The question
Amanda is a 36-year-old nurse practitioner living in central Phoenix. Her 2019 Honda CR-V has 105,000 miles and is due for replacement. She works varied shifts at Banner Health, drives 14,000 miles a year, and has a two-car garage where her partner's plug-in hybrid already lives — so 240V charging infrastructure is already in place. Their combined utility service is SRP, and they're already enrolled in the EV Price Plan for the plug-in hybrid.
She walked into her local Chevy dealer intending to look at the gas Equinox — familiar nameplate, mainstream family crossover, familiar price point. The salesperson pointed her at the Equinox EV parked next to it and said "same name, same size, do the math." So she asked us to.
Her constraints: 14,000 miles a year, cash purchase, five-year ownership horizon, and a strong preference to keep monthly operating costs low (nurse practitioner income is stable but not extravagant, and Phoenix summers mean high AC bills already). The comparison: 2025 Chevrolet Equinox LT AWD (gas) vs. 2025 Chevrolet Equinox EV LT FWD.
The vehicles
2025 Chevrolet Equinox LT AWD
$32,000
- Combined MPG27
- CategoryCompact crossover · AWD
- Depreciation model12% / yr (Chevy mainstream)
2025 Chevrolet Equinox EV LT FWD
$36,000
- Efficiency30 kWh / 100 mi
- CategoryCompact crossover · FWD
- Depreciation model15% / yr (new model estimate)
The 5-year math
| Equinox (gas) | Equinox EV | |
|---|---|---|
| MSRP | $32,000 | $36,000 |
| Depreciation (5-yr loss) | $15,113 | $20,027 |
| Fuel or electricity (5-yr) | $9,333 gasoline | $1,260 electricity |
| Insurance (5-yr) | $7,500 | $8,250 |
| Maintenance (5-yr) | $3,000 | $2,250 |
| State/federal incentives | — | $0 (AZ has no state EV rebate) |
| 5-year true cost to own | $34,946 | $31,787 |
| Difference | Chevrolet Equinox EV wins by $3,159 | |
Assumptions: Arizona gasoline at $3.60/gal (state average, higher than national mean). SRP EV Price Plan blended at $0.060/kWh — this weighted rate assumes ~85% charging during super off-peak overnight ($0.045/kWh, 11 PM to 5 AM), ~10% off-peak, ~5% on-peak. Insurance from Drive Economics's density-and-MSRP model for a Phoenix ZIP (medium-cost auto insurance market). Maintenance from make and category (Chevy mainstream gas; Chevy EV multiplier applied). Depreciation is geometric. Equinox EV depreciation of 15%/yr is a conservative estimate for a first-generation model that only launched in 2024 — actual retention data won't be reliable until 2029+. Arizona has no state EV purchase rebate; federal EV tax credit expired September 30, 2025. See methodology.
The verdict
The Equinox EV wins by $3,159 over 5 years — a solid win driven almost entirely by SRP's exceptional overnight EV rate. The math is remarkable when you look at the fuel comparison in isolation: $8,073 saved on fuel over 5 years, more than double the total delta. Everything else in the analysis works AGAINST the EV — higher MSRP, higher (conservatively estimated) depreciation, higher insurance — and the fuel savings still overwhelm them.
Where the gas Equinox costs less: $4,914 less in depreciation loss (lower MSRP + established retention) and $750 more in maintenance. Where the EV costs more upfront: $4,000 higher sticker, $750 more insurance. The gas car "should" win on paper — but SRP's rate structure changes the game.
The lesson here isn't complicated: utility rates matter more than any other variable in EV economics. Sarah in Denver pays $0.12/kWh on Xcel's EV rate. Marcus in Dallas pays $0.08/kWh on Reliant's Truly Free Nights. Amanda in Phoenix pays $0.045/kWh super off-peak on SRP. Same driving pattern, same 14,000 miles, same 5-year window — the utility rate alone swings the outcome by thousands of dollars.
For Amanda specifically, the case is even stronger than the math shows. She already has a home charging setup. She already understands the SRP EV Price Plan from her partner's PHEV. There's no infrastructure friction, no rate-shopping learning curve. The EV wins on math and on convenience.
What could change this
- Charging outside super off-peak hours reduces the fuel gap fast. If Amanda ends up charging 50% overnight and 50% off-peak ($0.10/kWh average), the blended rate rises to about $0.073/kWh, adding roughly $550 to 5-year electricity cost. EV still wins by $2,600.
- Actual Equinox EV depreciation could be better or worse than the conservative 15%/yr estimate. If it holds value like the mainstream Chevy Bolt (14%/yr historical), the EV win grows to about $4,000. If it's rougher than expected (18%/yr like some pre-cut Mach-E cohorts), the win shrinks to about $1,000.
- Higher mileage makes the EV win faster. At 18,000 mi/yr the delta grows to about $5,200. At 22,000 mi/yr it approaches $7,000. The reverse is also true: at 8,000 mi/yr the win shrinks to about $600 — the fuel savings can't overcome the depreciation gap at low usage.
- APS territory instead of SRP — Phoenix has two overlapping utilities depending on your address. APS's EV rate is decent but not as aggressive as SRP's. Blended around $0.09/kWh, APS pushes the Equinox EV total to about $33,300 — still a $1,600 win but half as dramatic.
- Federal EV credit reinstated — the previous $7,500 credit expired September 30, 2025. If a $7,500 credit returns, the Equinox EV wins by roughly $10,700 — an overwhelming margin.
- Comparing against a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid (39 MPG) instead of the gas Equinox — the RAV4 Hybrid's efficiency closes the fuel gap to about $5,300, but the RAV4 also holds value better than the Chevy (10% vs 12% annual depreciation). Net delta swings to a rough tie. Hybrids remain the strongest gas-side competitors when the electricity rate is cheap.
Run these numbers with your details
Different Arizona ZIP, different SRP rate plan, or different mileage? Run the comparison with your specifics. The Equinox EV is preloaded so you can see how the math changes.
Compare Equinox EV vs. Equinox in the calculator →