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The entry level 1LT 2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV sets a new standard for value with its performance, features, and fuel savings. The higher trims have great features but face stiff competition. A few days ago, I got the chance to spend a couple of days in Detroit, and one of the days was focused on the Equinox EV. If you haven’t read my article on the car’s competitive position in the marketplace, make sure you read it here. This article is will cover the driving impressions I wasn’t allowed to share until today, plus other random thoughts that have popped into my head.

Exterior & Interior Design

I like the fresh look of the exterior, and especially the closed off front grille that tells the knowledgeable that this is an EV that doesn’t need the massive cooling that gas and diesel cars require.

The interior is a cross between the past and the future. It has a lot more buttons than a Tesla, but a lot fewer than cars designed 5 years ago. I noticed that all the new Chevy EVs are using the same instrument cluster and center display. The quality of the displays is good. The software is decent, but the design could use some more refinement. For example the icons you need to press to change the perspective of the navigation are too small to easily press when the car in moving. They claim to have the ability to do over-the-air updates, so let’s see if they use that capability to continually improve the car.

I found the system responsive and better organized than most. I found the interior roomy for front and rear passengers. I didn’t try the back seat for 3, but it looked okay for 3 average sized people (180 pounds each). I’m 6 foot 2 inches tall and I found the front and rear seats had plenty of headroom and legroom for me.

As you can see in the picture above, there is enough room for a couple of friendly people to sleep in the back. I don’t know if anyone has made a mattress for the car yet, but maybe a Model Y mattress would fit. It has a feature to keep the car on for an hour. That isn’t quite a camping feature, but you could wake up and get the climate control going every few hours when you get up to go to the bathroom. Hopefully that will be added in the future.

Chevrolet also knows safety is top priority for families and the Equinox EV delivers with a strong list of standard features:

• Chevy Safety Assist⁹, which includes Automatic Emergency Braking, Following Distance Indicator, Forward Collision Alert, Front Pedestrian Braking, Lane Keep Assist with Lane Departure Warning and IntelliBeam automatic high beams
• Rear Park Assist⁹
• Reverse Automatic Braking⁹
• Safety Alert Seat⁹
• Rear Cross Traffic Braking⁹
• Blind Zone Steering Assist⁹
• Adaptive Cruise Control⁹

Additionally, Super Cruise⁴, the industry’s first true hands-free driver-assistance technology is also available. It allows drivers to travel hands-free on more than 400,000 miles of compatible roads across the U.S. and Canada.

I tested the adaptive cruise control with lane keeping and I found it was okay. It kept me the appropriate distance from the car in front of me, but the lane keeping was primitive and just ping-ponged back and forth in the lane, unlike the smooth lane centering of more advanced systems like Chevy’s Super Cruise or Tesla’s Autopilot or FSD. I was pretty impressed with Super Cruise. It kept me centered in the lane, would do lane changes, and was hands free, but I don’t really recommend taking your hands off the wheel, since you are still responsible for taking over at any time. The rear park assist was easier to use than Tesla’s current park assist  — which is included in Tesla’s Full Self Driving (Supervised) upgrade at $99 a month or $8,000, but also includes a lot more.

As you can see, it has a long list of safety features. We will have to wait for more testing (from places like the IIHS) to know the full story on safety, but it looks like they are trying to be competitive. Their record on existing cars is average, not bad but not award winning either as I read it.

Interior Design

I liked their combination of a configurable screen in front of the driver and a 17 inch center screen. I think a lot of people will like that the controls are modern and customizable, but not nearly as radical as Tesla’s philosophy of making you do almost everything from the center screen. I found the seats comfortable and found that they ride softer than my Tesla Model Y. I especially liked the model I tried that had heated and cooled seats.

Performance, Driving Dynamics, and Handling

I found the performance of the front-wheel-drive model to be fine. With a 0 to 60 mph time of 8 seconds, I didn’t consider it fast or slow, just normal. It handled well, but didn’t give me the feel of a sport wagon. The all-wheel-drive model I drove was considerably faster (0 to 60 mph in about 6 seconds) and I could really tell the difference. Considering the performance difference and the better winter traction, I think it is well worth $3,300 if it is in your budget.

Pricing and Trim Levels

Trim	Select Content Details
1LT (available later in 2024)	$34,995 (less $7,500 Tax Credit) Manual-adjust front seats 17.7-inch-diagonal infotainment3 touchscreen Google Built-in 11-inch-diagonal driver information center 19-inch machine-face aluminum wheels
2LT	$43,295 (less $7,500 Tax Credit) 8-way power-adjustable driver seat Heated front seats and heated steering wheel Available Black with Blue Accents interior or Sky Cool Gray interior 17.7-inch-diagonal infotainment3 touchscreen Google Built-in 11-inch-diagonal driver information center 19-inch machine-face aluminum wheels Front LED light bar Roof rails Heated outside mirrors AutoSense power liftgate Adaptive Cruise Control8 and HD Surround Vision8 Available Super Cruise4 driver assistance technology Available White roof with Riptide Blue exterior Available panoramic sunroof
2RS	$44,795 (less $7,500 Tax Credit) 8-way power-adjustable driver seat Heated front seats and heated steering flat-bottom steering wheel Available Black with Red Accents interior or Adrenaline Red interior 17.7-inch-diagonal infotainment3 touchscreen Google Built-in 11-inch-diagonal driver information center Standard 21” aluminum wheels Front LED light bar Roof rails Heated outside mirrors AutoSense power liftgate Adaptive Cruise Control8 and HD Surround Vision8 Available Super Cruise4 driver assistance technology Available Black roof Available panoramic sunroof
3LT	$45,295 (less $7,500 Tax Credit) Front heated/ventilated seats and rear outboard heated seats Available Black with Blue Accents interior or Sky Cool Gray interior Heated steering wheel Dual-zone climate control Heated wiper park 17.7-inch-diagonal infotainment3 touchscreen Google Built-in 11-inch-diagonal driver information center Available panoramic sunroof 21-inch aluminum wheels Front LED light bar Roof rails Heated outside mirrors Standard AutoSense power liftgate Standard Adaptive Cruise Control3 and HD Surround Vision3 Available Super Cruise4 driver assistance technology
3RS	$46,795 (less $7,500 Tax Credit) 8-way power-adjustable driver seat and 6-way power-adjustable front passenger seat Front heated/ventilated seats and rear outboard heated seats Available Black with Red Accents interior or Adrenaline Red interior Heated flat-bottom steering wheel Dual-zone climate control Heated wiper park 17.7-inch-diagonal infotainment3 touchscreen Google Built-in 11-inch-diagonal driver information center Available panoramic sunroof 21-inch aluminum wheels Front LED light bar Roof rails Heated outside mirrors Standard Autosense power liftgate Standard Adaptive Cruise Control8 and HD Surround Vision8 Available Super Cruise4 driver assistance technology

Note: The large table above may not show on some mobile devices.

As far as value for your money, you can’t beat the 1LT trim, but I also like the 3LT AWD trim with Super Cruise. Although those options add $16,300 to the car, they do add a lot of functionality and luxury to the car. The middle trims didn’t do much for me, but you may like them.

How Does The Car Compare To The Gas Equinox?

For those eligible for the $7,500 tax credit (which is pretty much everyone who would consider this car), it costs about the same as the gas version at the low end (both start at about $28,000 once the 1LT model becomes available). The performance of the gas Equinox is a lot slower (1 second slower on the FWD and 2 seconds slower for the AWD). The gas Equinox interior has tiny screens and analog gauges that look dated, and it doesn’t offer advanced features like Super Cruise or Rear Park Assist, but at about $40,000, it once again costs about the same as the much superior Equinox EV 3LT.

Conclusion

Considering that the Equinox EV looks better, inside and out, performs better, costs about the same to buy, and will save the average driver over $6,000 over 5 years in fueling costs, who would buy the gas Equinox? The answer is people who would never even consider an electric car — so they don’t realize all the advantages electric cars have. The car does have tough EV competition, as I covered in my article last week. Briefly, the 1LT model will set a new standard in value in the compact crossover segment, while the higher trims have stiff competition from Tesla, Hyundai, and Kia (and others, like the Volvo EX30, coming soon).

Disclosure: I am a shareholder in Tesla [TSLA], BYD [BYDDY], Nio [NIO], XPeng [XPEV], Hertz [HTZ], NextEra Energy [NEP], and several ARK ETFs. But I offer no investment advice of any sort here. General Motors covered my travel expenses to show me several new products (GM Energy, Equinox EV and Silverado EV RST First Edition).