Starting out at $35
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00:00 Do you think EVs are too expensive? I'm right there with you, and Chevrolet agrees with us.
00:05 We're in the 2024 Equinox EV, and when the base version goes on sale later this year,
00:11 it will start at about $35,000, and that's before a $7,500 tax credit. So all in, you could get this
00:20 small SUV for about $28,000, which puts it right in line with a whole lot of competitors
00:27 with gas engines. Of course, that's the base model, and it's possible to option one of these
00:33 Equinox EVs up to $50,000 and beyond. So the question really is, at $28,000 and each of the
00:41 intermediate pricing steps, are you getting a comparable vehicle to a gas compact crossover?
00:47 The Equinox EV comes in two powertrain configurations. All-wheel drive versions
00:52 are good for 288 horsepower, and they'll do 0-to-60 in about 6 seconds, which is quick
00:58 by the standards of the compact SUV segment, but not necessarily quick for an EV. Front-wheel drive
01:04 versions make 213 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque, and that might not sound like much,
01:10 but it's actually enough to get some torque steer at the steering wheel, which is kind of a unique
01:15 feeling in an EV. The front-wheel drive version should silence any concerns about range. It's
01:20 rated for 319 miles. You get the all-wheel-drive version, there is a range hit. That one's rated
01:26 for 285 miles. It's impossible to talk about the Equinox EV without thinking about the Bolt EV,
01:33 which GM recently took out of production. That was kind of the alternative. It was priced right
01:39 around $28,000 to start. It was a much narrower car, a dorkier-looking car. So the Equinox takes
01:46 it a little more mainstream. It's a bigger package that should be more comfortable for family buyers.
01:52 Dynamically, the Equinox EV is nothing special. You wouldn't call it sporty. It is competent.
01:58 I think the ride quality is generally pretty good. The handling is exactly what the customer is
02:03 expected to be, and of course, because it's an EV, it's got nice, smooth, instantaneous responses,
02:10 even if it's not that quick. I do think the ride quality could be a little bit better. I would say
02:16 a 9 out of 10 suspension hits. It's fine. When you get a low-set sewer or some of the roughest
02:24 pavement, the suspension can really crash through the cabin, and it can be noisy even when it's
02:30 working well. At low speeds, it also feels a little bit stiff, and the vehicle rocks around
02:36 as you move over those obstacles. There's two basic flavors of the Equinox EV. There's the LT
02:43 trim, which is the more mainstream version, and then there's the RS, which is a sportier,
02:48 more athletic appearance package. But dynamically, it doesn't drive all that different.
02:53 What's nice about the lineup is that you can get similar equipment levels between the LT or the RS,
02:59 so really you just have to make that decision based on your style preference, and then you can
03:04 choose 2LT, 3LT, 2RS, 3RS based on what kind of equipment level and the price that you're
03:11 comfortable with. The Equinox EV will charge at up to 150 kilowatts, which isn't all that fast
03:18 these days. If you buy a Hyundai or a Kia EV, you can get charging rates up to 240 kilowatts.
03:24 Driving this Equinox EV makes me think a lot about the Volkswagen ID.4, and I think this
03:29 solves two big issues with that EV. It's quite a bit cheaper, about $7,000 to start, and the user
03:38 interface, the infotainment system, is much, much better. That said, this GM software does get pretty
03:45 confusing when you start to dive into the menus. All Equinox EVs come with this 17-inch touchscreen
03:52 and an 11-inch instrument cluster. This nav system's based on Google Maps, which is great
03:57 for those of us that use this every day. Problem is, these icons are awfully small considering how
04:03 big the screen is. There's also some really strange logic with some of the menu structures.
04:09 You can just keep going deeper and deeper and deeper to get to some of the stuff you want.
04:14 Over here, you've got some quick access functions, but visually, these are blocked by the steering
04:19 wheel from the driver's vantage point. They also change whether you're driving or not, and those
04:25 icons move around. A $45,000 Equinox EV doesn't necessarily feel like a $45,000 gas compact
04:33 crossover. It's missing things like dual zone climate control and a sunroof, and some of these
04:40 plastics feel a bit low-rent. That said, GM has to offset the cost of the battery somewhere, right?
04:47 And by keeping the price point low, GM thinks they'll get people to make the switch, just based
04:52 on the attributes of an EV. Low operating costs, a smooth powertrain, a quiet cabin. There's
04:58 definitely some benefits to making that switch, even if it means trading away some of those comfort
05:04 conveniences.