I’m an unabashed fan of hands-free driving
systems -- with the caveat that they don’t excuse potentially dangerous behavior.
General Motors’ Super Cruise monitors your eye position. If you look away for
more than a second, the top of the wheel (which turns green when Super Cruise is engaged) will start pulsing until your gaze returns firmly to the road ahead.
Your eyes may need to
stay on the road, but the systems give your hands, arms and legs a chance to relax a bit. It’s especially useful on road trips.
I was happy to have a week in the
Chevrolet Equinox EV in order to check out the latest version of Super Cruise and to see if taking an electric vehicle on an extended vacation four hours north of Detroit would work out OK in terms of
the charging infrastructure.
Both boxes got decidedly checked during my four-day road trip.
I was astounded to find the Super Cruise kicking in on
non-divided two-lane roads like M-22, which runs up and down Michigan’s Leelanau Peninsula. There were other, bigger roads during the trip where I got the “Super Cruise unavailable”
message. But it’s clear that General Motors is adding new roads all the time.
GM says Super Cruise will expand to 750,000 miles of North American highways by
the end of 2025.
The charging infrastructure is also expanding rapidly, especially now that GM vehicles can use Tesla chargers with the help of an adapter. We found Level 2
(medium-speed) chargers in nooks and crannies all over the Traverse City area. We could have charged during several meals, but unfortunately the car’s software was experiencing an issue
that wouldn't allow it to accept a Level 2 charger.
Thankfully, we had no problem finding Level 3 fast chargers and never got below 20% of charge.
Prices for public charging can vary widely -- and unlike gas stations, there isn’t as much competition, so less opportunity to shop around. I wasn’t happy to spend $20 to add
about 120 miles of range on a Red-E charger in Grosse Pointe after I returned home. But beggars can’t be choosers, and this charger is conveniently located.
Those with
home Level 2 chargers have a definite advantage. Anyone considering buying an EV should check into the price of installing the Level 2 home charger first. I wouldn’t recommend buying or leasing
an EV unless you have a charger at your home or office. If the office is going to be your primary charging location, look at the price of electricity on that charger and compare it to the price
of gas.
I also got used to a week without Apple Car Play, which none of GM’s EVs offer. Thankfully, the Waze app was downloaded, so I was able to run that alongside the
native navigation system.
There is an advantage to using native nav: It is able to make suggestions on places to stop and charge, and accurately shows you how long it will
take to do so. This really comes in handy on trips.
I got used to using the Google Assistant to listen to and respond to texts. But I still think Apple Car Play is the
superior system, so I wish GM would reconsider this decision. I don’t feel like a buyer paying $52,530 (including all the options and destination/handling) should have to make
sacrifices.
All said and done, the trip went off mostly without a hitch. I got to enjoy not only beautiful northern Michigan, but GM’s foray into a reasonably priced EV,
too.
We found chargers in tiny Northport,
Michigan. Unfortunately the Equinox was having an issue connecting to Level 2 chargers, so we weren't able to add any miles here.