A decade ago, the Chevrolet Equinox didn’t really capture the imagination of the public but it offered pretty good value for the money. Then, it received a stylish update and it remained a good value for your money. Now, the Chevrolet Equinox is available as an EV. It retained its stylish exterior but in becoming an electric vehicle, does it still offer good value for your hard earned money?
Performance
Motors – The 2025 Chevrolet Equinox EV is offered with one or two motors just like almost every other EV on sale today. The difference is that the single motor variant provides power to the front wheels instead of the rear wheels as it is more commonly found in other EVs. The FWD version produces 220 hp (164 kW) which is a bump from 213 hp (159 kW) from the 2024 model year. The demo vehicle I had the chance to drive had the dual-motor layout which produced 300 hp & 355 lb-ft of torque (224 kW & 481 Nm). These numbers have also been bumped up over the previous model year. With the Equinox EV weighing 2,301 kg (5,073 lbs), it can accelerate from 0-100 km/h in about 6 seconds which is average for this type of electric vehicle. It feels plenty quick for city streets and it has no issues when merging onto a highway.
Battery, Range, & Charging – In the floor of the Equinox EV is an 85 kWh battery pack. It enables the EV to drive for up to 494 km (307 Miles) in this AWD version. The FWD version can be driven for up to 513 km (319 Miles).
The Equinox EV can be recharged at a maximum rate of up to 150 kW from a DC charger and 11.5 kW from an AC charger. However, a 19.2 kW onboard charger is optional on the RS trim. From the laval 3 charger at the maximum rate, Chevy says that it will add up to 124 km (77 Miles) of driving range for 10 minutes of charging. From the level 2 charger at the highest possible rate will add up to 54 km (33 Miles) of range per hour of charging.
Braking – The 2025 Chevy Equinox EV recuperates some energy through the use of regenerative braking. It also has a normal and a high one-pedal mode. High provides more regen braking which in turn slows down the car more quickly. However, I found the normal mode to be just as good whilst providing a smoother pedal actuation. From time to time, it did require a few applications of the brake pedal when needing to stop at the bottom of a hill. Otherwise, it provided plenty of stopping force in everyday city driving situations without needing to touch the brake pedal.
Speaking of which, if you decide not to use the one-pedal mode, the Equinox EV has strong brakes with a firm and confidence inspiring brake pedal feel.
The Equinox EV is also equipped with regen on demand. This provides maximum regenerative braking whenever the driver pulls on the left hand steering wheel paddle. Unfortunately, this paddle is like an on/off switch so it makes for a jerky use. I’m surprised that the Equinox EV did not get the same variable paddle as the Silverado EV as that is much smoother to use.
Handling – Although this particular Equinox EV has a sporty “RS” badge on it, it’s not a particularly sporty EV to drive. The steering is fairly light but precise. It firms up a little bit when switching the car into Sport mode but it’s not a drastic change. Body roll is fairly well controlled but you can feel the shift in weight as the car goes from corner to corner. Overall, it’s an easy and stress-free car to drive which puts it in line with what these type of vehicles were designed for.
Comfort
Ride Comfort – The 2025 Chevrolet Equinox EV provides a comfortable ride. The crossover is not available with adaptive suspension but neither are most competitors. The standard setup provides good isolation from bumps and road imperfections.
I also found the seats to be adequate for long commutes to and from work. They have the basic adjustments such as height and lumbar support, with the cushions providing a decent amount of comfort. Over longer journeys, say 2+ hours, the seats can start to induce a bit of back pain.
Interior Space – The Chevy Equinox EV is about average in size. It provides about as much headroom as the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and about as much legroom as the Ford Mach-E. For my height of 6’4”, I have enough space in the front seats and just enough in the back seats. My knees lightly brush the back of the front seat behind my tall driving position.
Behind the seats, the Equinox EV provides 747 L (26.4 cu-ft) of cargo space. Under the trunk floor, there is a small storage bin for small items such as the charging cable. With the back seats folded, cargo capacity increases to 1,620 L (57.2 cu-ft). Under the hood, you will not find any additional storage space.
Noise, Vibration, & Harshness – Overall, the Equinox EV is a very quiet vehicle. There’s obviously no powertrain noises, unless you switch the car to Sport mode which will play some “exciting” sounds through the speakers. Wind noise on highways is negligible and road noise from the tires is not too loud considering this demo vehicle came equipped with snow tires which are generally louder than all-season tires.
Odds and Ends
Pricing – The 2025 Chevrolet Equinox EV starts at $44,999 CAD ($33,600 USD) for the LT FWD. The RS FWD starts at $49,999 CAD ($43,400 USD) with this AWD as equipped model costing $61,759 CAD ($53,445 USD).
Gadgets – If you choose a well loaded Equinox RS like this demo vehicle, then it will come equipped with quite a lot of convenience features. Some of these include heated & ventilated front seats, synthetic leather upholstery that feels pretty good to the touch, a heated steering wheel, dual-zone automatic climate control, a wireless phone charging pad, a power liftgate, surround view cameras, a large 17.7” touchscreen, ambient lighting, built-in WiFi, and so on.
The infotainment system is Google based and features built-in Google apps such as Google Maps, Google Store, and Google Assistant which can help operate some functions of the car in addition to helping with seamless navigation directions. The system is partially customizable with the main menu icons being rearranged to your liking or your favorites can be added to the top of the screen. The digital driver display can also be changed from a few preset displays.
Another gadget that is available on this Equinox EV is Super Cruise. This is GM’s hands-free system that can operate on most highways throughout Canada and the United States. This is a smooth system that just requires the driver to pay attention to the road ahead. It can smoothly take corners and can also make lane changes with the turn of the indicator stalk or automatically if a slower moving vehicle is encountered and a free space is available to the left of the car.
Interior Design – The 2025 Equinox EV has a thoroughly modern interior, that is, its primary focal point is the main infotainment touchscreen. While most functions are embedded into this screen, Chevy has given the occupants physical knobs for the temperature control, radio volume, and toggle switches for the fan air speed. There are also simple to use buttons on the steering wheel, simple wiper controls on the left stalk and a simple gear selector on the right steering wheel stalk. The headlight controls, however, are integrated into the touchscreen. Thankfully, they have their own dedicated, large icon (not unlike the GMC Canyon) and of course they turn on automatically when the ambient light is dim.
The fit and finish of the interior feels good for the price point. The air vents have red accents, the red stitching on the seats is straight, and while the cabin does use a lot of plastic, the hard plastics are related to the lower portions of the cabin that you would rarely touch. Softer plastics are used for high touchpoint areas.
Exterior Design – The Chevy Equinox EV is a looker. I’m not the biggest fan of the black on black look but the Equinox can pull it off. It looks futuristic without missing polygons like the Tesla Cybertruck. I particularly like how it looks from the back with the LED light bar which seems to point to the Chevy logo in the middle. As for the headlights, well you may be wondering if they got clogged up with snow while driving like the Tesla Cybertruck. During the day that I drove this car in heavy snow, I did not see any accumulation of snow in the recessed headlights.
Safety – Whether you opt for the LT trim or the RS trim, the 2025 Chevrolet Equinox EV is equipped with the same safety & driver aids. The only option is the Active Safety Package 3 which includes enhanced automatic parking assist (which does require other vehicles around the Equinox to be able to properly park in between them or next to them) and GM’s Super Cruise system.
One thing that I want to mention about the safety systems is that the forward collision alert system needs a bit more fine tuning. During the week that I drove the car, there was one day of nothing but sunshine. This produced a lot of harsh and dark shadows and the angle of the sun was lower due to it being winter. So every time the car went from an area of bright sunshine to dark shadows, the FCW system (which uses a camera) gave me a false warning thinking that I would crash into something. During the rest of the week, it was either snowy or cloudy so I had far fewer instances of the FCW system giving me false readings.
Warranty – The Chevrolet Equinox EV is covered by a 3 year / 60,000 km new vehicle warranty and an 8 year / 160,000 km battery warranty. For more information on Canadian warranty, click here. For USA warranty information, click here.
Conclusion – In the end, the Chevrolet Equinox EV is not an electric vehicle that excels in any one area. It’s decently spacious, the range is about the same as any other EV of this size, and it can be equipped the same as any other EV in this category. But its pricing undercuts the Ford Mach-E, Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, and Tesla Model Y. So it remains as a stylish and a good value even in electric form.
Thank you to Chevrolet Canada for providing the vehicle. www.Chevrolet.ca
2025 Chevrolet Equinox EV Gallery
