This week, I had the terrific 2025 Chevy Equinox SUV. If you are a regular listener to the Car Pro Show, you know this is one of my most recommended compact SUVs, primarily because it is roomier than most, it is extremely stylish, and it drives very nicely. It is also a very good value for the money. You should also know that this particular one is the all-electric version. I love what GM is doing by offering gasoline versions of many of their EVs. The Equinox, the Blazer, and the Silverado are available as electric or gasoline and you can easily make a comparison. For those on the fence on whether to go electric or not, this is really handy.
Exterior
My test vehicle is the LT trim, the entry level version before you get to the sporty RS.
It has sharp looking body lines, beautiful 21” aluminum wheels, a rear spoiler, and I love the Riptide Blue paint color with a contrasting white roof.
Flush door handles pop out to greet you when the key gets close to the car. This SUV emits a very sporty look, and you’d likely never know this was an electric car.
Performance
The Equinox EV is powered by an 85-kWh Lithium-Ion battery rated at 200-horsepower. My tester is the front-wheel drive version, so it has one electric motor in the front, but there is a dual motor setup if you want all-wheel drive and that will boost you up to 300-horses. Range is always the big question and this one is rated at 319-miles and it was tracking on that mileage with the air-conditioning going strong, and a lot of highway speeds of 75-miles per hour. The dual motor version does boost the power, but it cuts the range down to 285-miles. On the gasoline side, you can get a 1.5-liter 4-cylinder turbo, which will net you 175-horses and trips to the gas station.
Interior
Inside the Equinox LT has Evotex two-tone faux leather seats in black and white with white stitching around, and although there is a lot of plastic inside, it is mostly soft to the touch.
As soon as you enter the cabin, you will notice a huge 17.7” touchscreen that looks awesome, especially for an SUV in this price range. In front of the driver are the digital gauges which give you your speed, your battery range, the time, temperature outside, which gear you are in, and your odometer. It is easy to read and colorful.
The big screen operates the stereo, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi hotspot, Google built-in with maps and navigation system, Spotify, and a huge group of apps including Alexa, Waze, and the MyChevrolet app which you can use to direct yourself to the nearest of 174,000 public chargers that are available.
Oddly, my test vehicle has neither Apple CarPlay nor Android Auto. The center console has a couple of cup holders, a center glove box, and the air conditioning controls sit just above that. There is also a wireless phone charger.
Moving to the back seat, there is a surprising amount of leg room and good headroom, and it has USBs, air vents, and a 110-volt power outlet for charging your devices.
Cargo area is good at 57-cubic feet of cargo area with the two back seats folded down, and there is additional storage under the load floor.
On the safety front, you get automatic emergency braking, forward collision alert, front pedestrian and bicycle braking, safety alert seat, rear cross traffic alert, blind spot monitoring, reverse automatic braking, adaptive cruise control, and automatic intersection braking which is awesome if you are entering an intersection and someone runs a red light or stop sign.
Options
My review vehicle has $15,545 in options, just a little less than half the base price of the car. The largest item is the $11,400 Convenience Package II. This gives you an 8-way power driver’s seat with power lumbar and memory, a 6-way power passenger seat with lumbar, heated and cooled front seats, heated rear seat, heated steering wheel, heated mirrors, rear camera with washer, a terrific head-up display, universal garage opener, ambient lighting, LED lights all around, rear seat reminder, HD Surround Vision backup camera, and traffic sign recognition. This is a pricey package but filled with options people can actually use.
It also has the $3,355 Active safety package 3, which gets you GM’s terrific Super Cruise semi-self-driving system and automatic parallel parking assist. The white painted rood is $495, and a dual-level charge cord is $295.
If you are not familiar with Super Cruise, GM has driven and mapped out almost 750,000 miles of divided highways across America. On an approved road, you’ll get a green light on the dash. Set the cruise control, hit the Super Cruise, and the vehicle literally drives itself. If you want to change lanes, turn on your blinker and it will make sure there is enough room and will change lanes for you. A small camera on the steering wheel monitors your eyes to make sure you are engaged, and if not, you get a verbal warning. After that, the car will start to slow down, the flashers come on, and it will safely get you off the road and OnStar will call for help. This is in case the driver is incapacitated. I’ve tested many of these systems, and still this one performs best in my opinion.
The Equinox EV surprised me with a super quiet interior and zero road noise. It has good acceleration, a great ride, and responsive steering. It is a great driving vehicle around town but also on the highway at 85-miles per hour.
One feature I really enjoyed was one-pedal driving. Some people don’t like it, but when you get good at using it, you’ll only hit your brakes in emergency situations. The Equinox immediately starts to slow down when you take your foot off the gas. The friction from the deceleration sends a charge back to the battery to extend the range. When the one-pedal driving system brings the SUV to a full stop, the Auto Hold brake comes on until you hit the accelerator again.
The other thing I liked is when you get in the driver’s seat with the key in your pocket or purse and put your foot on the brake, the vehicle comes on by itself. This was weird at first, but then I grew to really like the fact there was no start button. Being electric there is no sound, but the entire huge screen comes alive. When you put it in park and let your foot off the brake, it turns itself off. This was a really neat feature.
Charging times are good. With a fast charger, you can get 75-miles of range in 10-minutes, so in 40-minutes you can get real close to a 100% charge.
With a level 2 charger like I have in my garage, you can get a 100% charge in about 8 hours. With a 110-outlet, like in your wall plugs at home, it’s a long process, days to be precise and I don’t recommend even trying this.
Fuel economy is terrific at 117-MPGe in town and 100-MPGe on the highway, a combined of 109-MPGe. MSRP on this very well-equipped SUV is $50,540. The base price is just $33,600 before any dealer discounts, factory rebates, or the $7,500 federal rebate is applied, and that my friends is an exceptional buy for an EV that is this enjoyable.
Electric or gas, this is an outstanding SUV. However, if you are not a high mileage driver, and you have another vehicle for long trips, this would be one you’d want to consider going electric. This is an incredibly enjoyable SUV to drive.