Chevrolet Previews Electric Equinox & Blazer At CES 2022
Last Updated on: 12th November 2023, 02:06 am
Yesterday’s big news centered on the introduction of the all new Chevy Silverado EV at CES 2022. I admit I was somewhat underwhelmed by the news that yet another 4+ ton ground-pounder is being unleashed in America, but a comment on that story alerted me to the fact that CEO Mary Barra also announced the coming of two other electric vehicles — an Equinox EV and a Blazer EV — in 2023. The Blazer is slated for production first, with the Equinox arriving later in the year. One item of interest here is that Chevy is sticking with model names that are familiar to its customers rather than creating an all-new electric car brand as some manufacturers are doing.
“As our most popular vehicle brand, Chevy will be front and center in our mission to provide EVs for everyone,” Barra said on Wednesday. “We’re at the tipping point of electrification and we are expecting this to be a massive year for Chevrolet’s EV future.” She said the Blazer will be “priced right and will offer a high level of refinement and options.”
The big news here is that Barra claimed prices for the Equinox EV would start at around $30,000. That is wonderful if true. Color me skeptical. The trend at Ford and GM is to introduce the most expensive versions of their new EVs first, with the low priced models following later after demand for the most profitable vehicles has waned.
Green Car Reports says more affordable models based on the GM’s Ultium platform are due around the middle of the decade, including a successor to the Chevy Bolt. According to TechCrunch, the Ultium platform is designed to be the basis for a wide range of products across all GM brands including compact cars, work trucks, large premium SUVs, and high performance vehicles. In all, it offers 19 different battery and drive unit configurations, 400-volt or 800-volt battery packs ranging from 50 kWh to 200 kWh, and either front-, rear-, or all-wheel drive configurations. At the heart of the Ultium platform are large format pouch battery cells manufactured jointly by LG Energy Solution and GM.
We don’t have any specs on either vehicle to share with you, so you will have to make do with the photos of the Equinox that are available. It does seem as though General Motors is busy developing electric cars that are more affordable. Let’s hope GM and LG have got their sums right this time and there won’t be any battery issues to derail the new Equinox and Blazer and the lower priced offerings that are to follow.
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