The Chevy Equinox EV Won't Start At $30,000 After All
Despite growing in number and popularity, EVs are still too expensive, and most are significantly pricier than comparable gas models. Even with government tax credits and other incentives, electric models are out of reach for many buyers, and the seemingly constant pricing fluctuations aren’t helping. Chevy originally announced that the upcoming Equinox EV would start at around $30,000, but the automaker recently crushed our hopes and dreams with – you guessed it – a price increase.
Frustratingly, the SUV hasn’t even hit dealers’ lots yet, and Chevy’s already cut the originally planned base trim, raising the starting price by more than 10 percent. The 1LT trim will not be offered, leaving the $34,995 front-wheel drive 2LT as the new base trim. Adding salt to the wound, the least expensive models won’t be offered at launch. The 2RS trim will be the first to land, carrying a starting price of $48,995 with FWD and $52,395 with AWD.
To be fair, the mid-$30,000 starting price is still quite solid, especially considering that much of the competition is significantly more expensive. The Equinox EV also promises solid specs, with the least costly FWD trim offering a 300-mile driving range. These prices also do not reflect incentives, such as tax and state credits, that could significantly lower the cost of entry.
[Image: Chevrolet]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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tesla - $1000-2000/unit savings from no advert
content / $ = value off the charts if BEV is your thing.
Typical scenario from all the domestic automakers, discontinue the base model and announce the base price is not $30,000 but $48,000. Incentives may lower the price, but this sounds like bait and switch. I guess I should not be surprised as the Tesla pickups now starting to come off the line are selling for $100,000.
GM will sell about 20,000 of these a year at a loss. It is so predictable.
You claim that GM cut the 1LT model. Yet you don't post any source for that claim. Are you just basing this on the assumption that since they dropped the 1LT Blazer, they must also be dropping the 1LT Equinox? If that is the basis of your claim, then you should make that clear in the article. After all, the Chevrolet website STILL shows the 1LT trim. It also shows the 2LT as having an optional eAWD. So something is clearly off with your claims.