Right now, at this very moment, we’re living through the greatest shift in the automotive industry since the invention of the industry itself. Our transition away from fossil fuels has implications of vast magnitude; electric vehicles will redefine environments, industries, governments, and societies. Viewed so broadly, this shift seems daunting, insurmountable—but a narrower scope reveals how attainable it really is.
It all comes down to you.
Some already know. Early EV adopters recognize the joys and potential of battery power. Others can’t imagine renouncing gasoline, which would introduce real challenges to their way of life. Wherever you stand in this spectrum, you likely agree more EVs should be approachable, capable, and enjoyable enough to make electric driving realistic for more people. You should pay attention to our 2024 SUV of the Year: the Chevrolet Blazer EV.
More than a decade after we named the Tesla Model S our Car of the Year, the EV landscape remains skewed toward specific driver niches. That’s been predicated on and perpetuated by avant-garde SUVs such as the BMW iX or Jaguar I-Pace, premium sedans including the Porsche Taycan and Lucid Air, and ostentatious trucks like the Rivian R1T and GMC Hummer EV.
Varied makes and form factors aside, these vehicles share chic, genteel appeal, not to mention price tags approaching or surpassing the six-figure mark. Many such EVs are great, but none of them is exactly ... normal. At the same time, many mainstream EVs have many turn-offs of their own, whether extraneous drama, first-effort foibles, or polarizing designs.
Enter our winner. Relevant context for the Blazer EV’s victory comes from another all-electric Chevrolet, the Bolt EV, our 2017 Car of the Year. That another Chevy EV has now aced our criteria among evolved technical and market considerations indicates it fulfills the promise established by the Bolt: Electric driving can be democratized. In this sense, our SUVOTY judges saw enormous potential from the Blazer EV.
Features editor Scott Evans, who chaperoned our long-term Bolt for a year, felt that lineage. “Chevrolet really paid attention to what worked and what didn’t in the Bolt EV and applied those learnings here,” he said. “This is a fully realized electric vehicle, not a quick and dirty project.” This is sustained through the criteria we use to determine our winner.
The Blazer nameplate needs little introduction. First applied to a boxy, body-on-frame off-roader in 1969, “Blazer” was revived in 2019 and applied to a Camaro-inspired but largely anodyne crossover, which this EV will replace. Despite the disconnect, “Blazer” seems a fitting title given this electric crossover’s fiery styling.
Most judges agreed it has real presence. “The electric swagger wagon has arrived,” buyer’s guide director Zach Gale said, “and it wears a Chevy bow tie.” Riding on a wheelbase nearly an inch longer than the Chevrolet Tahoe’s yet about 18 inches more compact nose to tail, the Blazer EV’s stance is buffed up by short overhangs. Its width is slightly more than the Corvette Z06’s. It’s 2 inches shorter in height than the gas Blazer, imparting sleekness, yet there’s enough ground clearance that the EV avoided scraping its underside on our off-road test course.
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The tapering windowline implies forward motion, an impression reinforced by creases rippling down the profile. Concave sections behind the front wheels are a performance-inspired touch.
Some judges wished Chevrolet had taken more risks with the styling and packaging freedoms an EV platform affords. The Blazer EV RS wears a prominent imitation grille, behind which the hood covers neither engine nor frunk for secure storage. Certainly, though, Chevy’s faithful fans will find the Blazer EV’s looks familiar and endearing—and, upon plugging it in, enjoy the animated LED light show radiating around the backlit badge.
Good design isn’t only about aesthetics; it encompasses sensible, useful decisions. Gale noted a detail many modern vehicles overcomplicate: “Real door handles on an EV? What a concept.”
Convenience begins as soon as you sit behind the wheel—the Blazer EV is ready to drive. Seat-pressure and key-proximity sensors eliminate the need for a start button. “Chevy didn’t mess around with storage,” Gale said about the roll-top cubby and deep, covered bin in the center console. The long wheelbase enables abundant space, as well, with a huge rear seat and a large cargo area; it feels big inside without being enormous outside. Colorful, whimsical elements dot the cabin, prompting senior
features editor Kristen Lee to say, “All the materials are interesting and nice while still feeling and looking like a Chevy should.”
Anyone riding in the front passenger seat, Mexico editor Miguel Cortina said, “will be wowed by the cabin layout, its many amenities, and large screens.” Every Blazer has an 11.0-inch digital gauge display beside a massive 17.7-inch infotainment touchscreen. Evans loved how the displays go right to the edges of the frames where possible: “It looks like the future.” Physical controls remain for HVAC functions, keeping the tech interface generally user-friendly—perhaps an over-the-air update away from excellence.
However, our judges were perplexed by Chevrolet’s decision to abandon Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The Blazer EV is first in the automaker’s lineup afflicted by this change. Its Google-based system features several apps already installed, including Google Maps, and offers better integration with the rest of the vehicle. CarPlay and Android Auto can provide you with navigation apps, but only a few automakers have enabled access to range, state of charge, or recent driving behavior, making route planning especially difficult for an EV. The Blazer’s integrated Google Maps app has access to that information, allowing it to plan full trips and precondition the battery for quicker charging. Whether consumers deem these acceptable trade-offs remains to be seen, but it shows Chevrolet is thinking about how to make its in-car software work better than simply mirroring a phone.
General Motors’ Ultium EV platform is the multibillion-dollar foundation of its electric transition, including the latest recipient of our Golden Calipers. The Blazer EV showcases Ultium’s flexibility with unprecedented powertrain diversity. Two battery-pack sizes will be available, but—like no EV before—also front-, rear-, and all-wheel-drive configurations. Chevrolet could’ve simplified things by proceeding with fewer options, but this spread indicates a dedication to choice, recognition of Ultium’s potential, and a focus on engineering.
The Blazer EV we tested was the sporty-looking RS trim. Its midsize lithium-ion heart sent electrons to a dual-motor AWD system producing 288 hp and 333 lb-ft of torque, good for a 6.0-second 0–60 time. We also recorded a 131-foot 60–0 stop and 27.4-second, 0.63-g lap around our figure eight. Compared to other mainstream EVs, these results aren’t exceptional. Rather, they’re more like those of a normal crossover and very similar to those of the gas-powered Blazer RS.
Drivers seeking more excitement, just wait. The Blazer EV SS—the first EV to wear Chevy’s coveted SS badge—will pack dual motors making 557 hp and 648 lb-ft, which should deliver a sub-4.0-second 0–60 blast.
In the more approachable RS configuration, the Blazer EV has a familiar feel with straightforward, trustworthy driving manners. There’s no face-peeling burst, just instant torque that makes it a reliable partner. That notion continues through the ride and handling. It’s reliably unbothered by rough roads, as technical director Frank Markus noted how “the wheelbase and weight conspire for a comfortable enough ride on choppy pavement.” Indeed, like most battery-powered vehicles, it weighs more than a comparable gas model, but that mass being concentrated in the underfloor battery pack has certain benefits: The Chevy “really hugs curves thanks to that low center of gravity,” Lee said.
Other EVs at SUV of the Year took timid approaches to regenerative braking, but not our winner. Its one-pedal driving function, which uses the motors as generators to slow the vehicle while charging the battery, is “sublime and very well tuned,” senior editor Justin Westbrook said. “I’m never on the brakes.” Selectable levels of regenerative braking strength, from high to off, suit individual preferences. The conventional brakes feel consistently strong.
Regardless of what vehicle they power, Ultium batteries are built for sustainability and longevity. Their chemistry mix uses 70 percent less cobalt than the Bolt EV’s batteries while being more stable and durable for repeated fast charging. Chevrolet warranties the Blazer EV’s battery for eight years or 100,000 miles—three years and 40,000 miles longer than it does the Blazer’s gasoline engines.
EPA ratings for our dual-motor RS test vehicle come in at 103/88/96 mpg-e city/highway/combined and 279 miles of range. In our road-trip range test, which represents distance potential under real-world factors, including a 70-mph average and typical accessory use, it covered 239 miles. That’s 23 miles more than the dual-motor Hyundai Ioniq 5 and 2 better than the average of every EV we’ve run through the test. Wheel size is highly pertinent in EV range, and our test vehicle’s 21-inch rollers add curb appeal at the expense of distance. A variant aiming for 320 miles of EPA range, likely the RS trim equipped with a rear motor and 19-inch wheels, is in the works.
A max charge rate of 190 kW allows for effective replenishment at fast chargers. According to Chevrolet, 78 miles can be added in about 10 minutes under ideal conditions—an astounding improvement over Chevy’s early EV offerings, the Bolt and Bolt EUV, which top out at 55 kW.
No Ultium-based vehicle has been crash-tested yet, so estimating how the Blazer EV might hold up is difficult. However, it’s equipped or available with all of Chevrolet’s latest driver assists and active safety systems. Front automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, and automatic high-beams are all standard, and our RS example featured adaptive cruise control. Strangely, while the cruise control switches are on the steering wheel, the lane keep toggle is on the far left of the dashboard, which Westbrook called a “bizarre button-mapping decision.” GM’s industry-leading Super Cruise hands-free driving system, which allows for true hands-off driving on major highways and freeways as well as fully automatic lane changes, will be optional. Even Tesla’s Autopilot with the Full Self Driving Beta requires you to keep your hands on the wheel at all times.
The least expensive Blazer EV is the 2LT AWD, starting at $56,715. In RS spec, AWD starts at $60,215, while the longer-range rear-drive version starts at $61,790. The SS should command about $66,000. A cheaper base model is promised, as well.
Although these numbers are considerably higher than the ICE Blazer’s, the EV’s pricing is in line with other electric SUVs. The Tesla Model Y starts at about $45,000, and the comparable Autopilot and FSD Beta features add $6,000 to $12,000 to the sticker (as of this writing). An Ioniq 5 starts in the low $40,000 range, but well-equipped models run for about $58,000 and don’t match the Chevy’s level of tech.
All EVs necessitate changes to routine, whether by idiosyncrasies of how they work or the basics of plugging in. But of any EV we’ve experienced, the Blazer EV projects a message more strongly than almost any other: You can do this.
That comes from how easy the Blazer EV is—easy to drive, easy to live with, easy to use. “Chevrolet got so many details right here,” Evans said. “You can tell that it gets EVs and what drivers want from them. The Blazer EV just works like a modern EV should, taking advantage of all the bright ideas that battery power allows. It’s the first EV from a legacy automaker to truly incorporate cutting-edge EV startup thinking, embracing and refining some of the best ideas from the Teslas, Rivians, and Lucids of the world.”
These are crucial areas any EV- focused automaker should be eager to master if it wants its loyal customers to make the switch—as Chevrolet ardently does. Yet it didn’t accomplish that by taking a diffident approach to electric driving, as many competitors and contenders at this SUV of the Year do. Each judge sensed how the Blazer EV indicates its maker’s awareness of what matters right now for drivers at any experience level. “General Motors has already introduced a few vehicles on the Ultium platform,” Detroit editor Alisa Priddle said, “but this is the one where it applied lessons learned from the others—and even the Bolt EV—and created a winner.”
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Much more than an enlarged Bolt EV, the Blazer EV is far more viable for the needs of individuals and families everywhere. It’s not just because it establishes Chevrolet, once again, as a serious force in the
EV space. Nor can its excellence be pinned on novel powertrain solutions or slick design details. It’s how these factors combine with overall product excellence that makes the Blazer EV our SUV of the Year.
DRIVETRAIN LAYOUT Front and rear-motor, AWD
MOTOR TYPE Permanent-magnet (front), induction (rear) electric
POWER (SAE NET) 288 hp (comb)
TORQUE (SAE NET) 333 lb-ft (comb)
WEIGHT TO POWER 18.2 lb/hp
TRANSMISSION 1-speed automatic
AXLE RATIO F/R 11.59:1/11.00:1
SUSPENSION, FRONT; REAR Struts, coil springs, anti-roll bar; multilink, coil springs, anti-roll bar
STEERING RATIO 18.5:1
TURNS LOCK-TO-LOCK 3.4
BRAKES, F; R 12.6-in vented disc; 13.6-in disc
WHEELS 9.5 x 21-in cast aluminum
TIRES 275/45R21 107H M+S Bridgestone Alenza A/S 02
DIMENSIONS
WHEELBASE 121.8 in
TRACK, F/R 65.9/65.9 in
LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT 192.2 x 78.0 x 65.0 in
GROUND CLEARANCE 7.9 in
APPRCH/DEPART ANGLE 19.1/23.0 deg
TURNING CIRCLE 39.7 ft
CURB WEIGHT (DIST F/R) 5,235 lb (55/45%)
SEATING CAPACITY 5
HEADROOM, F/R 40.9/38.1 in
LEGROOM, F/R 44.2/38.9 in
SHOULDER ROOM, F/R 58.7/58.3 in
CARGO VOLUME, BEH F/R 59.1/25.5 cu ft
TOWING CAPACITY 1,500 lb
TEST DATA
ACCELERATION TO MPH
0-30 2.4 sec
0-40 3.4
0-50 4.5
0-60 6.0
0-70 8.0
0-80 10.5
0-90 13.7
0-100 17.7
PASSING, 45-65 MPH 3.1
QUARTER MILE 14.8 sec @ 93.1 mph
BRAKING, 60-0 MPH 131 ft
LATERAL ACCELERATION 0.80 g (avg)
MT FIGURE EIGHT 27.4 sec @ 0.63 g (avg)
CONSUMER INFO
BASE PRICE $60,215
PRICE AS TESTED $64,230
AIRBAGS 8: Dual front, front side, f/r curtain, front knee
BASIC WARRANTY 3 yrs/36,000 miles
POWERTRAIN WARRANTY 8 yrs/100,000 miles (incl battery)
ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE 8 yrs/100,000 miles
BATTERY CAPACITY 85.0 kWh
EPA CITY/HWY/COMB ECON 103/88/96 mpg-e
EPA RANGE, COMB 279 miles
RECOMMENDED FUEL 240-volt electricity, 480-volt electricity
ON SALE Summer, 2023
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