Chevrolet is launching two new Equinox models this year, a gas version and the battery-powered Equinox EV.
The current Equinox is GM’s best-selling model that isn’t a truck and Rory Harvey, the automaker’s Executive Vice President and President, Global Markets told American Cars And Racing that the Equinox EV is its most important electric vehicle launching this year.
“I would say so. If you look at it in terms of the volume that we’ve got and you look at what it’s going to do in terms of the industry,” Harvey said.
The compact SUV class that the Equinox EV will compete in is the largest vehicle segment in the U.S. and already packed with electric vehicles like the Volkswagen ID.4, Ford Mustang Mach-E and Tesla Model Y.
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The Equinox EV will first appear in showrooms will have a starting price of $43,295 for a mid-level 2LT trim with front-wheel drive and a range of 319 miles per charge, but a 1LT will join the lineup later this year at $34,995. All qualify for the $7,500 federal tax credit, which means it will be possible to buy one for $27,495 before any state incentives are factored in.
“If you look at things the consumer wants, they want affordability, they want range and the other thing they want is functionality and the Equinox EV is an EV from the ground up, so we think it tics all three boxes,” Harvey said.
GM discontinued the $27,495 Chevrolet Bolt last year and won’t be replacing it until late 2025, so the Equinox EV will be its entry-level electric vehicle for a while, but the price puts it far below any competitors near its size and range.
“A lot of the early EV adopters have bought an EV and I think the Equinox EV gives us the opportunity to turn heads again and give people the second look in terms of ‘is an EV for me?'”
The Equinox EV is an entirely different vehicle from the gas-powered Equinox, but keeping the legacy name helps position it in consumer’s minds. Chevrolet has done the same with the Blazer EV and Silverado EV, both of which will be sold alongside their internal combustion engine counterparts for the time being.
With the EV adoption rate turning out to be slower than expected, Harvey said the customer and regulations will dictate which direction the company goes.
“We are able to mix and match the volumes based on customer demand, so we go where the customer is.”
GM is also planning to bring plug-in hybrids back into its model mix, but the first ones aren’t expected to arrive in the U.S. until the 2027 model year. The Equinox Plus sold in China today has a 365 hp all-wheel-drive powertrain and 63 miles of all-electric range on the Chinese rating system.
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