Payne: Five things to know about the 2024 Chevy Blazer EV

Posted by Talbot Payne on July 27, 2022

Warren — The mid-size, gas-powered Chevrolet Blazer lineup is getting an electric model. But don’t call them twins.

The Blazer and Blazer EV share a few things: They will be built alongside each other in Mexico and share styling cues like bold fascias, muscular hips, and Camaro-inspired, rotary air vents. Otherwise, the 2024 Blazer EV is a completely different animal that doesn’t even have the same steering wheel. The Detroit News got a sneak peak at the SS model at GM’s Warren Tech Center.

The SS version of the coming Chevrolet Blazer EV offers customers a performance all-wheel drive propulsion configuration designed to produce up to 557 horsepower and up to 648 pound-feet of torque.

Blazer EV will be based on General Motors Co.’s 400-volt Ultium platform — and will sticker nearly 9 grand more than Blazer with its top SS model topping out $23,000 north of its gas sibling’s $43K Premiere trim. Get in the Blazer EV, touch the brake and it’s on. No turn key, no push button. Blazer EV offers Super Cruse self-drive assist, regenerative braking, and 78 miles of charge in 10 minutes on a DC fast-charger.

Beyond the specs, here are five notable Blazer features:

Performance SS. Blazer marks the return of Chevy’s legendary SS performance badge. SS as in Super Sport. SS as in lots of power. The badge first appeared in 1961 on an Impala sedan. Over the years it would adorn famous models including Camaro, Chevelle, El Camino, Nova, pickup truck — and finally its own standalone, V8-powered SS sedan from 2014-17. Dubbed the “four-door Camaro,” the latter was the most powerful Chevy sedan ever made with 415 horsepower, 415 pound-feet of torque and a 0-60 time of 4.7 seconds.

The Blazer SS aims to make a statement by crushing the SS sedan’s numbers with a whopping 557 horsepower, 648 pound-feet of torque, and a 0-60 sprint under 4 seconds. It will achieve this with the largest of three Blazer batteries, three electric motors, and performance Brembo brakes to bring it back to earth.

Aimed squarely at the $66,095 Ford Mustang Mach-E GT (480 horsepower, 630 torque in Performance trim), the Blazer will be a rocket ship with numbers — and sticker price — outpacing Cadillac’s first all-wheel-drive electric SUV, the $62,990 Lyriq.

The 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV comes in four different trim options with varying mileage on a single charge. The RS model gets the most mileage at an estimated 320 on a charge.

So quick is the Blazer SS that it has the attention of police departments that want to use it as a Police Pursuit Vehicle (Chevy dubs it the Blazer EV PPV). Currently, Chevy offers cops a hopped-up, Brembo-shod, V8-powered Tahoe with 355 horses/383 lb.-ft of torque as a pursuit pod.

Front and all-wheel drive. Showing off the dexterity of its Ultium platform, Blazer EV is the first Chevrolet to ever offer front-wheel-drive and rear-wheel-power. Internal combustion drivetrains are one or the other — depending on whether power is sent through a differential to the front or rear tires.

Since Ultium is powered by electric motors, the drive unit can be placed in either the bow or stern. The base, 1LT and 2LT models will be available with FWD. The top-trim, performance-oriented RS comes standard with RWD. All four trims can be optioned with all-wheel-drive.

The new Chevrolet Blazer EV will offer unique interior design options for the RS and SS models, including blue and red contrasting stitching on the RS, and sueded microfiber seating on the SS, with Adrenaline Red seating surfaces and available Argon Orange accents.

We (don’t) want the frunk. Like the Cadillac Lyriq, Blazer EV will not offer extra storage in front where the gas engine usually resides. The front trunk — “frunk” — was popularized by Tesla and has been a selling point for EVs showing off extra cargo space. Blazer competitor Mustang Mach-E advertises its frunk for everything from a baggage hold to a drainable, tailgate-party ice cooler. The coming Chevy Silverado EV and Ford Lightning offer gigantic frunks that can hold luggage and golf bags to complement their rear pickup beds.

Chevrolet product planners said that, rather then engineer a front trunk, they sought to use the EV platform to maximize interior space. Blazer EV boasts larger interior legroom than gas Blazer.

The Silverado screen. When it debuted in January, the $107,000, 2024 Chevy Silverado EV RST wowed with a huge, horizontal screen spanning the dash. Blazer EV offers the same screen. The display combines an 11-inch instrument screen with a 17.7-inch infotainment screen. Neatly joining the two is a big volume knob with the infotainment screen angled toward the driver like the mid-engine Corvette.

Super Cruise, General Motors Co.'s self-driving system, will be standard on the SS version and available for on the RS trim for the new Chevrolet Blazer EV.

Powered by Google. Tesla has dominated the EV segment in part because of its proprietary charging network integrated with its vehicles’ navigation software. GM hopes to shrink that gap with Google Automated Services paired to its MyChevy app. Chevy says that, like Tesla, its navigation system will not only route your journey — but will also communicate to the driver which charging stations to use, how long each stop will take to charge — even assist you by locating nearby restaurants and retail stores to help pass the time while Blazer fuels up.

In a patchwork network of third party chargers, Chevy hopes its Google system will ease customer concerns about taking the family on long road trips.

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.

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