Yahoo Autos 2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV vs. 2024 Volkswagen ID.4 Comparison Test
From the September/October 2024 issue of Car and Driver.
Gone are the days when an EV in the driveway marked you as the neighborhood eccentric. And although early sales projections have revealed themselves to be more than a tad optimistic, electric vehicles continue to roll off the line and into the garages of everyday consumers.
Which brings us to the 2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV LT AWD and the 2024 Volkswagen ID.4 Pro S AWD, a pair of family-friendly EVs aimed right down the center of Main Street, U.S.A. In addition to all-wheel drive, both feature EPA range estimates of over 250 miles and the crossover body style that has all but eliminated the sedan as the vehicle of choice for suburbanites. While neither had the fun factor to win EV of the Year, the competition revealed one of them to have an edge for mainstream SUV shoppers considering going electric.
Chevrolet would like you to think the Equinox EV is simply an electric version of its popular internal-combustion Equinox. A quick scan of the dimensions disproves this notion, as the EV is longer and wider with a wheelbase 8.8 inches greater than the 2024 gas model's.
The ID.4 doesn't share a name with any of VW's gas-powered SUVs, although it does share its MEB platform and much of its attendant hardware with the electric ID.5 (not sold in the U.S.). At 180.5 inches long and 72.9 inches wide with a 108.8-inch wheelbase, the all-wheel-drive ID.4 trails the Chevy EV in almost every dimension.
Yet the VW ekes out more front headroom and has 30 cubic feet of cargo room behind the rear seats to the Chevy's 26. The Equinox fires back with greater front legroom. Thus begins a statistical tit for tat that exemplifies this pairing.
As tested, our Equinox EV carries a $50,795 sticker price. The LT starts at $43,295; the dual- motor, all-wheel-drive setup adds $3300; GM's excellent Super Cruise hands-free driving system costs $2700; and a panoramic sunroof is $1500. The Volkswagen ID.4 Pro S AWD rolls its dual-motor powertrain and panoramic sunroof into its $55,300 base price. (The single-motor Pro S, meanwhile, starts at $51,420.) The only extra on our $55,695 test car is Aurora Red Metallic paint ($395). Super Cruise is obviously not on the VW menu, but the ID.4 does include the IQ.Drive system with adaptive cruise control, lane-change and lane-keeping assists, and a few additional driver aids. Our ID.4 tester resides near the top of its lineup, unlike our nearly bottom-rung Equinox EV LT. The ID.4's least expensive single- motor trim starts at $41,160, and the Equinox EV will soon offer one too, for $34,995.
Despite the similar dossiers, the real-world personalities of these vehicles are distinct. As senior features editor Greg Fink observed in a test-defining comment, "The Equinox EV rolls through turns like a cruise ship in rough waters. This Chevy weighs 5041 pounds, but the Volkswagen, which isn't far behind at 4888 pounds, drives as if it carries half the mass of its bow-tie-badged competitor." Slow steering and a prominent on-center valley add to the ambiguous feel at the helm of the Equinox.
In contrast, the VW's steering is a tad darty on the highway, and its brake pedal is mushier than a Hallmark movie. Otherwise, the ID.4 is fun to drive, although its tauter suspension sacrifices some ride comfort. Every control seems lighter, inputs feel more direct, and the chassis responds eagerly, encouraging driver engagement.
The Equinox's softer suspension filters out more road irregularities, however, and Super Cruise takes some drudgery out of highway slogs. Just know that missing lane lines and unmapped routes can flummox it. IQ.Drive offers a lower level of assistance but functions as expected.
Not only is the ID.4 more agile, it's also comparatively quick. Sporting a pair of motors good for a combined 335 horsepower, the VW laid down a 60-mph time of 4.8 seconds and cleared the quarter-mile in 13.5 seconds at 98 mph. The Chevy's dual-motor setup produces 288 horsepower and 333 pound-feet of torque, conceding 47 ponies to the Volkswagen. Further stymied by its extra heft, the Equinox requires an additional second on the run to 60 mph and 1.1 seconds in the quarter-mile.
The ID.4, despite its vague-feeling brake pedal, stops from 70 mph in 169 feet. While the Equinox requires 178 feet, we must give a special mention to its brake pedal, which finesses the transition from regeneration to friction braking with a grace that still eludes many EVs.
The Equinox's ginormous 17.7-inch touchscreen should be intuitive for most despite GM's corporate-wide ban of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The Chevy gets bonus points for having physical HVAC controls but demerits for the lack of a dedicated knob for drive modes. The ID.4 Pro S features a 12.9-inch infotainment screen, but even with VW's latest and fastest-responding software, it continues the tradition of the brand's maddening inability to create an inviting and engaging user interface. (Maybe new partner Rivian could help out.) Apple CarPlay and Android Auto save the day, and although we believe there is not yet a worthy substitute for physical HVAC controls, the newly backlit touch- capacitive temp and volume sliders at the base of the center screen are better than the previous setup. A remaining annoyance is the F/R selector switch for the power windows. Every driver agreed that having to click a separate "rear" button is both cumbersome and annoying.
But for most modern EV shoppers, it's range, charging, and efficiency that top the list of critical metrics for decision-making. The EPA grants the all-wheel-drive ID.4 a 102-MPGe combined estimate and the all-wheel-drive Equinox EV a 96-MPGe rating. Our testing revealed further separation, with the Chevy returning 103 MPGe to the Volkswagen's 117. The Equinox did squeeze out 260 miles in our 75-mph highway test, while the ID.4 trailed at 240 miles.
Battery capacities are 85.0 kilowatt-hours for the Equinox and 77.0 for the ID.4. Chevy says the Equinox can fast-charge at up to 150 kilowatts, while VW claims the ID.4 can take 175. AC charging is basically a wash, with the Chevy's 11.5-kW capability edging out the ID.4's 11.0.
On a 350-kW fast-charger with the battery juicing from 10 to 90 percent, the Equinox EV came out of the gate at 150 kilowatts, peaked at 158, and averaged 94 kilowatts over the charge. Under the same conditions, the ID.4 hit the ground running at 171 kilowatts, peaked at 186, and averaged 109 kilowatts. Charging to 90 percent required 51 minutes in the Equinox and 37 minutes in the ID.4. That's a considerable gap, but each automaker has its own charging strategy that takes into account factors such as preserving battery life. Two additional unofficial charging sessions at 350-kW chargers in Ohio and Indiana confirmed our findings: Every time, the ID.4 finished first, regardless of the weather or the equipment.
Time, it is said, is the currency of life, and we'd rather not spend what we've got left at a charging station. If we can have a good time burning up those fresh electrons with the ID.4's quicker pace and more playful chassis, we'll forgive its slightly funky brake pedal and infotainment irritations and give it the win. Nothing weird about that.
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