GM’s latest look at the Equinox EV has us guessing on range, battery, and price

Ahead of its scheduled arrival this coming fall, GM has shared its most in-depth look at the 2024 Chevy Equinox EV yet in a video you can view below. By promising a starting price at around $30,000, the Equinox EV is sure to capture plenty of customers, whether they are current GM owners or not. However, the American automaker has not yet to show all its cards when it comes to this electric compact SUV. Naturally, our curiosity (and impatience) has gotten the best of us, leading us to take our best guess at what consumers can truly expect to see.

GM shared news of its plans to bring an all-electric version of the Equinox when it bombarded the public with several announcements at CES early 2022 that also included an all-electric Chevy Silverado and Chevy Blazer EV.

Over the past year, GM has shared tidbits of new information surrounding the Equinox EV, including the five different trims that will become available, but we still know little about its price. One of the most appealing factors in the new electric SUV is that GM is promising it will start around $30,000 – a holy grail number many automakers have set their sites on, but few have actually delivered upon.

In March of 2022, GM shared a new video of the Equinox EV, sharing that it will sit atop the Ultium Platform, come equipped with Super Cruise, and feature a two-tone exterior on the LT trims you can see in the image below. No pricing at that point, but that’s understandable.

Last September, GM graced us with a slew of new details surrounding the Equinox EV, including its trim levels and estimated range for each, but still no price other than the long-promised “around $30K.” Here are how the trims will break down:

The $30,000 price tag will obviously apply to the FWD 1LT version of the Equinox EV – last on GM’s production to-do list, but what size will that smaller battery be? What about the standard Ultium battery pack, and how much more will that cost?

While we know a lot more about the Equinox than we did a year ago, we still have a lot of questions about specifications that are truly vital to consumers pondering going electric – further still, those who are considering a GM brand EV.

Can Equinox EV deliver 250-mile range for its $30K price?

Chevrolet posted the video below to its YouTube page this week, sharing an in-depth look at the Equinox EV, particularly the two-tone 3LT trim, but what about price? Not yet my friends, not yet.

Before we dig into that, let’s start with the battery pack. This pack exists as part of GM’s modular Ultium EV platform, the base to current models like the Hummer EV and Cadillac Lyriq, which will soon be joined by other models like the electric Blazer and GMC Sierra EV Denali Edition.

For the sake of comparison, the Lyriq is the closest in size and comes equipped with a 100 kWh battery pack that delivers an EPA-estimated 312 miles of range. Based on the size and GM’s estimated range (not EPA) around 300, we’d expect the standard battery pack to be similar in the Equinox EV.

That would also mean the Equinox EV’s standard pack would deliver similar charge rates to the Cadillac Lyriq as well. GM’s luxury brand SUV currently accepts up to 190 kW on a DC fast charger, garnering up to 76 miles of range in about 10 minutes.

For the smaller pack, we think GM could lean down as far as 52 kWh to try and hit that $30K price point, but if so, we’d expect real-world range to be lower than the 250 miles being estimated. Probably closer to 200 or 210 miles on a full charge.

If the low-end price of the Equinox EV will be around $30,000, we’d expect the high-end 3RS trim to come in right around $60K – especially when you figure the Lyriq starts just below $63,000. For consumer optics, we could see GM topping out at a price of $59,990 for the top-tier Equinox because a “5” definitely looks more enticing than a “6,” especially in this economy.

Lastly, we want to be sure to relay that any mention of the Equinox EV price is purely speculative at this point until we hear official word from Chevy/GM. We also wanted to point out that when we got a peek inside the Equinox EV prototype at the LA Auto Show last fall, we saw a power outlet inside. GM has not mentioned that as a feature yet, so that will also be something to keep an eye on and potentially look forward to as we are sure to learn more before production begins in Mexico later this year.

You can check out the latest look at the Chevy Equinox EV in the video below, hosted by product specialist Dez.