General Motors announces electric versions of the Chevy Equinox and Blazer SUVs

General Motors CEO Mary Barra announced electric versions of the automaker’s Chevy Equinox and Blazer SUVs, both of which will be available in 2023. The electric Chevy Equinox will retail for a suggested price of $30,000, which could help drive broader adoption of electric vehicles in the US.

The announcement came during Barra’s keynote address for the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show, at which the company also revealed its electric Chevy Silverado pickup truck.

Most EVs on the market today are more expensive than their gas equivalents, though EV sales numbers are still ticking up as more models become available. GM is hoping that a more affordable EV with a nameplate as recognizable as the Equinox could help spur a faster switch to electric. Other EV makers have promised affordable options, only to get tripped up by battery costs, supply chain problems, and other external factors.

The arrival of the Equinox EV and Blazer EV would put Chevy at the forefront of GM’s $35 billion push to electrify its entire lineup by 2040. In addition, the company is producing the Chevy Bolt EV and EUV, the Hummer EV pickup and SUV, the GMC Sierra EV, and the Cadillac Lyriq and Celestiq.

Still, GM only shipped a handful of EVs in 2021, placing it far behind Tesla, which commands around two-thirds of the EV market in the US thanks to its relatively affordable Model 3 and Model Y vehicles. Tesla shipped nearly 1 million vehicles in 2021, a new record for the company.