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Auto review: Behind the wheel of Chevy’s Tesla fighter, the Equinox EV


DETROIT — EV1, Volt, Bolt … Equinox.

The days of lab experiments are over. General Motors Co. is taking aim at the meat of the American electric vehicle market with one of its most respected SUV badges. My 2024 Equinox EV tester is not only a statement that the General’s historic transition away from internal combustion engines by 2035 has begun, but that Tesla Inc. is the target.

Where its EV predecessors (especially the Bolt hatchback, which went head-to-head with the Tesla Model 3’s launch in 2017) all sought to blaze the EV trail, Equinox EV acknowledges Tesla as the OG.

Now Chevy aims to beat it with a formidable entry. The harder task? Beating the formidable, internal combustion engine-powered Equinox across the showroom.

Tesla put the smartphone on wheels, and Chevy signals its high-tech ambitions with a sci-fi design right out of the movie “Tron.” An LED running light wraps Equinox EV’s upper fascia — wee headlights barely discernible below. Light Cycle meet Equinox.

Cruising downtown Detroit, my two-tone, blue-and-white 2LT test mule was easy on the eyes — just like Tesla’s Model Y, which has aged nicely since its 2020 debut. Merging with authority onto I-75 North, the Equinox EV responded to my lead foot with liquid-smooth power.

But like other GM models I’ve tested based on the Ultium battery platform, Equinox EV was porky. The AWD version lags Model Y to 60 mph by a second, and I could feel its girth in the curvy bits.

Equinox EV tips the scales at 1,000 pounds more than the 4,400-pound Model Y. All that weight comes even as the EV eschews a frunk (front trunk), a clever piece of engineering that Chevrolet adopted for the Silverado EV — and that the Model Y and Ford Mustang Mach-E have used for added cargo room where the engine used to be.

Equinox’s Tesla learnings grow stronger inside.

“Hey, Google, navigate to Charlevoix,” I barked, and the native Google Maps system methodically traced a route from Detroit northward (starting with 50% charge of 167 miles) with two charging stops in Detroit and West Branch.

Google Built-In is Tesla’s navigation equivalent in planning a trip with charging stops.

This system is embedded in a big dual dash screen now common across the Chevy EV/ICE lineup from Silverado on down. I’m a fan. Its horizontal dash layout kept my eyes on the road compared to vertical, single-tablet interiors like those found in Tesla, Mustang Mach-E, Polestar 2, Rivian, etc.

Paired with a digital instrument display, the infotainment screen offers superb ergonomics (a GM hallmark) with helpful knobs, buttons and movable icons. Notably, Chevy does not offer Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and there will be blowback.

Mrs. Payne, for example, likes to set her route options on her phone ahead of a trip — then see them replicated on the screen of her Subaru’s CarPlay app when she gets in the seat. The Chevy, by contrast, requires that you use its native Google Built-In system, just as Tesla has done for years.

The good news? The Tesla and Chevy Google Built-In systems are just as good as Google phone maps, while going above and beyond their phone peers in mapping your charge route — even providing helpful information on where to eat/shop while you wait to charge. Chevy goes a step beyond Tesla in delivering you to your destination with 30% of charge left — so you aren’t stranded on arrival.

Where the Equinox separates itself from Tesla is on driving assist and value.

Telsa may have pioneered Autopilot semi-autonomous driving, but it’s become annoying over time with constant nagging:

Keep your hands on the wheel! Keep your eyes on the road!

Aw, Mom. Super Cruise, on the other hand, allowed me to drive hands-free up I-75 so I could eat a snack and relax — the SUV taking over tasks like automatically changing lanes when it encountered a slower car.

This sci-fi tool will set you back $2,700 compared to Tesla Autopilot’s (cough) $8,000 Full-Self-Driving system. All told, an AWD (gotta have it for Michigan winters), $49,790 Equinox EV 2LT is over 10 grand cheaper than a comparable Model Y AWD. Subtract the $7,500 federal subsidy for the made-in-Mexico machine, and you’re looking at $42,290. Tesla beware.

But … that sticker is still a whopping 7 grand north of the top-trim, full-leather full-monty Equinox ICE Premium model, which gaps its EV sibling in important ways.

Start with the gas ute’s superior interior cargo and passenger room (40 inches of legroom in back). Or the fact that the upgraded 2025 Equinox ICE gets the same screens and nifty ergonomics as the EV. Or the ICE’s 468 miles of range, which will nearly get you to Charlevoix — and back! — without a gas station stop. Need petroleum? Refuel it in five minutes. My one-way, two-stop EV charging trip up north requires 5.5 hours. That’s, ahem, 1.45 hours longer than the ICE model. Are we there yet?

Clearly not, which is why EVs remain a luxury buy.

You’ll want to shell out an extra $2,000 for a home charger so you can use the Equinox EV around town. That’s $44K total for the Equinox EV, which is just a few grand shy of a Cadillac XT4 Sport. I like what Chevy is doing with its Equinox design, but can it compete with GM’s vaunted luxury brand? That will be a tough sell for the average Chevy customer.

GM and its government allies are betting the farm on an all-electric future just like Tesla. The General is banking on EV fueling infrastructure catching up with gas stations — and to government jacking up petrol prices to deter ICE sales (see California’s expected $1 jump in gas prices over the next year to $6 a gallon).

First in the line for infrastructure relief is Tesla opening its NACS charger network to GM vehicles. When that day comes (perhaps later this year), an Equinox EV on a Tesla charger should gain 105 miles in 10 minutes compared with a CCS charger’s 77 miles.

For those who don’t have to slog through six-month Michigan winters, the front-wheel drive Equinox EV 2LT I tested will save you $3,300. Burying the right pedal out of stoplight, the FWD Chevy smoothly transferred power via the front wheels. No torque-steer, no bother.

With Equinox EV, Chevy joins Hyundai in offering parallel EV and ICE products lines. Unlike Hyundai (the EV9 EV vs. Telluride ICE), Chevy is giving its models the same name (Equinox EV vs. Equinox ICE, Blazer EV vs Blazer ICE, and so on).

The General’s’ march to full EVs is on.

2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV

Vehicle type: Electric, front- and all-wheel-drive, five-passenger SUV

Price: $43,295, including $1,395 destination charge ($52,795 3RS as tested)

Powerplant: 85-kWh lithium-ion battery with electric motor drive

Transmission: Single-speed

Power: 213 horsepower, 236 pound-feet of torque (FWD); 288 horsepower, 333 pound-feet of torque (AWD)

Performance: 0-60 mph, 5.9 seconds (mfr.)

Weight: 5,400 pounds (est.)

Fuel economy: EPA est. range, 319 miles (FWD); 285 miles (AWD)

Report card

Highs: Sci-fi styling; Google Built-In navigation

Lows: No Apple CarPlay/Android Auto; porky

Overall: 3 stars

——–

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpaynedetroitnews.com or Twitter HenryEPayne.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.



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