Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
I drove Chevy’s $57,000 Blazer EV. It’s stylish and practical but still too flawed to win me over.
September 25, 20240
My test car came out to $57,215.
Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
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.
Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
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.
Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
The image quality is remarkably crisp.
Open up the hands-free power liftgate, and there’s 25.5 cubic feet of cargo room.
Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
That’s roughly inline with the Mach-E’s overall cargo room.
There’s an additional storage space under the rear cargo floor.
Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
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.
Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
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.