I drove Chevy's $57,000 Blazer EV. It's stylish and practical but still too flawed to win me over.
Benjamin Zhang
- The Chevrolet Blazer EV is a battery-electric midsize SUV built on GM's Ultium EV platform.
- I was impressed by the Blazer EV's stylish looks, roomy cabin, smooth ride, and massive touchscreen.
The 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV was one of the most eagerly awaited electric vehicles to hit the market when it debuted in late 2023.
Until recently, the General Motors EV lineup had consisted primarily of luxury vehicles like the Cadillac Lyriq and high-priced pickups like the Hummer EV.
Now, GM finally has a viable midsize electric SUV for the average American family.
The bulk of EV SUVs on sale these days are either compact offerings like the Tesla Model Y and Ford Mustang Mach-E or larger luxury models like the Rivian R1S and Mercedes-Benz EQS.
As a result, the SUV — which is mechanically unrelated to the internal combustion Chevy crossover that shares its name — entered a surprisingly barren midsize electric SUV market with its closest competitor, the Honda Prologue.
I recently spent a week driving a 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV RS with AWD around metro Atlanta.
I was impressed by its aggressive styling, roomy cabin, smooth ride, and massive high-definition infotainment touchscreen.
However, the Blazer EV is not without its flaws.
I was disappointed with the Chevy's cheap-feeling interior, uncomfortable seats, lack of Apple CarPlay compatibility, and unnecessarily complex user interface.
My test car came out to $57,215.
The Blazer EV is currently available in three trim levels: the base LT AWD, the mid-grade RS AWD, and the range-topping RS RWD.
All three trims have been discounted several times this year, including in March when Chevrolet resumed sales of the Blazer EV after suspending sales two months earlier due to software issues that left some drivers stranded.
The base LT trim now starts at $48,800, while the RS RWD starts at $54,200.
My mid-spec RS AWD test car starts at $53,200, but shipping fees, a $2,620 convenience fee, and other optional features pushed the as-tested price to $57,215.
Chevy is also running a bevy of discounts that can bring down the price more than $10,000.
A high-performance SS trim was supposed to launch this year but has been pushed back to 2025.
With the Blazer EV, Chevy delivered a modern and attractive midsize crossover.
The Blazer's design is a stylish EV interpretation of Chevrolet's current SUV design language combined with a dose of the brand's now-defunct Camaro muscle car.
I really like the Blazer EV's exterior styling.
The front fascia is dominated by a large illuminated LED light bar that spans the width of the front end.
Even the bowtie logo is illuminated.
The light bar can be configured to perform a little animated sequence when you approach or depart the vehicle.
The tapered rear window line and prominent rear wheel arches help create an athletic look.
Out back, the Blazer EV is designed to clean up airflow to help improve the vehicle's overall aerodynamics and range.
Its small rear window somewhat compromises rear visibility and the wiper is quite possibly the smallest one I've ever seen.
My RS AWD test car came with these nifty-looking 21-inch machined aluminum and black-painted alloy wheels.
The base LT trim gets smaller 19-inch wheels.
Despite its muscle car looks, the Blazer EV is much bigger than Ford's Mustang Mach-E and isn't quite a direct competitor.
The Blazer EV falls solidly within the realm of a midsize SUV at over 192 inches long. Compared to the compact Mach-E, the Blazer EV is an inch taller, 4.5 inches wider, and more than half a foot longer. In fact, the Blazer EV is a couple inches longer than Hyundai's new three-row midsize Santa Fe SUV.
The Blazer EV is built on GM's new Ultium EV platform.
The modular Ultium platform underpins a host of models that include large pickups like the Chevrolet Silverado EV and GMC Hummer EV, luxury vehicles like the Cadillac Lyriq, and mainstream crossovers such as the Blazer EV and smaller Equinox EV.
The Ultium platform also underpins Honda's Prologue crossover.
Since it's an EV, there's no hulking motor under the hood.
Like its fellow Ultium platform mates, the Chevrolet Equinox EV and Honda Prologue, the Blazer EV does not have a front trunk or drunk.
My RS AWD test car had 288 horsepower under the hood.
My RS AWD test car had a 241 horsepower electric motor mounted to the front axle and a 90 horsepower electric motor mounted at the back wheels to assist when additional traction is called upon. Together, the motors produce 288 system horsepower and 333 lb. ft. of torque.
The Blazer delivers solid charging.
The Blazer EV can charge at a rate of 11.5 kW using a Level 2 charger, adding roughly 31 miles of range per hour.
Using a DC fast charger, my test car with the 85 kWh pack could charge at 150 kW, adding up to 68 miles of range in 10 minutes. That puts the SUV ahead of the Nissan Ariya, even with the Mustang Mach-Em but behind the Hyundai Ioniq 5.
My RS AWD was rated for a solid 279-mile range.
The Blazer EV is an easy-going cruiser with solid acceleration.
EVs have gained a reputation recently for delivering breakneck acceleration on demand.
That's not quite the Modus Operandi of the Blazer EV, at least not in the relatively tame RS AWD trim I tested out.
The ride is well-cushioned and doesn't exhibit the harsh bounciness that some EVs exhibit.
With its wider-than-expected tires and wheels pushed out to the far edges of each corner, the Blazer EV felt competent when the road got twisty and exhibited little body roll when turning.
However, it's definitely not designed to be hustled around corners like a sports car.
Road and wind noise are minimal.
Acceleration off the line is adequate, but nothing spectacular. Even with a robust 333 lb. ft. of torque on tap, you can feel its hefty 5,300lb curb weight.
According to Motor Trend, the Blazer EV RS AWD can do 0-60mph in 6.0 seconds.
The Blazer's cabin is truly a mixed bag.
Chevy got a lot right with the Blazer EV's cabin. It's roomy and quiet, there's lots of storage, and the massive screens look great.
But upon closer examination, there are significant flaws. Material and build quality are lackluster. Some of the plastics used in contact points felt cheap, while the parts of the front dash, the like screen assembly, felt poorly screwed together.
The big screen looks terrific. The Google-based infotainment system is a piece of cake to navigate and react quickly to inputs.
And then there's the read and black turbine look air vents.
The design makes sense in a Camaro but looked cheap and out of place in a $50,000-plus EV SUV.
I was also not a fan of the Blazer EV's unconventional start-up and shut-down procedure.
Instead of a traditional ignition button, the Blazer EV starts when you step on the brake pedal, just like the Tesla Model Y. At the end of the drive, the EV shuts down automatically after you shift it into Park and open the door. The Blazer EV can be shut down manually through a menu on the infotainment screen.
Considering that the Blazer EV is geared toward traditional ICE vehicle drivers, what may seem simple and convenient to the Tesla crowd may create unnecessary confusion and complexity for its target market.
One of my favorite parts of the system is a shortcuts menu at the top left corner of the screen.
The system allows you to drag and drop frequently used features to the menu for speedy access.
My Blazer EV also came with a surround vision camera as part of the optional convenience package.
Since it's a Google-based system, it comes with built-in Google Maps.
GM's decision to drop Apple CarPlay compatibility is the biggest shortcoming of the infotainment system.
As a loyal iPhone user, not having CarPlay is a dealbreaker for me.
My test car's seats came upholstered in black suede and cloth with red accent piping.
The front seats are hard and lack lumbar support. It feels like you're sitting on the seat rather than in it.
In front of the driver is a heated, leather-wrapped steering wheel.
As with other recent GM products, there are audio controls on the back of the steering wheel.
Also in front of the driver is an 11-inch digital instrument display.
The display is highly configurable, offering the driver a handful of different layouts. My favorite is the navigation map.
Custom layouts can include different data points like range, charging, driver's assistance features, and turn-by-turn navigation.
My Blazer EV also came with an optional head-up display.
Another interesting feature on the Blazer EV is a heated wiper park that heats the area around the windshield wipers so ice and snow can't build up.
The back seats are roomy, but the tapered roofline compromises rear visibility.
The Blazer EV's rear seats offer passengers a solid 38.9 inches of legroom.
Luckily, a rear vision camera helps when the rear window is obscured.
The image quality is remarkably crisp.
Open up the hands-free power liftgate, and there's 25.5 cubic feet of cargo room.
The tapered roofline eats into the Blazer EV's cargo capacity, which trails the smaller Mustaing Mach-E by four cubic feet.
Fold the rear bench seat down, and that cargo capacity expands to 59.1 cubic feet.
That's roughly inline with the Mach-E's overall cargo room.
There's an additional storage space under the rear cargo floor.
This is where you'll find the Blazer EV's charging cables.
The Blazer EV comes standard with Chevy Safety Assist.
The Chevy Safety Assist suite of tech includes automatic emergency braking, front pedestrian braking, lane keep assist with lane departure warning, following distance indicator, forward collision alert, and IntelliBeam auto high beams.
My test car was also equipped with optional features, including adaptive cruise control, rear pedestrian alert, side bicyclist alert, intersection automatic emergency braking, and reverse automatic braking
My verdict: The Chevrolet Blazer EV is a roomy, attractively styled EV with good range but there are just too many flaws for me.
There's a lot to like about the Blazer EV. It looks great, drives well, there's plenty of range, and has a quiet, roomy cabin with an impressively large screen.
That's a great starting point.
And GM's massive discounts that knock the price below the $50,000 mark sweeten the pot even more.
But its flaws, which may seem nitpicky, are deal-breakers for me. The $10,000 discount couldn't overcome my disappointment with its cheap interior, uncomfortable seats, unconventional controls, and the lack of Apple CarPlay compatibility.
But that's just me.
If you can live with the Blazer EV's shortcomings that annoyed me, then you'll be more than happy with the stylish Chevy.
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