- When charging the Chevy Equinox EV from a 150 kW charger, it never receives more than 100 kW, owner and charging expert Tom Moloughney reports.
- When charging it from a 350 kW charger, it does take 150 kW, but the total charging time isn't significantly lower.
When you want to charge an electric vehicle at its maximum DC fast charging rate, you only have to find a charger that delivers that number, right? Well, that may not be the case with the 2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV, and this video explains why that’s the case and also why finding a more powerful charger doesn't really matter.
Tom Moloughney put together this lengthy video for his channel State of Charge to explain why even though Chevrolet says you can charge the Equinox EV at up to 150 kilowatts if you plug it into most 150 kW chargers, its actual charging speed will probably be lower. He recorded four separate charging sessions using different DC fast chargers, two flat to full sessions, and two more from 20% to 80%.
The reason for the lower-than-expected charging power, even from a charger that’s rated to deliver it, has to do with the Equinox EV’s battery pack voltage. Tom explains that even though in most 400-volt EVs it stays well above 300 volts even when their state of charge is close to zero, it can drop as low as 260 volts in the electric Equinox when its pack is close to depleted.
This lower pack voltage means that the car has to call on more amps from the charging station, and most 150 kW stations in the U.S. cannot deliver it. That’s why if you want to see your Equinox EV charging at the advertised 150 kW, you will have to find a more powerful charger, which should be able to deliver the extra amperage that it needs.
Tom found that when charging the Equinox EV from 0% on a 150 kW Electrify America station, the power going into the car never exceeds 100 kW. It stays pretty consistent, though, and it maintains between 80 and 100 kW until about 80% state of charge when it starts tapering off.
When charging from an EVgo 350 kW charger, the car quickly begins charging at 150 kW. However, even though the 350 kW station started charging the car quicker at first, the 150 kW charger eventually caught up, and, at least in this series of tests, it actually finished charging quicker. Tom attributes to the end-of-charge cell balancing taking longer on the more powerful charger.
The Equinox is not be among the best EVs for fast charging, and General Motors hasn’t published its official 10 to 80% charging time, but it still did pretty well in Tom’s tests. It lags behind key rivals like the Tesla Model Y or the Kia EV6, although we say it’s not enough to ruin what overall is a very good electric vehicle, at least based on our first drive experience.
