Chevrolet resumes sales of Blazer EV after software adjustments
Following a raft of software updates and a smattering of other refinements, Chevrolet has resumed sales of its all-electric 2024 Blazer EV. In addition to the new features, its price tag drops by $6,000 in certain trims — and since most of our readers tend to like money, we'll start with the pricing changes.
A new 2024 Blazer EV in 2LT trim now stickers at $60,370, a sum $3,000 smaller than it was in December 2023. Meanwhile, RS trims (both rear- and all-wheel-drive powertrains) now cost $67,370, instead of cresting 73 grand. Saving six thousand bucks is not a trifle. Those figures include freight charges and some other ancillaries, but not sales tax.
At present, both trims qualify for the fed's iZEV program, knocking up to $5,000 off the price of this thing, in addition to any provincial monies which may be on the table depending on yer place of residence (anywhere outside Ontario and the Prairies, basically).
Elsewhere, readers with alert memories will recall Chevy had something of a tough time with a few of the first Blazer EVs to make it into customer and journalist hands, with some examples exhibiting off-thewall behaviour from its infotainment displays. Since this digital real estate now essentially comprises the central nervous system of rigs like the Blazer EV, this created several headaches and led the IT team back to its drawing board. The stop-sale had been in place since late 2023.
Without spilling too much tea, GM says it has made “significant software updates” intended to improve features and functionality. “We're confident these improvements will address concerns heard from some early owners,” company reps said in a statement. “As promised, we're carrying learnings over to other products in GM's lineup.”
This is important, especially since the General is insistent it can build a better mousetrap than Apple and Google, choosing to bin CarPlay and Android Auto in its future electric vehicles.
Abandoning these popular platforms in favour of an in-house system has caused much consternation with both customers and dealers, especially given the spectre that GM is only doing this to wall off its garden and benefit financially from certain microtransactions.
That the 2024 Blazer EV had so many problems with digital tech when it first appeared doesn't necessarily bode well for that decision; if GM thinks it can do better than Silicon Valley's best, it needs to bring its A-game.
The all-wheel-drive version is rated by NRCan at a range of 449 km, while rear-drive models get a 521km rating.