2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV: What's It Like to Live With?
This is our one-year test of the Blazer EV. We have 20,000 miles with the GM's newest electric SUV.
| Miles Driven: | Average Electricity Consumption (kWh/100 miles): |
| 4,626 | 33.5 |
Latest Highlights
- We paid MSRP for our Blazer EV RS AWD, avoiding dealer markups
- It cost $60,215
- It's our first extended test of GM's new Ultium electric vehicle platform
- We've encountered some issues in the early days of our year-long test
What do you want to know about?
What we bought and why
• Our test vehicle: 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV RS AWD
• Base MSRP: $60,215
• MSRP as tested: $60,215
• What we paid: $60,215
We hear the 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV is a hot ticket. We've wanted to add one to our long-term fleet ever since Chevy announced the performance-oriented SUV, but a few events moved up our timetable. Most pressing was the threat that the ongoing (at the time) UAW strike could spill over to affect the GM facility that built the EVs. The other was GM's overall slow rollout of vehicles built on the company's Ultium platform, which included the Blazer EV. Moreover, the lack of inventory combined with pent-up demand meant that markups were being applied at the dealer level in full force. The hunt was on.
Thankfully, I had an ace up my sleeve: an old dealership contact at Sierra Chevrolet in Monrovia. With only the RS AWD available on the showroom floor, our decision was made for us. We reached out to Sierra, found the one you see here, and phoned our accountants to get the go-ahead.
What did we get?
Since the RS AWD trim is the only Blazer EV variant available at the moment, it’s the one we got. Thankfully, it's well equipped for the price. For $60,215, the RS AWD comes with adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assistance, plus features like blind-spot warning, heated and ventilated front seats, nice upholstery and a 360-degree bird's-eye view parking camera.
Why did we get it?
The biggest reason we purchased the Chevrolet Blazer EV is because it’s the first non-luxury Ultium vehicle to market (the more affordable Equinox EV is still months away). We'll have plenty of time behind the wheel to see if it is worth your attention. Will the native infotainment system be easy to use? Is the world better without Apple CarPlay or Android Auto? How does the Blazer EV stack up with the competition? Where will it end up on our EV range leaderboard? We have a lot of questions to answer over the next 12 months and 20,000 miles.
Edmunds purchased this vehicle for the purpose of evaluation.
Average lifetime consumption (kWh/100 miles): 33.5
EPA rating (kWh/100 miles): 35 combined ( 33 City / 39 Highway )
Best consumption (kWh/100): 20.5
Best range (miles): 342.9
Current odometer: 4,626
How does the Chevrolet Blazer EV drive?
"As much as the Blazer has been a little bit of a disappointment from a value standpoint, Chevy tunes the brake regen and acceleration profiles well. It's easy to be smooth with this thing, which goes a long way if you have particularly motion-sensitive passengers (as I frequently do). Even my wife commented on how she liked the regen, which almost never happens." — Jonathan Elfalan, director of vehicle testing
Have we encountered any glitches in our Chevrolet Blazer EV?
"While the Fisker Ocean has made me appreciate the relatively few glitches in the Blazer EV, the Blazer still has its moments. Yesterday while driving the screen menus completely disappeared so I had no control over the nav or music. The screen eventually came back, but that was 30 minutes of frustration that shouldn't have happened with a new car." — Jonathan Elfalan, director of vehicle testing
How are the Chevrolet Blazer EV's advanced driver aids?
"Steven Ewing, director of editorial content, encountered a problem with the one of the Blazer's advanced driver aids.
"It seems the forward collision warning doesn't recalibrate based on the different regenerative braking levels," he said. "When I have regen set to high, there are times where the Blazer is very much decelerating but I'm still applying some pressure to the throttle, so the collision warning thinks I'm going to hit something when I'm not even close. I end up driving in the normal regen setting just to avoid the head-up display flashing red all of the time."
"I had to turn both the pedestrian and bicyclist cross-traffic alerts off since they would always sound an alert as I approached the car, even after the car had been parked overnight. I think it's dumb to have this alert active if no one is actually sitting in the driver's seat, and I know there are sensors that can determine that. I don't like that I had to turn it off because I think it's a good feature but it's hasn't been useful for its actual purpose to date." — Jonathan Elfalan, director of vehicle testing
The low-speed warning sound is a bit of a misnomer
"The Blazer's low-speed warning sound should be just that ... a sound that is played while moving at low speeds ONLY! Why the heck does it have to constantly emit an annoying loud cosmic tune when I'm sitting at a traffic light? I get that it needs to have sound when moving, but if you aren't sneaking up on pedestrians, they don't need to know that you're just hanging out at a stop. Hopefully there is an OTA that will address this, and while they're at it, the volume could be lower." — Jonathan Elfalan, director of vehicle testing
If the Blazer EV was a breakfast food, what would it be?
"The Blazer is a leftover pancake from yesterday's breakfast that you microwaved before you realized you didn't have any syrup at home and now you're just eating a lukewarm rubbery pancake with your hands over the sink." — Will Kaufman, manager, video
