General Motors uncovers a $30,000 electric SUV that will be one of the least expensive EVs available

General Motors uncovered a new electric SUV Thursday that the automaker expects will be the least expensive compact electric SUV on the market when it goes into the product in about a year. The Chevrolet Equinox EV will have a beginning cost of around $30,000 which, anyway, makes it among the least expensive electric vehicles of any kind.

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The average electric vehicle accessible today has a base sticker cost of about $47,500, as per Edmunds.com. The $30,000 cost for the Equinox EV would be, obviously, for the least complex version with no optional features. That cost does exclude tax credits however GM isn’t presently qualified for any electric vehicle tax credits, at any rate, and it’s dubious assuming any GM vehicles will be qualified under new standards, either.

Among 2022 model year mass-market EVs, just the Nissan Leaf, with its base cost of $28,500, costs less and it likewise presently meets all requirements for a $7,500 federal tax credit. There are a few different models in the low-to-mid-$30,000 cost range, as well. Among them are Chevrolet’s Bolt EV and the SUV-ish Bolt EUV.

Despite having a similar name, the Equinox EV shares very little with the gasoline-powered small SUV that is Chevrolet’s second-best-selling model after the Silverado pickup. GM adopted a similar strategy with the Chevrolet Silverado EV pickup and the Chevrolet Blazer EV SUV, the two of which were revealed earlier this year. They share just their names and their basic size and form with gas models. Each of the three, along with GM’s GMC Hummer EV truck and Cadillac’s Lyriq SUV is planned around a similar electric vehicle battery pack design and structure.

The Equinox EV is very nearly three inches more extensive than the gas model and marginally more limited, as estimated from the roof to the ground. Unlike a few electric vehicles, it has no front trunk. Rather the area under the hood holds electronics equipment and the front electric motor. GM (GM) designers and engineers decided to save the expense and complexity of attempting to make a space under the hood and invest vehicle improvement time and cash, all things considered, on making a better experience inside the cabin, said Scott Bell, GM (GM’s) VP for Chevrolet.

The Equinox EV will be accessible with two-tone paint jobs, something that has been an industry trend for several years. Customers getting the sportier-looking RT models will actually want to get a black roof with a diversely colored body while those getting the standard LT models will actually want to pick a differentiating white roof.

The least expensive version will be the so-called Blazer 1LT with a single 210-horsepower engine powering just the front wheels. It will have a total driving range on a full charge of about 250 miles. Equinox EV 1LT SUVs will likewise be accessible with more driving range — up to 300 miles — and with all-wheel-drive and a driving range up to an expected 280 miles, yet those versions will, probably, cost more. All-wheel-drive versions will actually want to get as much as 290 horsepower from two electric motors.

Better-equipped versions, the 2LT, and sportier-looking RS will have either a 300-mile range or all-wheel-drive with up to 280 miles of range. Unlike the more costly Blazer EV, the Equinox EV will be accessible just with all-or front-wheel-drive. There won’t be a rear-wheel-drive option.