A New Chevy Equinox EV For $28,000 (With Incentives)

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One of the persistent EV myths is that they cost too much. In the last week, I have encountered two separate individuals who repeated this nonsense to me. One claimed EVs cost well over $180,000 — the most preposterous  false EV claim I have ever heard in person. Another came from the owner of a used Chevy Bolt, a fully electric vehicle, who really likes his Bolt. He said the new electric vehicles all cost at least $40,000, which again is not true. (His used Bolt cost about $16,000.) Because he is a Bolt owner and driver, I did not expect him to repeat the silly, counterfactual myth that new EVs cost too much.

So, in response, rather than get into frivolous arguments with them, I started writing a little mini-series of articles about affordable new electric vehicles.

To date, they are:

A Chevy Bolt for $17,000 (with incentives but before potential fuel and maintenance/repair savings.)

A Nissan Leaf for $28,0000 (with an incentive but before potential fuel and maintenance/repair savings.)

A Nissan Ariya for $31,000 (with no incentive and before potential fuel and maintenance/repair savings.)

A Chevy Equinox EV for $32,000 (with no incentive and before potential fuel and maintenance/repair savings.)

Now comes another new Chevy Equinox EV, with state incentives from Colorado, not the soon-to-expire federal EV tax credit. The list price is $34,000 and the state incentives are $6,000, which would mean the reduced cost of the Equinox would be $28,000.

There are also potential fuel savings because electricity costs less than gasoline and the Equinox has regenerative braking which generates electricity that is returned to the battery pack. (Gas and diesel engine vehicles cannot generate their own fuel.) It is reasonable to consider the Equinox EV could save $90 a month on fuel, which is about $1,000 per year or $5,000 in five years. With $5,000 in savings in five years, the cost of the Equinox EV would be $23,000.

Also, by using regenerative braking instead of the conventional brakes with pads, calipers, drums, etc., there could be even more savings. The Equinox EV also would not need oil changes, a tune-up, a new muffler, and so on — so there are further potential savings.

The average cost of a new car in the US is about $48,000, according to MoneyGeek. With the Colorado state EV incentives and potential fuel savings, the new Chevy Equinox would cost $25,000 less. With potential maintenance and repair savings, it would be even lower than that.

It should be pointed out that with gas- and diesel-powered vehicles, there are many other costs which are not reflected in their sticker prices. Fossil fuel air pollution contributes to a great deal of asthma attacks (including in children), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, heart disease, strokes, and even premature deaths in humans. If such costs were added to the sticker prices of gas and diesel vehicles they would be much higher than they are currently.

Because this new Chevy Equinox EV is in Colorado I looked up what fossil fuel air pollution harm is done in that state. “Each summer, kids in Colorado suffer an estimated 32,000 asthma attacks linked to the oil and gas industry’s smog pollution, and the American Lung Association ranks Denver 12th on its list of U.S. cities most polluted by ozone.”

A separate source about similar research stated this, and it includes a reference to Eastern Colorado. “The findings show that the pollutants nitrogen oxide, fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone (O3) from U.S. oil and gas production contributed to 7,500 excess deaths, 410,000 asthma attacks, and 2,200 new cases of childhood asthma across the U.S. in 2016. Factoring in related respiratory and cardiovascular-related hospitalizations, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and other health challenges, oil and gas production was responsible for $77 billion in annual health costs.”

What are US asthma costs? “Asthma costs the U.S. economy more than $80 billion annually in medical expenses, days missed from work and school, and deaths, according to research published online in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.” Some portion of that yearly expense would need to be added to the price of new gas- and diesel vehicles, including hybrids and EREVs because they use fossil fuels.

In addition, fossil fuels are the primary source of climate change emissions. What do you think? If the costs of all the damage done by fossil fuel vehicles and the oil, gas, and coal industries was included in the sticker prices of gas and diesel vehicles, how much do you think they would increase: $5,000, $10,000, $25,000, $30,000, $40,000?

There’s another cost that no one ever talks about or considers because it isn’t well known. It’s the cost of racism because the US oil and gas industry allegedly has historically been racist. “In researching the history of oil in modern America since the 1860s to the present, oil was I think unquestionably the most racially homogenous industry in America. And, there are clear racist patterns of organization within the industry from the very beginning,” says Dochuk, author of Anointed With Oil: How Christianity and Crude Made Modern America.”

What is the cost of racism?

With fossil fuels, it seems there are so many issues that many people may not be aware of all of them. It’s been a while since NPR made this report, but then, it was about some gasoline entering the US from Russia. “After Russia invaded Ukraine, the U.S. and European allies banned the import of Russian oil and natural gas. But a new report reveals that fuel made in part from Russian crude is still ending up in American gas tanks. Nick Schifrin and producer Teresa Cebrian report on a new investigation released by the organization, Global Witness.”

It’s just a personal opinion, but I doubt that many Americans want to be supporting the Russian oil and gas industry and Putin. If you are unfamiliar with how Putin became so wealthy and powerful, it might be helpful to consider his relationship with fossil fuels. I conducted an interview with an organization that studies such issues.

“Fossil fuel dictatorships/autocracies are political regimes led by an individual or group/political party that rely heavily on profits from fossil fuels to run the state. The unlimited flow of wealth from the sale of fossil fuels and dependence on them by other countries insulates these regimes from international criticism and pressure when they engage in internal repression or external aggression.

“Furthermore, fossil fuel wealth funds the extensive military and police apparatus of these regimes, allowing them to use their wealth to make strategic investments and payments to other countries.”