many others I would likely skip one that didn’t have that desired feature.
Plus, in my house we have the fun car that doesn’t get driven as often and the shared car that both of us drive. My wife would be a hard “never” for any new car without CarPlay.
I am mostly not considering EVs yet. I really want to see some sort of movement on improving the infrastructure before buying one at all. All these companies have signed onto (effectively) a single charging standard. When will we see more charging being built to accommodate more vehicles being charged at a time? When will we see more desirable designs for charging in places that give you something to do while you wait endlessly for your car to recharge?
I can charge in my garage if I want to pay to install a charger. When are apartment management companies going to add chargers?
it just seems like everyone wants these cars to replace ICE powered vehicles but no one (except maybe Tesla) wants to take ownership of the larger changes needed to make it happen. Stop giving middle class income earners a tax credit and give out incentives to expand the infrastructure to support it.
Yeah. You’re 100% correct about charging infrastructure being the real paradigm shift that needs to happen. Sure, EVs (and cars in general) need to become more affordable, but an EV is worthless at any price if you can’t charge it.
Subsidies to retrofit chargers in existing apartment and condo complexes would be orders of magnitude more productive than subsidizing a EV purchases for the occupants, who have no say in the property’s electrical situation.
Sure, there is definitely some demographic of people who are okay with current EV charging functionality, can’t swing $50,000 for the near-luxury sedans and CUVs, ( that have dominated the pointy end of the EV market to this point) need something better than a Leaf, and don’t want to buy used. The success of the late model Bolt proves this to some extent.
That said, I feel like the vast majority of folks *in the position to buy or lease a new car* are more than happy to spend average new-car prices if they’re confident in the functionality.
Lots of people in my area who would turn up their nose at a Bolt for $25,000 seem to have no trouble dropping $40,000 for a RAV4, or 1/3 the value of their house on a new truck, because they know they’re buying 10 years of convenient, go anywhere, any time, all-weather motoring. Making the Bolt $15,000 might grab their attention, but if it doesn’t meet their needs, the EV is still off the table.
You’re last paragraph sums it up perfectly with ‘convenient, go anywhere, any time, all weather motering.’ As someone who can only afford a single car, my CRV can do all that while crossing the province worry free, and the gas tank isn’t any worse off 10 years down the line. I would love an EV as a second vehicle, but since I can’t afford 2 vehicles, a hybrid RAV4 or CRV makes way more sense.
I was going to buy one, and might have if my order hadn’t somehow fallen into a limbo where it had been built and I was supposed to get information about arrival ETA from my dealer, who absolutely had no idea. That said, the delay isn’t why I cancelled, just what gave me the time to reconsider.
Why did I cancel? Too much focus on the software. I liked that there were physical HVAC controls (though the heated/ventilated seats controls are touchscreen…ugh), but I didn’t like that the drive mode selection was entirely touchscreen. The ability to customize a drive mode was kind of cool, but I like to switch those on the fly.
I also didn’t like that it had Android Automotive instead of Android Auto. It’s not a big deal for a lot of people, but I didn’t like that I would eventually need a data plan for my car if I wanted what I get for free by connecting my phone in other cars. I also could not find any good data at the time on the onboard storage for it. I download music for when I am out of cell service.
All said and done, I liked the Equinox’s appearance, found it acceptable in comfort and speed, but did not think I wanted to live with the tech and controls. I ended up transferring my deposit to a dealership in the same network and buying a RAV4 Prime, since I could not find a full EV that I really want to live with. The Equinox and the EV6 were the closest two (and I would likely have an EV6 if I hadn’t had some terrible experiences with repairs on my Niro).
Next time I buy, I really hope there is an EV I want to live with.
That RAV4 is going to cost you much more to keep serviced, if you decide to keep it for a long time…
So I’ll be paying for some oil changes and such. Seems like an acceptable price for having a vehicle with controls and features I want to live with.
The other nice thing is that Toyotas hold their value, so I should have no problem selling for a reasonable price when/if someone puts out an EV that I want to live with.
Yeah I don’t get what he is talking about. I wouldn’t be afraid to buy a Toyota hybrid. Oil changes are not that expensive.
Evidence please.
I’ve had the RAV4 Prime for four years, wonderful vehicle, enjoy!
I feel you on software. I went tech-heavy on my EV purchase with a used Ioniq 5 and it’s a bit much. Getting used to it, but and am mostly glad I don’t need subscriptions to get what I need from it. Their Bluelink connectivity offers mediocre features and stops being free after year 3.
So far the Hyundai dealership experience is limited but I’m teaching one of the 2 that are close. Forums are still wonderful for learning with people offering useful info across the globe.
Really would like a “Pet Mode” or similar like Tesla has or my previous EV had. Does the RAV4 Prime have that?
“the drive mode selection was entirely touchscreen”- wtf? In the bolt I can just give the shifter a quick pull to swap between D and L for different regen amounts, easier than shifting gears in a stick shift. Why would they take that away and bury it in a screen? Never mind the excess weight, low 288V electric system (so it’ll apparently be current limited to ~100 kW at a 400V 150 kW charger), that right there is a complete deal breaker.
I should clarify. It does have paddles (more like buttons) for regenerative. It’s the Sport/Normal/Eco/Snow/Custom modes you can’t change without the screen.
The Mach E does the same thing AND has screen-based HVAC, so it’s not the worst out there.
Before the communication struggles, I thought I could live with it…but all the downsides and the dealership, I just couldn’t go for it.
I’m considering the Equinox, but am waiting for both the 1LT and the new Bolt to come out so I can contrast and compare.
Call all your local dealers and see if you can get one for close to the same price as the 1LT…
Makes me think the Bolt is going to be Golf-sized. That will really test the question of “do I need the Medium or Large?”. If the price delta is serious enough, medium may the answer!
I’m interested in an EV, my old Audi Avant won’t last/fit my family needs forever, and an EV would be perfect for my 30 mil one way commute. We make too much for the used EV credit, so this seems like a pretty perfect car for me, even if I’d prefer an electric wagon (id7 wagon we won’t get here). I could totally see buying this, but I would hesitate to buy any new car, and I’d rather the Buzz if it weren’t so much
I’ve seen these popping up around my area. Neat, relatively simple design and it comes in some really great colors.
Nope, because if I’m spending new car money on a vehicle it will be one I can drive on longer trips without having to plan out charging stops. Also, if I were going to get and EV it would probably be a tesla.
Go ahead and buy a car from white nationalist motors & you will get what you deserve. By the way I hear that their cyber garbage truck is the most reliable truck on the market & is bullet proof…
White nationalist? In what way?
Seems to be going all in on Trump
So are a lot of Black and Latino voters. I’m a Harris/Walz voter, but the progressive obsession with race a real mistake in my mind.
I’m kinda tired of this take, tbh. It’s totally valid to not like Elon and to choose not to give any of your money to his company. All good there. But many people just… don’t care. Elon has some outspoken political views that many people disagree with. That’s fine. But Tesla makes a pretty good car (Cybertruck aside) and their charging network is phenomenal. Those are entirely valid reasons for purchasing a Tesla, and I don’t think it’s fair to shame people because of it
Ford & GM have access to the tesla supercharger network now. Hyundai / Kia will have access next year starting Jan 15th.
The new Model 3 LR RWD has the best range at 363 EPA est. unless you spend $80k plus… Although the Ioniq 5 / 6 Kia EV6 are also over 300 miles and charge faster on the right charger.
I’m buying a Tesla because it’s the best electric car in my book. The Rivian does look nice though. The fact that you went there automatically says more about you than me I believe. Maybe the other car website would be a better fit for you. They seem to get off on bashing tesla almost as much as you do.
I’m at an age where my birthdays are measured not in years or even decades, but fractions of a century . . . and I still haven’t walked into a GM-branded dealership. The Chevette my parents had in the 70’s and the Buick Century I had as a company car in the 90’s soured me for life. Sorry Mary Barra.
You must be complaining about the fit and finish. As the Chevrette was a decent economy car and the Century was the most reliable & durable car you could buy when it was available…
The Chevette was not a decent economy car. It was obsolete when the first one rolled off the assembly line. Mileage was poor compared to the Japanese contemporaries, as was the ride, comfort, and reliability. Literally the only thing my stepmom’s mid ’80s model did better than my ’77 Celica hatchback was seat four people, and that was only because her’s was a four door.
You are comparing an economy car to a premium car without considering how biased that is. As the Chevette was literally the cheapest car GM sold at the time…
This would be the first time I’ve ever heard of my Celica being referred to as “premium”, but okay. And then there’s the fact that her car was more than a half a decade newer than mine. Six or seven extra years of wear and tear should have more than negated any “premium” advantage my Celica had.
The fact it was their cheapest model probably says more about GM than it does about the Chevette – either way, it just sucked as a vehicle.
This X1,000,000. It was a heap of shit the day my parents drove it off the lot.
My father was a big GM fan. I remember riding in various Buick and Oldsmobile models, with Jeep Grand Cherokee also in the mix. My stepmother also had a Chevette for a while. It was hideous.
Granted, he didn’t take the best care of them (his response to my asking if he’d recently changed the oil when we were about to embark on a three thousand mile road trip was “what do you mean – I haven’t even put 10,000 miles on it.” – circa 1985) so it’s impressive they ran as long as they did, but I was always left with the impression they were substandard vehicles. They were typically junked after some catastrophic failure.
Maybe that was due to the poor care (oil changes were accomplished by waiting until it was a quart low and the topping it off), and maybe it was the design and engineering choices (I never really cared for the GM interiors), but between that and after owning an early ’90s Cavalier convertible, I also have never had any interest in owning another GM product. Certainly not anything I’d purchase new.
Long way of saying I know where you’re coming from.
David using the word “boujee.” He really has gone Hollywood.
He’s living the life, so he might as well use the word.
I thought it was spelled “bougie”, as a contraction of “bourgeois”
I think that (depreciation aside), the domestic EVs are more compelling than many others. They seem to have the N9rth American use case fully sorted.
I could see myself in one of these as a daily, but a used one, with depreciation having worked its magic. I would also like with a hair more…hair to it’s acceleration. If I’m going to go electric, I want all if the benefits.
Watched the vid now. A couple of thoughts:
1) those door handles and those headlights are going to be trouble in winter conditions.
2) the headroom looks non-existent and this is compounded by the dark headliner.
3) I think that if there is no headlight button as someone noted and it all has to be done in a submenu, then that is a massive oversight, especially if older folks might like this car. My mother in law would end up sobbing on the side of the road if she had to do anything. And I’D HAVE TO GO AND FIX IT.
4) the tailgate looks like David has to duck to get under it. I am 6 foot 3, so that could be an issue.
Presumably the lights are automatic, so crank the sensitivity adjustment all the way up once and she’s set until the light sensor dies. That never happened to my Mazda 3 over 14 years, but I can’t speak to GM’s sensors.
Used EV depreciation seems to be driven by two things. The first is probably the economic incentives offered for new EVs and the second is that new EVs are just so much more capable than cars like the Bolt and Leaf are close to a decade old in design.
Good piece!
Had to laugh at this one “ it’s a great example of how to just get the fundamentals right and not try to overcomplicate things”
And then look at the sentence that includes that segment lol
I don’t care for the exterior styling. Chevy has really lost the plot in recent years in their styling department. I do love a column shifter though! If my wife’s CX-5 needed to be replaced, this would be considered. But it doesn’t, so we’ll just keep driving that.
Unless you spend for SuperCruise, no lane centering. The similar Honda Prologue/Orphan doesn’t have it either. Even lowly Koreans have it.
So you can’t actually be bothered to drive your car when you drive your car?!?!?!
Ah yes, taking someone’s statement to a bizarre absolute and arguing against that. An excellent, measured take.
it’s kinda that guys whole deal.
What “lowly Koreans”?
They mean Hyundai and Kia. Their market placement can be fuzzy from model to model (ex. K900, Stinger for Kia shooting above their usual economy chops) but overall they’re still on the lower end for much of their lineup and their asinine cost-cutting over the years doesn’t help even as the interiors and exteriors improved.
I would not consider Hyundai/Kia to be lowly in the EV space. They have one of the best lineups of EVs in the world… certainly top 5 it would seem to me.
No lane centering makes me want one more.
It’s fine, I guess? It’s not what I want, but I think that if someone wants a transportation appliance and is willing to put up with not having Android Auto/carplay, this will be fine. It’s definitely a reasonable option, price-wise, against comparable appliances. Especially if GM gets aggressive on the financing.
Aside from the fact I don’t want or need an SUV, this seems entirely adequate.
I just spewed out 3 paragraphs saying pretty much the same thing. This will honestly work for many people.
Yeah, it’s a GM, but no corporation has our interests at heart
At least GM doesn’t have a recent habit of union busting and dumping toxic waste in the oceans, particularly off the Coast of East Africa like Japan’s Automakers…
I view it as a fat front wheel drive station wagon rather than an SUV…
But Front Wheel Drive is best for regenerative braking on a 2WD EV…
Just keeping consistent with Chevy’s chief marketing person.
This makes me recall someone asking if there was a threshold of safety to be considered for RWD-regen braking in an emergency evasive maneuver. My recollection was it could be countered by smart software these days, but otherwise there wasn’t a big benefit in *most* scenarios with having it one axle vs. the other. 95% of braking will be done by regen, as evidenced by how much longer a set of brakes goes on an EV vs. ICE even on RWD-only EVs.
Bolt will definitely fully skid the front wheels under high regen in snow. This should be solvable, but with a similar setup on the rear, it would be super easy to spin in slick conditions
Spicy! Snow mode available on that thing? Or is traction control attempting to intervene in any way? The feeling of letting off the gas and sliding because of regenerative braking is going to be an interesting development in EV adoption.
Snow mode, lol, the closest thing is having the windshield wipers randomly give up and stop functioning in the snow. As long as it’s in “d” with minimal regen, it’s more or less normal using the mechanical brakes, but in L certainly likes to skid into curbs, should make things quite fun for people who aren’t prepared and used to the car taking care of all the driving. Although in sticky, dry snow, I have been able to successfully go over passes in L with snow tires and not touching the brake pedal. I have also taken it up unplowed dirt roads in early winter to ski, one time came back to a snowmobile track going up the road past where I parked, snow tires are great
The overwhelming majority of car buyer want cars in this form factor. The most popular EV in the world is in this form factor.
Perhaps, but I am not part of that overwhelming majority. Being single with no kids, my needs from a vehicle are “can drive from Point A to Point B”, and so my wants can be indulged.
I don’t need a car that seats five. I don’t want a four door. I do appreciate a vibrant color, so at least the example David tried has that going for it.
The title question then, “Would you actually buy one”… certainly it wouldn’t be my first choice, but I don’t see anything I actively hate about it, so yes, but begrudgingly.
It’s a perfectly cromulent SUV, yep.
Wait, I can get a used Polestar2 for $20ish k to 30k?
Use case: retirement get-to-appointments appliance
I was excited about the Model3 a few years back, and now can comfortably afford one. But His Worship bought a $43B sink with a social media platform attached, and that ain’t gonna happen now.
If I were buying today, I’d likely go for a nice low-mileage Leaf—or maybe Prius. I plan to keep one of my manual ICE cars for as long as my knees hold out, so I realistically only need about a 100 mile real range. So, currently, a Bolt is the prime contender given pricing and that this Equinox is bigger* than I need and more expensive.
*I don’t care for CUVs. That’s emotional, not logical: I can see buying one in 5-6 years simply for ease of entry as my joints seem to be aging faster than my world-view. Plus the very real possibility that my daughter won’t allow me to cart the grandkids around in any vehicle of a size I gravitate towards. Grim reality is, I would buy an Equinox solely because of the kids. Futz. All I want is a freakin electric equivalent of our 82 Rabbit LS!
I still have my 82 Rabbit. 2 door 1.7 with a carb!
Wait: does it have front lap belts?I’m jealous as I sorely miss mine.
Parents passed it on to me around 2000, I learned about the CIS, then traded those skills for parts-rights on junk cars: lower racing struts & sway bars off an old track car along with the vented front disc setup, and all the appearance bits to make it a 4-door GTI. 5-speed & Wolfsburg seats out of a Jetta. 14” Snowflakes fitted with new Khumos in return for a long weekend rehabbing a friend’s Saturn.
Scored an 8v ABA with 268° Schrick cams for $650. Only drove it with the new motor once before I moved/stored the car/100-year flood took it out in storage.
I had a lot of hours, but very little money in it
And I still have my 78 E150, 84 Audi 4000q, 1991 Vanagon…
Though if I drive more than a few hundred miles in the E150 I will lose that stock two barrel carburetor…
The 2nd car I bought was an 84′ MKI Rabbit/Golf GTI
Still kinda funny to think fuel injection being used as an advertisable differentiator, though thinking back the 80s were when the vast majority of engines switched over from carbs to fuel injection so it does make sense
The Equinox is more like an electric, fat front wheel drive station wagon…
If you want an excuse to be without grandkids but with joint pain and still like the idea of torque a’plenty without tailpipe emissions, a Mini EV (used, as this generation’s hardtop isn’t coming until it can be built someplace whut ain’t China) would set ya up.
Love a MINI for the go kart handling, but man are they porky. Up to 4500 lbs. 0-60 is only 5.4 which is about dismal for a 2020s EV. I’m leaning toward limiting my ev search to a max of 4000lbs
Your grandkids may be old enough to drive themselves by the time you find one that isn’t a Model 3.
No Carplay or Android Auto instantly rules it out for me. I’m the prime demographic for this and I can even get a GM employee discount but I still placed an order for a 2025 hybrid from a competitor. Absolutely baffling not to use Carplay/AA.
I had a Blazer EV as a loaner for a month and honestly I didn’t miss AA. Since it’s Android based, all the apps are there that I needed and wanted and it’s so easy to sign into your accounts and interface with your phone. AA would have felt like an extra, and laggy, step thag just wasn’t necessary
Unless Apple changes its tune, this will become the industry trend.
I’ll shop for one soon, but it’ll be the Honda version that comes with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
There’s absolutely NO WAY I’m trusting my vehicle manufacturer to stay as up-to-date as my phone manufacturer when my phone gets several updates a year and I replace the phone entirely every three years.
I’m really curious about this sentiment. I recently picked up my first car with AA/Carplay (2017 Volt) and only ever use it for navigation if I’m going a long distance. The rest of the time the built in bluetooth works just fine for music control through my phone.
I could see the (entirely justified) irritation if navigation wasn’t standard, or was some weird subscription service, like in the case of my Volt. Oh I can have built in nav, but I gotta pay onstar for it. No thanks. But if it’s free, and the UI works well, I have really no need to use AA/Carplay.
Welp I love my current GM ev, and these seem pretty compelling for the price. So maybe… Although I don’t really want a crossover.
What do you have? Positive or negative surprises?
-collecting anecdotal data toward a purchase within the decade
I have a 2022 Bolt EV on a 36-month lease with GM employee pricing…In six months, I’ll have to sadly let go of the Bolt (no way it’s going to be worth its residual), and probably pick up one of these as the “smallest” GM EV available. I have an L2 charger at home, so the EV ownership experience has been really good for me.
2nd Gen Volt. Very positive so far. Bought it used, looks like the previous owner already dealt with one of the bummers of these cars, the EGR valve has been replaced. I’ve done nothing but charge and drive it.
I test drove both a 1st gen and a 2nd gen Volt and was really surprised by the lack of interior space on both.
Ended up buying a plug in Prius (3rd gen prius platform) instead of the gen 1 Volt lots more interior space for 4 people.
And recently bought a Prius Prime (4th gen prius platform) instead of the 2nd gen Volt
I suppose the best thing to be aware of is just knowing that if you live in a place that gets cold (or even cold-ish) your range is going to drop off significantly. I can do 55+ miles during the summer, but only around 40 or so when the temperatures start to drop.
In SW Virginia, so truly cold temps (raised in the Midwest) are pretty rare. For an errands/Dr appointments car, I would only rarely need more than 35-40 miles of range. The quandary I’ll have when it comes time is that I don’t really want to buy an EV new given how fast technology is changing—but will definitely need something to last for hopefully a long time.
Meanwhile, I’m being kind to my knees in hopes I can keep driving the fun, manual, cars for a very long time
Yeah I wasn’t interested in a full-fat EV until they have both significantly better range and significantly better public charging infrastructure. The Volt was a a hell of a deal, and I’ve always thought the E-REV concept was the one that made the most sense anyway. Of the 10,000 or so miles I’ve put on the car since I’ve owned it, roughly 1000 have been on gas. Just for when we feel like taking a trip or long drive. I don’t like the idea of having to stop for an hour or so when taking a longer than 300+ mile trip.
My 2019 Bolt is the best daily driver I have ever had. I am struggling to continue my normal trend of extended car ownership though because the next gen of EVs are just that much more capable.
Not a chance. I don’t want an SUV and don’t want an EV. Ever.
Your point about depreciation is sort of my main issue with EVs. I think the typical ev customer doesn’t give a shit that you can buy a 2 year old car for the same price as a new one,they want the longest warranty period possible and the most efficient battery technology. This leaves the used ones difficult to sell and perfectly fine cars just off leasing will be rendered obsolete and in bone yards within ten years.
I am not saying I am 100% correct,but its the way I see it at least.
If you want the latest and greatest, lease. If you want a great deal, buy used. But for the foreseeable future, buying a new EV outright makes financial sense only for very specific cases.
I have driven EVs for a decade, and never bought new. Zero regrets.
I wouldn’t buy this bloated pig.
Now if I needed 4-5 seats, I’d consider the following:
-GM Ultralite, converted to EV
-GM Precept, converted to EV
-GM EV1, 4-seater prototype
-GM Aero 2000, converted to EV
-Chevrolet Citation IV, converted to EV
All of which should be able to hold 70 mph on 0.160 kWh/mile, or less. Meaning, you could get 200+ miles highway range while keeping the car under 3,000 lbs when built with conventional materials/processes, while at the same time greatly reducing the production cost thanks to the small battery.
Today, we could/should have non-tech-bloated U.S.-built EVs with a sub-$20,000 MSRP and NO SUBSIDIES. No need to keep China out or tariff them.
If such a thing came with real buttons to control everything, a purely optional-use touch screen if even present(maybe a place to plug a phone in), and was built out of off-the-shelf GM parts bin pieces for easy/cheap repairs, I’d be sold.
Toecutter. If you haven’t check out the LoReMo prototype from about 20 years ago. It is a great example of striving for high efficiency while still seating 4 people.
Sadly not very many high efficency models make it to production, largely I think bc Sr. leadership at auto companies are convinced either it won’t sell or they can’t sell it with enough margin.
I’m hopeful as batteries continue to fall in price we’ll see more aero efficient and lower purchase price options. A good example is Aptera which thankfully looks like it Will make it to production
It’s not just these things, but the availability of inexpensive EVs, when also given high performance to compete with ICE cars 2-3x or more their cost in order to make them appeal to a larger demographic of the public without raising price more than $XXX-1,XXX, would cannibalize the sales of more expensive models.
The SUV/truck/CUV paradigm the auto industry created then spent billions of dollars convincing the public to adopt while removing more affordable options, is highly profitable, and would also be at great risk of disruption by small/economical/fun long-range EVs being cheaply available due to most Americans being increasingly cash strapped. Gas prices, a relatively minor cost of overall vehicle operation, are a large component of many household budgets and help shift consumer preferences.
The first to get to market a basic EV that can seat 4-5 adults in comfort, and cost less in monthly payments/electricity/maintenance to Joe Sixpack than the monthly cost of keeping a 20-year-old ICE clunker fueled up and maintained, is going to kill so many sacred cows that are making already rich people more money. So the industry’s solution is to keep the companies willing to offer such a thing out of the USA while refusing to offer it themselves, when they easily could. This way, the money keeps flowing in from people who really don’t have any and just go deeper into debt. It is, unfortunately, just kicking the can down the road and will ultimately require more taxpayer bailouts to keep this failing paradigm propped up and the industry that foisted it onto the world solvent for a bit longer…
Sadly I think you make a lot of good points w/which I agree above.
I oscillate between being optimistic and pessimistic.
Companies like CATL, BYD, Aptera, Telo and yes Tesla as well as Lucid and Rivian give me hope and certainly for these many, many opportunities remain.
It seems we’re a a.major tech. inflection point/ shift and we’re seeing extremes both in protection moves for thr incumbent power (ice) manufacturers certainly in thr US and to a lesser extent in Europe as.well.as new tech in evs trying to flood in.
100% the evs have a LONG way to go to get to a super efficient small car with a smaller battery pack that can still go 300 miles at highway speeds And be affordable especially w/o govt. incentives.
Right now the model 3 long range comes closest, though it does so at a higher cost than the average American can afford And with a battery pack about 2x the size as what ideally would be needed. I think you and I want pretty much The same car!*
I know Musk seems convinced auto autonomy will be a huge order of magnitude force multiplier helping to ‘solve’transportation needs and maybe he (and Tony Seba) are right that it will… it is difficult IF it happens to what extent and When it may actually be technically achievable And then how much longer after that it will be acceptable to regulators and society
*I’d also love to see a super efficient solar ev hatchback sedan like what Lightyear was attempting as well as see something super similar to the Stella Vita RV/Van, which I don’t see anyone attempting, in which case I may need to build my own.
From a feasibility and technology standpoint, the car we want was possible 25 years ago.
BYD is basically 90% of the way there with the Seagull, with perhaps 60% of the real world range and downgraded performance because its aerodynamics suck and they chose an underpowered drive system/battery to save a few hundred bucks.
Take the $11,400 BYD Seagull, and re-design it to have half the aero drag, then add in a 300 kW drive system and mechanicals/reinforments/power dense batteries to handle it, make it RWD, and we basically have that car, probably coming in at under $15,000 if it is produced with the same processes/labor/volume as the Seagull. And you’d be able to mess with a C8 Corvette from the standpoint of acceleration while having Miata-like weight, perfect for embarrassing 6/7-figure supercar/hypercar owners at the track.
People would definitely want that sort of car and well-outdated EV technology already allows for that. The industry is dragging its feet. Tesla is the best value proposition regarding EVs we can currently get in the USA that somehow are still more affordable than most of their ICE competition, and it is telling because Tesla builds feature-laden tech-hell status symbols while still having very wide profit margins. Tesla does not build or want to build affordable cars.
GM could have been doing something like what we are asking for with 150-200ish miles range for the $20k-30k price point in the late 1990s/early 2000s with NiMH batteries and maybe 150-ish kW had they produced something akin to James Worden’s Solectria Sunrise design and used Alan Cocconi’s inverter tech, and then figured out how to lower costs as time went on and production volume ramped up. They chose to kill the EV1 and push out the Hummer instead. Now the Chinese are going to own the worldwide EV market.
Straight up, this not a car I would ever buy. There is nothing about its design or performance that attracts me. Storage cubbies, buttons and column shifters are not enough to overcome that lack of attraction. That said, based upon the number of similar looking vehicles on the road, the form factor must appealing to many people, so it could do very well. They won’t be selling one to me, though.
In my opinion, this vehicle is a real test for EV advocates. It really has just about everything they’ve been asking for in an EV.
-$30K price, more or less. In any case well below the average transaction price of a new vehicle and competitive with similar gas models after tax credit.
-Compact CUV shape, the very heart of the market.
-300 mile rated range, which according to commenters ought to be enough for anyone.
-No steering yokes, futuristic styling, shifter on a screen, or other purposely weird stuff. A normal CUV that mostly operates like any GM product.
-No objectionable tweets from the CEO of the company building it.
Quite frankly, if these don’t sell, red lights should be going off at every automaker and in the halls of government power. Every EV that’s come before has cost more, had lower range, or been an unpopular sedan. There’s no excuses with this one.
Now my own long-held personal opinion is that 300 miles isn’t enough, that people rightly buy vehicles for edge cases, and that mass acceptance won’t happen until 500+ mile vehicles are commonplace or charge times equalize with gas refueling. But if any vehicle is going to prove me wrong, this would be the one. Curious to see what happens.
I am the target market for the Equinox EV, but…no CarPlay/Android Auto is a dealbreaker,
Would it be GM if they didn’t trip over the last hurdle in a clumsy attempt to maximize profits (in this case trying to keep all that nice juicy data collection to themselves)?
There’s always the Prologue which is just this with a Honda badge slapped on, but does have full Android Auto and Carplay integration.
The Prologue is based on the Blazer and is several thousand more expensive
Ah. I lose track of the various flavors of GM generic crossover but a few inches longer.
Then it’s probably worth the extra money to me to get the Android Auto/Apple CarPlay, considering that a vehicle upgrade comes packaged with the improved software…
Seriously. This is a huge issue to me.
I used to be firmly in this camp, but after using the latest infotainment systems I’m not sure I’m as firm about this take. I can get google maps, any music streaming/podcasting I want, make calls, dictate text messages, and really everything I use CarPlay for. I’d still prefer they offer it but if the infotainment is good then I don’t need it. Plus I’ve seen so many vehicles with absolute garbage CarPlay reliability (cough…2024 Ford Lightning…cough) that I end up just using Bluetooth instead.
That’s just a GM thing.
Unless you think GM is experiencing a big drop in sales right now for that specific reason (NB: actually down 1% vs 2023), I think the idea that it would prevent mass acceptance of the Equinox is pretty unlikely.
Obviously anyone can find a reason not to buy something. I wouldn’t buy an Equinox myself. I’m highly skeptical that anything more than a few people would change a buying decision over infotainment.
You’d actually be surprised by how many stupid interface decisions they made on this – they actually scared me away from it completely.
Headlight controls in the touchscreen, no CarPlay/Android Auto, weird “you’re gonna need a subscription for this” things in the software, that irritating “it’s just on when you sit down” thing that I absolutely hate – and you have to go into the touchscreen to override it.
The more the sales guy explained how stuff worked, the less I wanted it.
Anyway it’ll be a Hyundai in my driveway when the time comes.
The headlights are automatic. Theres really no need to adjust anything unless you’re in a special case. It’s not like it’s hard to get to them in the infotainment, they have a dedicated button in there that takes 2 seconds to find
I had a Blazer EV as a loaner. I honestly didn’t miss android auto. They already have all the apps there and you just sign into your accounts once and you’re in permanently. It made AA and it’s glitchy nature just feel unnecessary. I think people won’t miss it
The thing is when you’re in a “special case” it’s usually a scenario where you’re not going to have the time to futz with a touchscreen. Daylight headlights are usually needed in heavy rain (which can happen very suddenly), heavy snow, or fog. Just having a switch is a better and safer setup.
As for no CarPlay/Android Auto, it’s because GM wants to sell subscriptions. Even the salesman I talked to mentioned subscriptions.
No REX, no dice.
I think this is a half correct take, but even if someone sells this vehicle for $15k there’s going to be a huge group of buyers who won’t touch it (i.e. most renters and apartment dwellers). The value proposition isn’t there if you have to rely on public chargers. Plus a lot of people are still intimidated by everything you have to do or learn to have a great experience.
My parents bought a Lightning recently and have a Level 2 charger in their garage. But they refuse to visit a DC fast charger, they’ve heard too many bad things and are confused by the different standards and charging companies. They also have a friend who bought a Tesla a few years back (because trendy) without a level 2 charger at home. They assumed they would just do all their charging at Superchargers. Predictably they hated it and sold it after 2 months.
I agree there are a lot of people who can’t or won’t put up with the sacrifices, but that’s part of my larger point.
This is the vehicle that people say they want. Maybe it sells great and the objections are moot.
But if it doesn’t, that’s a real blow against mass EV acceptance. Because there isn’t much more that GM or any other company can do with current technology. And mandates are coming sooner than we think.
There are no EV mandates, it was just a weak executive order by President Biden. GM has been working on EVs since the 1960s and has made a number which would sell well if they had a non-union Japanese badge on them…
That would be news to citizens of California, Washington, New York, the EU, and so on.
I think the term “EV mandate” was chosen by politicians to deliberately mislead people into believing the government will be forcing them to purchase something they don’t want. Nobody will be required to purchase an EV. It will simply no longer be possible to purchase a new ICE vehicle in certain places. I would be very surprised if they ever actually outlaw ICE vehicles, since that would be political suicide. Of course that assumes we will still be able to vote unpopular politicians out of office…
It amounts to the same thing; I could say I’ll just keep my gas truck forever, but a drunk driver could total it the day after the mandates take effect and I wouldn’t be able to buy a new one.
If that situation arises, maybe just buy a used truck. It might not have that new car smell, but I think it would do the job.
I agree that EVs are not nearly as attractive a proposition without home charging. Since there really isn’t a technical reason why Level 2 chargers can’t be installed pretty much anywhere with access to electricity, I think this problem will eventually be solved. I would like to see more being done on this front by government, since I don’t think the private sector has enough of a financial incentive to take it on.
I mean the federal government has earmarked $7.5 billion to build out the charging network. They’re not doing nothing.
That’s definitely a critical piece of the puzzle, but my sense is that the biggest impediment to wider EV adoption is the lack of availability of home charging, particularly for renters.
I just did a 900mi round trip this weekend, one tank each way.
My commute is 200mi round trip each way, and only has lvl2 charging available.
If the current trend of mileage in winter/snow cutting range by a quarter to half, I wouldn’t be able to recharge enough while at work to make it home. Even then, 80% to 20% SoC is the ideal window for battery health, which is 60%.
We really need lighter, more power dense batteries for EVs to make sense for those of us that live outside the city (including surrounding suburbs). Just being able to run 95-5 instead of 80-20 would be a huge improvement.
I test drove a 2021 Bolt that was part of the battery recall so it had a brand new battery. The fact that it really is a local car only (50 kw recharging), ruled it out for me even though the cabin was very roomy and spacious and ir drove well and felt overall like a solid vehicle.
This car looks like an improved Bolt.
Seems like a decent enough car, not sure how it’s gonna sell. Being in a medium midwestern town I have yet to see one, but that’s not saying much. Although Tesla’s have become a common enough sight around as to no longer be that noticeable, except for the one cyber truck that’s popped up so far.
I agree. I drove one back in June along with a few other EV’s at our local utility’s EV drive event. I liked the size better than the Blazer EV (which I drove about a week prior). It still had lots of passenger space and cargo room. It drove as nice as the other EV’s I drove that day, but had a much lower price. The interior felt more upscale than expected and was comfortable. I liked the real buttons for key functions and the volume knob. No electric juice for me though.
It’s selling like hotcakes here in Quebec. I’m seeing them almost daily now.
Shouldn’t that be “selling like crêpes“, or some other Frenchified term for pancakes?
It’s the best thing since sliced – um – poutine.
The French saying would be “Des p’tits pains chauds”.
For the sake of les automobilistes du Québec, let’s hope all those VEs don’t go p’tits up anytime soon.
I second this, I’m in north western Quebec and I’m seeing more and more ev’s on the road every day.
But to be fair, I’m seeing more Kia, more Hyundai and more GM. Not really noticing more of the others.
The 12000$ is going loosing 4000$ soon that helps too