GM’s $30K Chevrolet Equinox SUV is an affordable Ultium EV
Having rolled out a slew of prestige and luxury battery electric vehicles including the US$110,000 Hummer and US$60,000 Cadillac Lyriq, General Motors has now demonstrated its new Ultium EV tech can also be affordable.
It’s done that by revealing plans to launch an electrified Equinox SUV in 2023 priced from around $41,500 Aussie dollars.
In US dollar terms that’s $30,000, which means when it launches in late 2023 the Equinox will be priced right on top of the likable but old-tech and fire-prone Chevrolet Bolt that’s currently not even being built.
In current day terms, if it arrived in Australia priced from around $45,000 it would be one of the cheapest EVs on offer.
There’s no guarantee of Aussie sale of course.
The current ICE Equinox was sold here as a Holden between late 2017 and the brand’s demise in 2020. Holden’s successor, GMSV, sells the V8 petrol Chevrolet Silverado ute and Corvette sports car here, and would be importer. We’ve asked the question but so far had no reply.
The Equinox was previewed during General Motors CEO Mary Barra’s keynote address for the 2022 CES tech-fest in Las Vegas.
Barra streamed her speech in from Detroit because of COVID concerns, unveiling Equinox as a support act for the new Chevrolet Silverado EV, itself priced from as low as US$39,900 ($55,000) to, erm, US$105,000 ($145,000).
During the same speech she also confirmed an EV version of the Equinox’s bigger sibling, the Blazer SUV, would arrive early in 2023. In this case, no pricing or imagery was supplied.
In a short press release issued to coincide with Barra’s teaser, Chevrolet vice president Steve Hill made no bones about the importance of introducing an EV at a low price point.
“The Equinox has always played an important role for Chevrolet as the second-highest selling brand nameplate.
“Providing an affordable EV option in the industry’s highest volume segment proves Chevy is going to make EVs available to everyone.”
However, this far out, GM is not offering any performance or powertrain capacity details about the Equinox.
But it’s worth noting Ultium comes in front-, rear- and all-wheel drive and in single-, dual- and tri-motor set-ups. Battery packs can vary in size from 50kWh to 200kWh.
The new Equinox EV will sell alongside the ICE Equinox in the USA and be offered in fleet and retail versions including LT and RS trims. It will be available in the third quarter of 2023.
The illustrations issued by GM showed the Equinox RS trim in red and another high-spec in silver. The cockpit features a digital screen covering two thirds of the dashboard.
The Blazer, of which no detail was offered, will also be based on GM’s new-gen Ultium tech.
