Nio, a Chinese EV maker, has done battery swapping for years now. They actually say they do over 70K swaps per day! You can choose between 3 different sizes of batteries being swapped.
Good discussion, but Gabe is wrong about the Equinox using 150 kW v. 350 kW DC Fast Chargers. The 85 kW Ultium battery pack has a fairly low nominal voltage of 288 volts. Charging output from a station is determined by volts x amps, with the amperage limitation on the station side often determined by the cable. Most “150 kW” DCFC have a cable limited to 350 amps, while the “350 kW” stations have 500 amp cables. In order for the Equinox EV to get its 150 kW advertised rate, it needs 500 amps. 288 volts x 500 amps = 144,000 watts. The pack voltage rises as the battery fills up, so it’s possible to briefly get the full 150 kW before it tapers.
I have been doing fine with the infotainment system on the Equinox EV. You folks seem to be overlooking the fact that Android Auto and Carplay have no access to the state of charge. Without following SoC, carplay can't give the driver proper and efficient routing. The Equinox EV seems to do a great job at this.
Engine braking is indeed "a thing!" After many years of driving with automatic transaxle cars (and lots of pad replacements + rotor turning), I decided to adopt the practice of using gears 1 to 3 on city streets (I believe that was called "L3") on my 2001 Jetta & only had 1 pad replacement in 115,000 miles. I only put the selector in "D" for freeway driving. My 2012 Volvo c30 had a shiftable automatic so I always shifted it manually & never replaced the pads in 96,000 miles.
Re: no Android Auto and Apple Car Play - Has CR asked GM or other manufactures or investigated how much it would cost in licensing fees to include these features going forward?
I’m a long time, Apple fan boy and thought I would be totally against what you did too, but to be honest on my equinox I love it. I love what they did with the entertainment system.
You guys are definitely wrong about the infotainment system. Waze, Spotify, RUclips music, Amazon music and others are all available as apps. Saying things are a dealbreaker for a car that is thousands less than the competition is unfair. I am an Apple user, but I also have a myriad of other accounts that I use including google, Amazon and others. My iPhone streams well via Bluetooth. Your problem is that many of you share cars to test them and give feedback so sure, it’s a problem in your very limited scenario. Shame on you guys. I also own an Equinox EV and love it. Is it different than my ford edge with Apple CarPlay, sure, but certainly not a dealbreaker!
I 100% agree with the first questioner. I just purchased a 2025 vehicle and was thrilled to find it has the flip lever for dimming. Auto dimming mirrors are NOT doing their job, they do not dim enough. P.S. I’ve owned 53 cars from the mid 60’s to 2025. I have some experience.
When a Tesla vehicle finds a tesla charging station & the driver picks it as a destination on the map, the car will automatically “precondition” the battery so it will charge fast when it arrives. Notice the map in the Tesla is integrated with the car so it knows when to start preconditioning (which uses power so you don’t want to start too early). GM wants the same thing. If it allows Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, the apps are not integrated with the car & preconditioning cannot happen automatically. This is why GM is not including Apple CarPlay & Android Auto. I think the simplistic solution is just to have a button to allow owners to start preconditioning manually. The car knows the battery temperature. It just needs to know when you will arrive at the charger which CarPlay/Android auto can tell you. Press the button to start preconditioning, then the screen asked in how many minutes & the driver puts it in & you’re done.
You already mentioned about the inconveniences of not having android auto. But for me the biggest concern is paying the subscription for years that come after those 2 years of free access. It is dishonest to force for paying for a feature you already paid. Unless there is an option to add 5G with whatever provider you want. And still is a liability. In my opinion
The EV Equinox is the only Equinox you can get with enough power now that the gas version maxes out at 175hp and there is no longer an engine upgrade available. My 2019 2.0 turbo is 252 and that is just BARLEY enough when you have it loaded. It's a nail biter getting on the freeway with 4 passengers and some luggage. I can only imagine how scary it would be with 175hp. Oh, and it has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
The market may already be responding to GM. The Honda Prologue is basically a reskinned Equinox EV, including the same infotainment system except it has support for CarPlay and Android Auto. If I’m not mistaken, despite costing more, the Prologue is easily outselling the Equinox.
If the folks over at Chevy are smart, they’ll bring back Apple Car Play and Android Auto- In an age where car manufacturers are constantly working to move the ball forward, this is a step backwards…
After getting rid of Carplay/Android Auto, I expect Chevrolet next to get rid of electronic start and instead put a hand crank on the front of their vehicles. You know, for all the people who are tired of having to push a button from inside to start their car.
I will probably get some negative comments but I will ask this question: With the upcoming Trump administration, how would any EV be relevant? Would it be foolish to buy anything with a battery? I feel that EVs are now out of fashion, a pariah in our country's view of the environment, as perceived by Trump.
Well, I recently had a 2024 Equinox EV 3LT (emphasis on HAD). I didn't think that not having CarPlay or Android auto was a big deal, especially since the fact that I love Tesla's and they don't have it either. But it is and at least in the Tesla, I can still access Apple Music. You would think if I can install Apple Music on my android phone I would be able to install it on the Google based info entertainment system, NOT! The 3LT comes with the larger 21 inch wheels which I ended up not liking because the ride wasn't as comfortable as it would be with a smaller wheel with a tire with a bigger side wall. The seats were somewhat comfortable, but not as comfortable as my ID.4 seats. The DC fast charging is not a strong point by any means and I had a couple issues charging on Tesla's V4 chargers. My 3LT did not come with super cruise, which I was OK with cause I had no intentions of road tripping in the Equinox (24 month lease at 10000 miles). But it was kind of odd that my 3LT did not have front parking sensors despite having the 360 camera option but it did have rear parking sensors though. It wasn't terrible, but I wasn't in love with it and fortunate for me, my local dealer did something wonky with the paperwork, and I was able to back out of the deal after three weeks. So now I know other than a Tesla, not having CarPlay and Android auto is a dealbreaker 😂
Nio, a Chinese EV maker, has done battery swapping for years now. They actually say they do over 70K swaps per day! You can choose between 3 different sizes of batteries being swapped.
I am not that attached to CarPlay but I like having the option. I suppose GM thought that if Tesla and Rivian could get by without it so could they.
I bought a 25 Equinox EV amd I'm very happy about it.
Good discussion, but Gabe is wrong about the Equinox using 150 kW v. 350 kW DC Fast Chargers. The 85 kW Ultium battery pack has a fairly low nominal voltage of 288 volts. Charging output from a station is determined by volts x amps, with the amperage limitation on the station side often determined by the cable. Most “150 kW” DCFC have a cable limited to 350 amps, while the “350 kW” stations have 500 amp cables. In order for the Equinox EV to get its 150 kW advertised rate, it needs 500 amps. 288 volts x 500 amps = 144,000 watts. The pack voltage rises as the battery fills up, so it’s possible to briefly get the full 150 kW before it tapers.
You can do voice to text. Did you even bother setting up the infotainment?
I have been doing fine with the infotainment system on the Equinox EV. You folks seem to be overlooking the fact that Android Auto and Carplay have no access to the state of charge. Without following SoC, carplay can't give the driver proper and efficient routing. The Equinox EV seems to do a great job at this.
Engine braking is indeed "a thing!" After many years of driving with automatic transaxle cars (and lots of pad replacements + rotor turning), I decided to adopt the practice of using gears 1 to 3 on city streets (I believe that was called "L3") on my 2001 Jetta & only had 1 pad replacement in 115,000 miles. I only put the selector in "D" for freeway driving. My 2012 Volvo c30 had a shiftable automatic so I always shifted it manually & never replaced the pads in 96,000 miles.
Re: no Android Auto and Apple Car Play - Has CR asked GM or other manufactures or investigated how much it would cost in licensing fees to include these features going forward?
I’m a long time, Apple fan boy and thought I would be totally against what you did too, but to be honest on my equinox I love it. I love what they did with the entertainment system.
You guys are definitely wrong about the infotainment system. Waze, Spotify, RUclips music, Amazon music and others are all available as apps. Saying things are a dealbreaker for a car that is thousands less than the competition is unfair. I am an Apple user, but I also have a myriad of other accounts that I use including google, Amazon and others. My iPhone streams well via Bluetooth. Your problem is that many of you share cars to test them and give feedback so sure, it’s a problem in your very limited scenario. Shame on you guys. I also own an Equinox EV and love it. Is it different than my ford edge with Apple CarPlay, sure, but certainly not a dealbreaker!
I 100% agree with the first questioner. I just purchased a 2025 vehicle and was thrilled to find it has the flip lever for dimming. Auto dimming mirrors are NOT doing their job, they do not dim enough. P.S. I’ve owned 53 cars from the mid 60’s to 2025. I have some experience.
When a Tesla vehicle finds a tesla charging station & the driver picks it as a destination on the map, the car will automatically “precondition” the battery so it will charge fast when it arrives. Notice the map in the Tesla is integrated with the car so it knows when to start preconditioning (which uses power so you don’t want to start too early). GM wants the same thing. If it allows Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, the apps are not integrated with the car & preconditioning cannot happen automatically. This is why GM is not including Apple CarPlay & Android Auto. I think the simplistic solution is just to have a button to allow owners to start preconditioning manually. The car knows the battery temperature. It just needs to know when you will arrive at the charger which CarPlay/Android auto can tell you. Press the button to start preconditioning, then the screen asked in how many minutes & the driver puts it in & you’re done.
Not having CarPlay is just an anti-consumer decision to try to extract more money from you after selling you the car.
I'm an iPhone user and I have no issues with my Equinox EV's infotainment system.
You already mentioned about the inconveniences of not having android auto. But for me the biggest concern is paying the subscription for years that come after those 2 years of free access. It is dishonest to force for paying for a feature you already paid. Unless there is an option to add 5G with whatever provider you want. And still is a liability. In my opinion
The EV Equinox is the only Equinox you can get with enough power now that the gas version maxes out at 175hp and there is no longer an engine upgrade available. My 2019 2.0 turbo is 252 and that is just BARLEY enough when you have it loaded. It's a nail biter getting on the freeway with 4 passengers and some luggage. I can only imagine how scary it would be with 175hp. Oh, and it has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
The market may already be responding to GM. The Honda Prologue is basically a reskinned Equinox EV, including the same infotainment system except it has support for CarPlay and Android Auto. If I’m not mistaken, despite costing more, the Prologue is easily outselling the Equinox.
I think Vinfast also had swappable batteries. But they failed too, right? I think it's a good idea, but nobody has figured out a way to make it work.
The Car Play availability issue is just another dumb idea from GM, unfortunately I gave up on the company a long time ago.
That person with the brake issue should probably get a second opinion on her brake problems.
Does super cruise work on city streets?
Android Auto was a requirement for the vehicle I bought in 2019! it will be required in any vehicle I buy in the future as well.
No android auto would be a deal breaker for me also. Nice looking car otherwise.
Tesla doesn't phone project , either.
Silly without Android. Default app is fine, I drove it but decided not to buy the car without that feature.
If the folks over at Chevy are smart, they’ll bring back Apple Car Play and Android Auto- In an age where car manufacturers are constantly working to move the ball forward, this is a step backwards…
No Apple car play? Yes, that's a deal breaker.
NIO and CATL are or will be in the battery swapping with expansion overseas over the next few years.
Terrible podcast. Never watching it ever again.
$50k For an Equinox EV? PASS
Way, way too much emphasis on infotainment.
After getting rid of Carplay/Android Auto, I expect Chevrolet next to get rid of electronic start and instead put a hand crank on the front of their vehicles. You know, for all the people who are tired of having to push a button from inside to start their car.
Euww…that is one fugly car!
I will probably get some negative comments but I will ask this question: With the upcoming Trump administration, how would any EV be relevant? Would it be foolish to buy anything with a battery? I feel that EVs are now out of fashion, a pariah in our country's view of the environment, as perceived by Trump.
Well, I recently had a 2024 Equinox EV 3LT (emphasis on HAD). I didn't think that not having CarPlay or Android auto was a big deal, especially since the fact that I love Tesla's and they don't have it either. But it is and at least in the Tesla, I can still access Apple Music. You would think if I can install Apple Music on my android phone I would be able to install it on the Google based info entertainment system, NOT! The 3LT comes with the larger 21 inch wheels which I ended up not liking because the ride wasn't as comfortable as it would be with a smaller wheel with a tire with a bigger side wall. The seats were somewhat comfortable, but not as comfortable as my ID.4 seats. The DC fast charging is not a strong point by any means and I had a couple issues charging on Tesla's V4 chargers. My 3LT did not come with super cruise, which I was OK with cause I had no intentions of road tripping in the Equinox (24 month lease at 10000 miles). But it was kind of odd that my 3LT did not have front parking sensors despite having the 360 camera option but it did have rear parking sensors though. It wasn't terrible, but I wasn't in love with it and fortunate for me, my local dealer did something wonky with the paperwork, and I was able to back out of the deal after three weeks. So now I know other than a Tesla, not having CarPlay and Android auto is a dealbreaker 😂