GM promised a $30,000 electric crossover. They were only off by $20,000. From Eric Peters at ericpetersautos.com:
You may recall when GM promised the battery-powered iteration of its Equinox crossover would have a starting price “around $30,000” when it became available for the ’24 model year.
How’s around $50,000 grab you?
Once again, the “target” has been missed – as if Stevie Wonder were trying to hit a bullseye from 50 yards out. And the reason why is essentially the same. GM is blind to the fact that EV batteries are very expensive. So expensive, in fact, that a battery-powered version of a vehicle costs 30-plus percent more than the engine-powered version. In fact, it costs more than that – because the battery powered version is cheaper.
Except for the battery.
An Equinox with an engine also has a transmission. Both of these cost money. A battery-powered vehicle has neither and for that reason ought to be cheaper.
But it isn’t.
The current (2023) Equinox – with an engine and transmission and all the small parts and peripherals, including its fuel delivery and exhaust system – lists for $26,600 or just a little bit more than about half the price of the battery-powered device that’s coming for 2024. Put another way, one can infer that that actual cost of the battery in the device amounts to nearly as much as an Equinox with an engine and a transmission and all that comes with them.
