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The funnest elevator car I ever drove was the originalTesla Roadster .
This was in 2011 , back when Elon Musk ’s EV company was courting press or else of denigrating us , and they offer me a test drive . I took the car up I-280 — a beautiful , mostly deserted main road with perfectly banked curve that seemed designed for Silicon Valley types to test out their speedmobiles — and was blown aside by its responsive acceleration and the informality with which it handled at 120 miles per time of day . ( Er , did I say 120 ? I entail 70 . Yeah . )
I ’ve cash in one’s chips tight in a few other mutant cars — an ’ eighty - era Nissan Z and Fiat Spider , and a ’ 90s - era Porsche 911 — but the runabout ’s essential electric - ness ( no gearing ! ) made for a unique driving experience , like an exceptionally overpowered and sleek golf go-cart . I did n’t care much about the iPad - like restrainer on the panache or the doorway handles or any of the other bells and whistle . I just get it on the way of life it drove .
I ’m not an motorcar reporter likeKirsten , so my fortune to drive new cars are few and far between . Since that Roadster experience , I ’ve only shortly drive a pair other Teslas owned by friends and have never tried another EV . My own cars have been strictly gas burners .
So I was over - the - moon excited when GM offer me a chance to live with an EV , the new Chevy Equinox , for a full hebdomad onwards of my onstage interview with CEOMary Barra at TechCrunch Disrupt on October 29 .
They dropped it at my house in San Francisco on Monday . It ’s quite beautiful , as you could see in the photo above .
The first matter I wondered : How will I plug it in ? This has been one of the biggest genial barriers that ’s block up me from going electric , and I ’m still not sure what the solution is . I gather you need some kind of dwelling adapter , and then you ideally need to kick upstairs the potential drop to 220V so it can charge more overnight . To me , that vocalize like an expensive call to an electrician .
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Since I was driving the Equinox for only a workweek , I work out I could get enough cathexis at one of the Shell charge stations outside the mall where I tally the gym every dayspring .
It had about 300 knot of range when it was delivered , so there was no need to occupy about that right on away .
My son was off school on Monday so I took him down the cylinder block for a burrito . Like most modern car , the Equinox unlock mechanically when you come on it with the Francis Scott Key . Unlike most other automobile I ’ve driven , though , it actually start up without your having to beseech any buttons or do anything — you just sit down in the rear end and it ’s on .
GM has really squeeze the “ computer on wheels ” aspect of mod vehicles , putting nearly every relevant ascendancy into a full touchscreen climb up on the dash .
Connecting my phone to Bluetooth was a short puzzling , until I noticed the “ on ” button on the upper edge of the ghost screen — the concealment illuminate up for some basic controls , but to get full functionality , you have to touch the release . ( The machine turns on automatically when you posture down but the touchscreen does n’t ? Odd design choice . )
By and prominent , the control scheme was easy and fun to use . I loved the built - in Google Maps , which is right smart more useful and visceral than the single-valued function system built into my Toyota . But I could not colligate Apple ’s CarPlay system wirelessly , to use , say , Apple Maps . That’sapparently by aim . It ’s Google or the highway , friends .
Other quirks : If there ’s a physical headlight button , I could n’t find it , which meant I had to use the sieve to ferment the headlamp off when I parked the car . ( The default headlight setting is “ auto , ” so they would ’ve switch off eventually , but I ’m old - school and have been mentally trained to twist the lights off so I do n’t start the battery down . ) Also , when you turn the car off , you have to manually touch another control on the screen . It ’s easy enough to get used to — but if you accidentally tap the brake with your foot as you get out of the car , it reverse back on and you have to manually shut it down from the screen again .
On the plus side , there ’s this exceptionally coolheaded anti - crash organisation that hover the number one wood ’s buttocks on the side that corresponds with where nearby objects are . The quivering farm stronger as you get snug . It might sound vexing , but I found it intuitive and natural , almost like it tap into the same part of the human brain that serve you forfend people when walking down a city street . It was less irritating than the triple - beeps my Toyota vocalise every time I ’m about to hit something .
As far as the driving lead , it ’s got big top executive . I was able to cursorily mount a very steep hill by my sign that normally requires a gasolene car ’s “ Sport ” modality to burn up . The superhighway acceleration was instant and reminded me again of that Tesla — there ’s just something about the mode a ( skillful ) EV revs up without changing gears that feels responsive and quiet . The suspension was a act pie-eyed than I like , the steering a bit looser , but that ’s just a personal preference . ( And no , I did not repel this gondola anywhere close to 120 mph , but it felt like I could ’ve ! )
Then came Tuesday morning . charge time .
It was n’t as unsubdivided as I ’d hoped . First , I had to find the port , which is on the upper side of the front left fender above the cycle . Then I had to scan a QR codification , download the Shell app , link up it to my Apple Pay account , plug away it in , and look for confirmation . It made a sweet little beep when it was charge , and a juicy light on the dash call on green .
Nowhere near the ease of a gas place where you just show up , pump , and pay . The price was a lot better , though — it be $ 0 , all week . I picture if those pace hold , I ’d save about $ 1,500 on gas per yr . ( We do n’t drive much , live in a compact city with mostly comme il faut public transit . )
My charging modus operandi work well until Friday morning . All the charging stations near the gym were occupy , so I drove farther down the mall parking raft , take out up to an empty one , scanned the QR codification , and … nothing . The Shell app could n’t find out the charger and or else keep directing me back to the other station , which it listed as “ untenanted ” even though the stalls were full .
I get on a call with musical accompaniment — at 5:30 in the forenoon , in a mall parking circle , which nobody want to do — and they could n’t estimate it out either . But I was told if I create an account , they might be able to charge it for me remotely . ( No thanks . I needed to get to the gym and get my day started . ) I lastly line up a turn on station about a 7 - min walk from the gym entrance that was both unoccupied and the right way list in the app .
This is n’t a knock against GM . But swear on partners for such a critical function — especially for novice EV user flighty about charging , as I was — is a risky strategy and reinforces how Tesla ’s decision to ramp up its own Supercharger web was an expensive but necessary investing . Perhaps it ’s proficient that the Equinox has an arranger that lets youuse Tesla ’s electronic connection .
Tesla ’s core business has always been EVs , and it never had a fallback strategy . It had to make the EV experience better than any gas car in ordination to survive . GM is embracing the future with EVs , and ego - driving organisation , and groundbreaking software . But it still builds millions of gas car each class and has to play all incline of the marketplace .
One last side note , which will sound weird to motorcar enthusiasts or people who review cars for a living but which I think may be more typical of the average car buyer ’s experience : I do n’t really need to spend much time learning how to use a car .
The point of a car is to get where you demand to go quickly and efficiently , sooner with some sport on the way . As the industry has sharply hug the “ estimator on wheels ” conception initiate by Tesla , I ’d argue that they ’ve made cars a minuscule too complicated . Do we really postulate Modern ways to shift from park to drive ? Do we really need to instruct a new ascendence scheme for every brand of elevator car we beat back ? I may be exhibiting some “ honest-to-god Isle of Man yells at cloud ” mentality , but sometimes I just want to drive down the coast andfeel the freedom of the route .
The Equinox testify me GM is a believable player in the market , and worth considering when I ’m ready to take the dip . But it also convince me I ’m still not ready for an EV .
