Mounted between the axles, the 85 kWh lithium-ion battery pack powers the Equinox EV and provides an EPA range of 319 miles (513 km) on a full charge. Unhelpfully, GM lists charging as “up to 36 miles of range per hour of charging” for AC level 2 charging (at up to 11.5 kW), or “approximately 77 miles of range in 10 minutes” with a DC fast charger of up to 150 kW, but does not publish a 0–100 percent AC time or a 10–80 percent DC time. We fast-charged the car from 34 percent without preconditioning the battery. Charging peaked at 75 kW and required about 45 minutes to reach 80 percent. The charge port is CCS1, although Chevrolet will sell you an adapter to use NACS chargers.
With a full battery in below-freezing conditions, the Equinox showed an estimated 311 miles (500 km) of range, and over our week we averaged 3.5 miles/kWh, despite running the heater—there’s no need to shiver in the car to make a point.
It may be just the right size.
Credit:
Chevrolet
An all-wheel-drive variant is offered, but we evaluated the front-wheel-drive Equinox EV. The permanent-magnet synchronous motor produces 220 hp (164 kW) and 243 lb-ft (329 Nm), which keeps the car feeling lively. There are two levels of lift-off regenerative braking for the one-pedal driving mode, toggled on or off via a persistent icon on the 17.7-inch infotainment screen, but even with one-pedal driving disabled there is still some lift-off regen, so you can’t coast the Equinox the way you might a European or Korean EV.
The part everyone will be talking about
The infotainment screen is bright, readable, and responsive, and the built-in Google Maps navigation performs well, particularly with voice input. The backup camera also deserves praise—one of the sharpest and highest-resolution units I’ve seen all year. However, other voice commands on the Android Automotive OS-based system were hit-or-miss. Frankly, I missed having Apple CarPlay for my music and messaging integration.
