Chevrolet Equinox EV: Green Car Reports Best Car To Buy 2025 finalist

The Chevrolet Equinox EV is one of our Best Car To Buy 2025 finalists, and it shows how families on a budget can trade in their gasoline vehicle for a fully electric one that probably offers many of the same features and comfort, for a bottom line that’s no more than the equivalent gasoline model. 

While some Equinox EVs were delivered for a brief 2024 model year, for the purposes of this award we’re focusing on 2025—because that’s when the lower-priced Equinox EV LT version arrives, with a price tag starting at just $34,995 including destination. That includes the 85-kwh battery pack and an EPA-rated 319 miles.

For now the 2025 Chevy Equinox EV is an absolute steal, as those base Equinox EV models, like the whole lineup, qualify for the full $7,500 EV tax credit. That brings the effective price to just $27,495 for the LT. 

You get a lot of car for the money—not just a lot of electric car for the money. All versions include a full set of active safety features, automatic climate control, wifi hotspot capability, adaptive cruise control six-speaker audio, and a huge 17.7-inch touchscreen infotainment system that does pretty much everything you might want except play well with your phone through Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. 

Opt for the Comfort Package for $2,000 extra and you get heated seats, a heated steering wheel, and a power driver seat, plus an HD surround camera view, rear pedestrian warning, and more. A dual-pane panoramic sunroof costs $1,500 extra. And GM’s Super Cruise (for three years) plus an enhanced automatic parking assist feature come together in a $3,355 package. 

Base LT front-wheel-drive versions of the Equinox EV make 220 hp and 243 lb-ft of torque. They’re the $34,995 bargain here, while dual-motor all-wheel-drive versions make 300 hp and 355 lb-ft and start at $40,295. 

Chevy is marketing the Equinox EV as an SUV; but really, it’s a station wagon. At 190.6 inches long, the Equinox EV is almost exactly the same length (and shape, except for the longer wheelbase of a modern EV) as a 1980s-era Chevy Celebrity wagon—albeit with a higher seating position. 

For reasons we don’t completely understand—even comparing them back-to-back, as we did at Best Car To Buy testing in Georgia in October—the Equinox EV has easier ingress and egress than its Chevrolet Blazer EV cousin, and what amounts to better backseat space for most situations. Flip down the Equinox EV rear seatbacks and you can expand the 26.4 cubic feet to 57 cubic feet. 

GM has to watch the pennies somewhere to make this all work. In Best Car To Buy testing, held in Georgia, our cohort included a range of different EVs and it did become apparent that this isn’t quite as focused toward tuning out road noise. And Interior trims and the general cabin ambiance, leave a lot to be desired—unless you feel a certain nostalgia for surfaces and switchgear that you might have thought GM left in the early days of the Millennium. 

It’s also worth pointing out that Equinox EV isn’t a charging or efficiency standout. For instance, the Lucid Air Pure goes more than 100 miles farther on a charge with slightly less battery. The Chevy’s 10-80% charge in a bit over 30 minutes is certainly good enough for a road trip, though—and plenty of fancy lunches while you’re waiting with the money you’re saving. And it’s compatible with GM’s suite of energy products, should you care to use that big battery to back up the home. 

So to sum, we certainly need more of this. The Equinox EV offers up the electric-car bargain that’s in short supply. And it delivers on some of GM’s earlier Ultium buzz, even if the strategy might be reeled back a bit. 

Will the Chevy Equinox EV’s set of credentials top those of the other four Best Car To Buy 2025 Finalists? Check back Jan. 6.