An icon in the shape of an angle pointing down.
Nora Naughton, Business Insider
Nora Naughton, Business Insider
This is honestly a game changer. GM’s cars just got access to the Supercharger network in September.
I’ve driven the Chevrolet Bolt EV many times over the years, and the biggest struggle has always been finding a reliable place to plug in.
Tesla has always had the most robust and reliable charging network, and access to that has taken a ton of the stress out of keeping the Equinox EV juiced up.
Using the NACS adapter that GM provided me with for this test drive, I could fill up at any of the dozen Supercharger stations within driving distance from my house.
Charging up from 53% to 80% took about 35 minutes and cost $10.00.
Jim Fets, General Motors
The Equinox EV I have this week is equipped with GM’s hands-free highway driving system, Super Cruise.
As a suburbanite, I spend a lot of time on the highway getting to and from the city. Metro Detroit highways can be stressful to navigate, and having Super Cruise (with automatic lane change!) has taken a lot of that pressure off of my commutes.
Super Cruise is also easy to use. Like traditional cruise control systems, I activate it by touching a button on the steering wheel and deactivate by tapping the brake.
For automatic lane change, all I need to do is flip a turn signal, and the car changes lanes on its own when there is an opening. That is a Godsend in rush-hour highway traffic.
Nora Naughton, Business Insider
The Equinox EV isn’t a big car from the outside, but like many other electric cars, it has a surprising amount of space on the inside.
As a mom in a house with a toddler, two dogs, and two cats, the amount of trunk space in the Equinox EV is a huge selling-point for me.
With the rear seat folded, the Equinox EV offers up to 57.2 cubic feet of maximum cargo room. That’s compared to 54.7 cubic feet of max cargo space in my Subaru Crosstrek, which is similar in size to the Equinox EV.
Nora Naughton, Business Insider
The Equinox EV has a lot of little features that separate it from its gas-powered counterpart.
Perhaps the first one any driver will experience is the mechanical door handles, which are flush with the exterior when the car is locked and fold out to greet the driver when the car is unlocked. It’s also a helpful visual aid to remember if the car is locked.
This design cue is a direct nod to Tesla, which originated this door handle design. It’s also a nice touch.
On the Equinox EV, the automatic mechanical door handles make this capable and family-friendly crossover feel just a little more elevated. And if you’re worried about frozen door handles like Tesla drivers have reported, Chevy says it has addressed this with an ice-breaking algorithm built into the handles.
Nora Naughton, Business Insider
You can tell the Chevy team designed the Equinox EV to stand out from its gas-powered sibling.
The Equinox EV’s front end is more sleek, with a hood that swoops down into narrow headlights, giving the car a unique look at night.
The car has turned heads and started parking lot conversations since I started driving it around town, which is certainly not something I can say for gas-powered Equinoxes I have driven in the past.
