For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Chevrolet Equinox EV are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The MINI Cooper SE doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.
In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Equinox EV are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Equinox EV has standard Reverse Automatic Braking that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The Equinox EV has all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.
The Equinox EV offers an optional HD Surround Vision to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Cooper SE only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.
The Equinox EV’s blind spot warning system uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them and moves the vehicle back into its lane. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer a system to reveal objects in the driver’s blind spots.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Equinox EV’s standard Rear Cross Traffic Alert uses sensors in the rear to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side and Rear Cross Traffic Braking automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer a rear cross-path warning system.
Both the Equinox EV and the Cooper SE have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and available driver alert monitors.
The Chevrolet Equinox EV weighs 1780 to 1898 pounds more than the MINI Cooper SE. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts. Crosswinds also affect lighter cars more.