- Realizing the EV market is more uneven than expected, General Motors says plug-in hybrids are coming in 2027
- GM sells PHEVs in China, but they aren't "suitable" for our market.
- GM also won't say which PHEV models it wants to sell, but trucks and SUVs seem likely.
It may not be as severe as the moves Ford is making, but General Motors is also slowing down its electric vehicle plans. The reborn Chevrolet Bolt EUV is still on track and so are several new electric Cadillac models, but other new stuff like the Buick Electra E5 and E4 are on hold 'til further notice. Instead, GM CEO Mary Barra announced the company will pivot to more hybrid and plug-in hybrid options since it "has the technology."
So it seems like a car like the Chevrolet Equinox Plus—a plug-in hybrid version of the popular crossover, currently sold in China—could make it over here tomorrow. After all, it's not like GM didn't pioneer this space with the Chevrolet Volt. Surely it could fast-track the Equinox PHEV, right?
Well, um, no. According to GMAuthority and a conversation that InsideEVs Editor-in-Chief Patrick George had with GM at the GMC Sierra EV launch, the PHEV Equiox just isn’t what GM wants to introduce to the U.S. at this time.
To those unfamiliar with Chevrolet’s confusing lineup, the bowtie brand currently sells two models with similar names and sizes that have nothing to do with each other. The Equinox EV is a sleekly styled, fully electric crossover on the GM Ultium platform. On the other side of the showroom, GM also sells the Equinox (sans EV moniker), a gas-powered compact crossover. It is sold in North America and China, powered by a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder. For the 2025 model year, the crossover was completely redesigned with boxy rugged styling; aside from the name, it is a completely different car from the Equinox EV.
Now, let's add a third Equinox to the mix to make things extra interesting. In China, Chevy now sells the Equinox Plus: a PHEV version of the gas-powered Equinox. Power comes from a 1.5-liter engine with a (relatively large for a PHEV) 24.4 kWh battery connected to an electric motor. It gets a full 96 miles of all-electric range, although that's on China's notoriously easy CLTC range testing cycle.
Together, Chevrolet China says the Equinox Plus will travel more than 600 miles on a full tank of gas and full charge, which sounds very impressive even if the judging standards aren’t a one-to-one comparison. It still like it would have been a no-brainer for this car to come to the U.S.; after all, the Buick Envision is made in China and sold here, and nobody bats an eye at that.
But no, it’s not that simple. According to GM Authority, GM Global Vice President Scott Bell told the outlet that the PHEV Equinox is just “not suitable,” whatever that means.
“[The Chinese-market Equinox PHEV is] a vehicle with a different purpose, and it’s built in China,” Bell explained to GM Authority. “Mary [Barra] has talked about us having this capability and technology, but we have to do what makes sense for this market, and we have to be very deliberate in how we chase that volume in terms of how we invest in the portfolio. We already invested the right way into EVs.”
Bell later explained that GM is listening to the market, and “trying to pick [their] points of where [GM] wants to be." But while bringing the Equinox PHEV to the U.S. would be “quick and easy,” the automakers thinks it would not be a smart move.
Some have interpreted this as the Equinox PHEV simply being the wrong product for the US. Perhaps it’s too slow, or not very nice. After all, it uses a whole new hybrid system developed largely by GM’s Chinese joint venture partner, SAIC.
Bell’s last statement alludes to two things that the Equinox PHEV could do. First, GM may see the Equinox PHEV potentially cannibalizing the Equinox EV. Second, so much of the Equinox PHEV’s supply chain and battery tech is likely tied up in China; that was something implied in a conversation our Patrick George had with Duncan Aldred, Global Vice President of Buick, GMC and GMC Hummer EV.
“Not everything is shared technology," Aldred said. "Not everything is completely just lift and ship and place." He said Buick has been very successful in China with its new GL8 PHEV van, also released at this year’s Beijing Auto Show. But porting either car to ensure that it would qualify for any sort of Inflation Reduction Act tax credit and be desirable for U.S. consumers isn’t all that simple; remember, that law's rules heavily target batteries and materials sourced from China. The Chinese-market Equinox Plus might be mostly indistinguishable from our U.S.-made car, but it uses a BYD battery and a motor from another Chinese supplier. It might not be all that feasible, at least right now.
I suppose that makes sense, but it also highlights that perhaps the American automakers are not as agile as they should be. GM’s first PHEV won’t be until 2027, whereas the Equinox PHEV is already on sale in China, right now. Soon, the Chevrolet Equinox will be one of the few ICE crossovers with no hybrid option. Toyota can’t build the RAV4 Prime fast enough, Hyundai is doing well on hybrids and expected to add EREV power to its Santa Fe lineup, and Ford’s had a PHEV Escape since 2020.
I’m sure Chevrolet would argue that the Equinox EV is what ICE Equinox buyers in search of a plug-in crossover should buy, but let’s not pretend like those two cars share much of anything but a name.
To drive this point home, I also reached out to GM for clarity. "The question was whether the PHEV Equinox available in China now could come to the U.S. imminently. The answer was to reiterate 2027 as the soonest for PHEVs in the U.S., and to re-state that we are not disclosing which segments" they will compete in, the spokesperson said. "The Equinox PHEV in China was developed for that market and is not the plan [for the Y.S.] at the moment."
I hope for GM’s sake it figures out how to pull a rabbit from a hat and get PHEVs and hybrids on the road sooner rather than later. After all, three years may as well be 500 years with how fast car technology is moving; I’m not sure if drivers will be willing to wait until 2027 when GM finally has a modern PHEV on the roads.
Contact the author: kevin.williams@insideevs.com
