The New 2024 Chevy Equinox EV Is a Lot Bigger Than the Gas One

Because of the car’s battery pack, the vehicle’s footprint is considerably larger.

byPeter Holderith|
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Cars are getting bigger for a variety of reasons and the new 2024 Chevy Equinox EV is no exception. It shares at least one of its battery packs with the larger Blazer EV, which means that while it may be smaller in the Chevrolet lineup compared to General Motor's new mid-sized electric offering, it can't be as compact as its gas-powered sibling. How much bigger is it? A lot bigger.

Chevy hasn't yet provided exact dimensions for the car, but during a presentation, the automaker gave a few key specs of the car compared to the current Equinox. In terms of wheelbase, the Equinox EV is about nine inches longer and it grows by about seven inches in length as a result. Likewise, it's roughly three inches wider. The only dimension where it has shrunk is height. The Equinox EV is about an inch lower than the current gas car. This bump in size makes it around the size of the current Chevy Blazer, although with a considerably lower roofline.

The current gas-powered Equinox is already large among competitors. Its overall length is about an inch longer than the Ford Escape, Toyota RAV4, and Honda CR-V.

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The aesthetic results of this are good: The Equinox is now lower, longer, and wider. Chevy has attempted to maintain some of the car's compact proportions by fitting very large wheels to the car, though. The Equinox EV only offers wheels as small as 19 inches. This may seem odd when you notice how big the tire seems on the base 1LT car in the shots we've seen. In short, the tires are likely massive. GM did this to make the vehicle's wheelbase seem shorter than it really is. The Silverado EV has 24-inch wheels for the same reason. It has a very long wheelbase thanks to a large battery and the car's designers wanted to make it seem shorter.

This all raises the question of what will be the new Equinox-sized EV offering from GM. The current Equinox will remain on sale alongside the electric one—which won't be confusing at all—but the larger footprint of this car opens space below it. Chevy still sells the Bolt EV, but it's being phased out soon. There's a hole in the lineup growing, albeit on the small side.

Email the author at peter@thedrive.com

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