For a while me and my ex were sharing my Honda Prologue while each having our own vehicles as well (I had a Chevy Bolt, he had a Nissan Kicks). Well, recently I wanted to simplify things so I sold my Bolt and went full time with the Prologue. Apparently going back to an ICE car with a CVT was disappointing, so he decided to change things up, and go EV as well.
IMO the Nissan Kicks was actually a very practical little car, and as it was an upper trim "SR" the interior was actually a good place to be and had decent tech. The size of the vehicle was excellent, and I think with a hybrid drivetrain that delivered better MPG or a 6-speed auto that lost 2MPG but drove better would have made the Kicks a long-term keeper. But, as it was, it didn't get very good MPG, and, having driven it myself a few times, the transmission was just annoying. Plus, as he drives quite a bit, it was going to be out of warranty soon and we were concerned about longevity of the CVT. Tried to get the CVT fluid changed at the dealer at 50K miles but they wanted over $450! Anyway, this is a post about an Equinox EV, not a Nissan Kicks, so I'll move on, I'm just trying to explain the prior vehicles for context.
Ended up purchasing, not leasing, as annual mileage was a concern. Went with the FWD version to reduce initial purchase price, improve efficiency, and even the FWD version was an improvement in performance to his prior car. The Kicks did 0-60 in over 10 seconds while the Equinox does it under 8. Is it fast like some other EVs? No, but it's good enough.
Originally we were going to go with a 2024 LT model of the Equinox BUT we ended up with the 2025 RS model because it was cheaper and it had a wireless phone charger (the fact that 2024 LTs didn't have this is a miss lol). The RS does look very sporty and in the black and white color scheme we got, definitely a GOOD looking vehicle. My only regret is the 21" wheels/tires. I would have preferred the 19-inchers on the LT for pothole resistance and tire replacement cost. But, it is what it is.
Now, this isn't a full review, I haven't even driven the vehicle yet, but here are my impressions:
-The screen situation is NICE. The driver gauge cluster display and the infotainment display look great together. Great responsiveness, resolution, and size. Definitely looks more modern than the Prologue. BUT, and this is a big BUT, it DOES NOT have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. It runs Android Automotive as the OS, though, so you can install Spotify and other apps from the Play Store, but to me, it's not the same. We were disappointed to find out there is no Apple Music app for the car, though, which I believe is his preferred music service. For navigation, the built-in maps have route planning and preconditioning and nice stuff like that, but I'll take Apple CarPlay over that any day (this is a big reason I went with Prologue not Blazer EV). The data plan for the built-in system is included free for 8 years I believe.
-The size is perfect, IMO. It's a few inches smaller in every direction than the Prologue, which is great, because he goes to the city sometimes and parking the Prologue would be a hassle. Plus, despite a cheaper MSRP than the Prologue, it has 360-degree cameras. Which the half-the-price Nissan had, btw. Bad job Honda!
-Performance is mediocre, but adequate. I haven't driven it but when he floored it on the test drive, it had the signature EV torque, but this thing is NOT fast. Later last night I was hanging out with a friend with a Tesla Model 3 Performance and that's a completetly different experience. Like, one is a car, one is an airplane.
-Ride quality is fine, despite the 21" wheels/tires.
-I'd rather have "normal" door handles like on the Prologue. But, it seems that many EVs are going to these flush door handles. It is what it is, I guess.
-The Equinox EV is like a Tesla, it just powers on when you get in and step on the brake, and then turns off when you get out and lock it. I prefer a power button.
As for other vehicles we considered:
We checked out the Vinfast VF8 (I know someone that works there, we could have got employee pricing on a lease for dirt cheap). This would have been an interesting experiment, but in the end Vinfast only works with US Bank and for some reason they declined us in terms of credit. Very disappointing. Neither him or I have ever been declined for a car loan before. And GM had no trouble getting us into a much more expensive car. I'll make a separate post about the VF8 and VF9 test drives at some point, that was quite an experience (and not a good one).
He was very interested in a Mach-E, but you don't get a heat pump unless you go with a 2025 and they weren't on the lot yet and he wanted a car NOW.
Also checked out the Nissan Ariya. Cosmetically he liked how it looked on the outside, but the interior was WEIRD. The center console has a motor that moves the entire thing. As a consequence, there is NO storage there. How stupid! Plus, the climate control is a weird haptic feedback touch panel thing. Oh, and don't get me started on the software. Not only does the Ariya not support battery preconditioning, but the map looks straight out of 2005, and while it doesn't have route-planning, it does have a big hotkey for GAS STATIONS. Trash.
IMO the Nissan Kicks was actually a very practical little car, and as it was an upper trim "SR" the interior was actually a good place to be and had decent tech. The size of the vehicle was excellent, and I think with a hybrid drivetrain that delivered better MPG or a 6-speed auto that lost 2MPG but drove better would have made the Kicks a long-term keeper. But, as it was, it didn't get very good MPG, and, having driven it myself a few times, the transmission was just annoying. Plus, as he drives quite a bit, it was going to be out of warranty soon and we were concerned about longevity of the CVT. Tried to get the CVT fluid changed at the dealer at 50K miles but they wanted over $450! Anyway, this is a post about an Equinox EV, not a Nissan Kicks, so I'll move on, I'm just trying to explain the prior vehicles for context.
Ended up purchasing, not leasing, as annual mileage was a concern. Went with the FWD version to reduce initial purchase price, improve efficiency, and even the FWD version was an improvement in performance to his prior car. The Kicks did 0-60 in over 10 seconds while the Equinox does it under 8. Is it fast like some other EVs? No, but it's good enough.
Originally we were going to go with a 2024 LT model of the Equinox BUT we ended up with the 2025 RS model because it was cheaper and it had a wireless phone charger (the fact that 2024 LTs didn't have this is a miss lol). The RS does look very sporty and in the black and white color scheme we got, definitely a GOOD looking vehicle. My only regret is the 21" wheels/tires. I would have preferred the 19-inchers on the LT for pothole resistance and tire replacement cost. But, it is what it is.
Now, this isn't a full review, I haven't even driven the vehicle yet, but here are my impressions:
-The screen situation is NICE. The driver gauge cluster display and the infotainment display look great together. Great responsiveness, resolution, and size. Definitely looks more modern than the Prologue. BUT, and this is a big BUT, it DOES NOT have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. It runs Android Automotive as the OS, though, so you can install Spotify and other apps from the Play Store, but to me, it's not the same. We were disappointed to find out there is no Apple Music app for the car, though, which I believe is his preferred music service. For navigation, the built-in maps have route planning and preconditioning and nice stuff like that, but I'll take Apple CarPlay over that any day (this is a big reason I went with Prologue not Blazer EV). The data plan for the built-in system is included free for 8 years I believe.
-The size is perfect, IMO. It's a few inches smaller in every direction than the Prologue, which is great, because he goes to the city sometimes and parking the Prologue would be a hassle. Plus, despite a cheaper MSRP than the Prologue, it has 360-degree cameras. Which the half-the-price Nissan had, btw. Bad job Honda!
-Performance is mediocre, but adequate. I haven't driven it but when he floored it on the test drive, it had the signature EV torque, but this thing is NOT fast. Later last night I was hanging out with a friend with a Tesla Model 3 Performance and that's a completetly different experience. Like, one is a car, one is an airplane.
-Ride quality is fine, despite the 21" wheels/tires.
-I'd rather have "normal" door handles like on the Prologue. But, it seems that many EVs are going to these flush door handles. It is what it is, I guess.
-The Equinox EV is like a Tesla, it just powers on when you get in and step on the brake, and then turns off when you get out and lock it. I prefer a power button.
As for other vehicles we considered:
We checked out the Vinfast VF8 (I know someone that works there, we could have got employee pricing on a lease for dirt cheap). This would have been an interesting experiment, but in the end Vinfast only works with US Bank and for some reason they declined us in terms of credit. Very disappointing. Neither him or I have ever been declined for a car loan before. And GM had no trouble getting us into a much more expensive car. I'll make a separate post about the VF8 and VF9 test drives at some point, that was quite an experience (and not a good one).
He was very interested in a Mach-E, but you don't get a heat pump unless you go with a 2025 and they weren't on the lot yet and he wanted a car NOW.
Also checked out the Nissan Ariya. Cosmetically he liked how it looked on the outside, but the interior was WEIRD. The center console has a motor that moves the entire thing. As a consequence, there is NO storage there. How stupid! Plus, the climate control is a weird haptic feedback touch panel thing. Oh, and don't get me started on the software. Not only does the Ariya not support battery preconditioning, but the map looks straight out of 2005, and while it doesn't have route-planning, it does have a big hotkey for GAS STATIONS. Trash.
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