2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV Reviews, Pricing & Specs

At first glance, the Chevy Equinox EV doesn’t look so different from its ICE counterpart. The two share rounded wheel wells, black side skirts, a flat beltline, and a similar overall shape. Look a little longer, though, and you’ll start to see some differences. The lines of the EV are more decisive, the body-colored C-pillar thicker, the grille sleeker. Where the ICE Equinox has slim daytime running lights (DRLs) that just start to venture towards the center, the EV continues that line all the way across with an LED light bar on all but the base trim. Its front fascia has far more body color, as we’ve come to expect from EVs. And the rear, agin, is more decisive in appearance, trading shield shapes for hexagons and echoing the front end with another light bar. 19-inch aluminum wheels come standard on the 1LT and 2LT, while the other three trims get 21-inch versions.

If the Equinox EV looks a tad sleeker and more mature than the ICE version, that doesn’t mean it can’t still be youthful. Bright “Red Hot” and “Riptide Blue Metallic” color options have a transformative effect, rendering it funky and exuberant. Two-tone paint jobs are available as well: A white roof can be paired with Riptide Blue at the 2LT and 3LT trim levels, while the sportier 2RS and 3RS can get a black roof with any color. Galaxy Gray Metallic, meanwhile, is a more sophisticated spin on the gray car trend. We loved how it took on a lilac tinge in some lights.

In its base form, the Equinox EV is available only with black inside, but moving up the trim ladder unlocks additional interior colors. 2LT and 3LT offer a choice of black with blue accents or Sky Cool Gray, effectively a lightened version of the former. Sporty options become available for 2RS and 3RS, which can be had in either Adrenaline Red or black with red accents. Attention-phobes might get the wind up hearing about all of these departures from the grayscale, but we can assure you that of these, Adrenaline Red is really the only one that screams “look at me.” The Blue accents in our test car’s interior were downright retiring and paired nicely with its Galaxy Gray exterior.

The Equinox EV has a hands-free start feature standard. It’s not our favorite thing–we find it a little eerie–but it’s not completely out of the ordinary these days. The Volkswagen ID.4, for example, also takes advantage of the always-connected nature of EV batteries to allow the driver to simply get in and go.

With that one major exception, the Equinox EV should feel pretty “normal” to anyone who wants it that way. One-pedal driving is possible in all trims, but it’s not perpetually engaged. It can be managed via a standalone regenerative braking setting or through the drive modes, which include Tour, Sport, Snow/Ice, and My Mode. My Mode can be set to combine the owner’s preferences for steering feel, motor sound, throttle, and deceleration.

The Equinox EV drives nicely. The ride on our test car’s 19-inch wheels felt comfortable, and the crossover stayed planted and stable. We drove a single-motor, front-wheel-drive (FWD) variant with 213 horsepower and 236 lb-ft of torque. The Equinox EV with all-wheel drive (AWD) features a dual-motor powertrain rated at 288 horsepower and 333 lb-ft of torque. The vehicle can tow up to 1,500 pounds when properly equipped.

The EPA estimates 319 miles of range for FWD models and 285 for AWD, excellent numbers considering that the standard-range rear-wheel-drive (RWD) Hyundai Ioniq 5 is selling with 220 miles of range and the standard-range FWD Nissan Ariya with 216. Battery size is an important factor here: At least for the trims currently available, the Equinox EV has an 85-kilowatt-hour (kWh) "base" battery, while the base Ariya's is 63 kWh and the base Ioniq 5's is 58 kWh. It's possible that the Equinox EV LT1 will come with a smaller battery pack. For now, we might do better to compare the model to longer-range versions of those competitors. With its larger, 77.4-kWh battery, the Ioniq 5 has a range of 260-303 miles, while the Ariya's available 87-kWh battery gives it a range of 289-304 miles, both depending on drivetrain.

Every Equinox EV is capable of DC fast charging at up to 150 kW; at that speed, the battery should regain about 77 miles of range in 10 minutes. On a Level 2 (AC) charger operating at 11.5 kW, GM estimates that the battery will add up to 34 miles of range per hour. Our drive was part of a Chevrolet-hosted launch program, meaning we did not have time to experience charging ourselves, but we will plan to test that on a longer press loan in the near future.

As noted above, the base-model Equinox EV 1LT is not yet available. That means that you cannot currently get an Equinox EV without heated front seats, steering wheel, and outside mirrors, because all of those goodies become standard at the 2LT trim level. 2LT also adds an eight-way power-adjustable driver’s seat and makes the panoramic moonroof available. The 3LT trim gives the passenger’s seat power as well, in six directions. More important, in our opinion, is the addition of front-seat ventilation and heated rear seats. Those are premium features that have traditionally been hallmarks of luxury brands, so it’s impressive to see them in this mass-market American crossover. Dual-zone climate control is another story, however, and it strikes us as odd that Chevy limited that to 3LT and above. This once-premium feature is now standard on many affordably positioned, family-oriented crossovers, including competitors such as the Toyota bZ4X, Hyundai Ioniq 5, and Volkswagen ID.4.

We found the front seats comfortable. Our 2LT was not equipped with the optional panoramic moonroof, which made the upper regions of the cabin feel dark, but they weren’t cramped: The Equinox EV provides 39.15 inches of headroom up front and 38.49 in the second row, more than the bZ4X but just slightly less than the Ioniq 5. The Equinox EV also offers 41.65 inches of leg room in front, which bests the bZ4X, Ioniq 5, and ID.4, though the Ioniq 5 does better on rear-seat leg room. Chevy’s AutoSense power liftgate becomes standard at the 2LT trim level, opening on to 26.4 cubic feet of cargo space with all seats in place or 57.2 with the second row folded down. This puts the Equinox EV’s total cargo volume below all three of those competitors’, but those who need as much space as they can get shouldn’t be deterred: Roof rails come standard on all but the base trim.

Technology dominates the driver’s sense of the cockpit in the Equinox EV. The center stack is angled quite definitively toward that left-most front seat, and though the infotainment and driver-information screens are explicitly separated into two pieces, the overall effect is still one of a driver-oriented curved display.

Even the base 1LT trim will have the 17.7-inch infotainment touchscreen, which is the largest in the segment (and in most segments, for that matter). Also standard is the 11-inch screen which displays the gauges and other driver information. Google Built-In is standard, too, meaning every Equinox EV will have Google Maps, Google Assistant, and the Google Play Store on board. That means it does without standalone Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, however.

An eight-year OnStar Remote Access Plan subscription is also included with every Equinox EV. This time frame is exceptionally generous as trial subscriptions go, probably in part because keeping that subscription active is essential to the MyChevrolet app. The app offers navigation and route planning, which can account for the current state of charge, locate nearby examples of the more than 174,000 available public charging stations, and pre-condition the battery so it’s ready for max charging at arrival.

Chevy Safety Assist is standard, including automatic emergency braking, lane-keep assist with lane-departure warning, forward collision alert, automatic high beams, and more. Though Chevy treats these safety features as independent of the branded driver-assistance suite, the Equinox EV also gets standard rear park assist, reverse automatic braking, rear cross-traffic braking, blind-zone steering assist, Safety Alert Seat, traffic-sign recognition, and adaptive cruise control. GM’s Teen Driver Technology is also standard, meaning parents can program a key to set speed alerts, limit the volume of the sound system, and enforce the Buckle to Drive requirement. Teen Driver will also produce an in-vehicle “report card” cataloging the distance and top speed of the drive, along with a list of events that triggered the use of safety systems such as forward collision-avoidance braking.

Super Cruise, the hands-free highway-driving assist system developed by Chevy’s parent company, General Motors, becomes available starting with the 2LT trim. An enhanced automatic parking assist system is also available on higher trims.

Since the true base trim won’t be available till later this year, the Equinox EV’s effective starting price for now is $43,295 including destination. That’s for the 2LT, and it’s healthily competitive: The 2024 Nissan Ariya stars at $40,980, the 2024 Volkswagen ID.4 at $41,160, the 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 5 at $41,800, the 2024 Toyota bZ4X at $44,420, and the 2024 Tesla Model Y at $46,630. All prices in the preceding sentence are for two-wheel drive models (front- or rear-) and include destination (the Tesla’s also includes the $250 order fee). Out of the bunch, only the ID.4 and the Model Y are at or near the same level in terms of range, anticipating 291 and 320 miles respectively on a full charge. The other models require optioning a larger battery pack to get into this ballpark.

Moving up the Equinox EV trim ladder, pricing breaks down as follows: $44,795 for the 2RS, $45,295 for the 3LT, and $46,795 for the 3RS. All prices reflect FWD models and destination fees; adding eAWD to any trim of the 2024 Equinox EV will cost you an additional $3,300. Chevrolet backs the Equinox EV’s battery with an eight-year/100,000-mile battery warranty.

If the Equinox EV’s current base price is looking appropriate, its ultimate starting point is poised to blow the competition out of the water. The 2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV 1LT is set to start at $34,995, and that figure does account for the mandatory $1,395 destination fee. In a field seated firmly in the low to mid $40,000s, this is remarkable. And, Chevrolet reps tell us the Equinox EV will qualify for the full federal tax credit as well, as long as its purchaser does. That looks like a bargain to us, and with the Equinox’s relatively traditional design, you won’t have to opt for a head-turner of a vehicle to get it–unless you want to.