00:00 Take everything you know about Blazers, especially the K5, and throw it out the window.
00:05 There's a new Blazer in town and it's like nothing you've ever seen before.
00:19 Because the trend of electrifying both known and old nameplates marches on.
00:23 You saw it first with the GMC Hummer EV and Chevy's been doing it too.
00:27 This is the 2024 Chevy Blazer EV.
00:30 And looking at it now, I have to ask, did Chevy just hoodwink us into getting stoked on a tall electric wagon?
00:36 I'm serious, just look at it. Look at its proportions.
00:41 Technically, the Blazer EV is a midsize SUV, but its ground clearance and overall shape kind of indicate otherwise, right?
00:48 Look at how low slung and wide it is, how its headlights fan out horizontally like that.
00:53 It has that long roof silhouette. It's just taller than your traditional wagon, which translates to more cabin space.
00:59 Overall, though, it looks real sharp and perfect for this modern age.
01:03 Inside, there's a huge amount of room for passengers and stuff.
01:07 And also because the ceiling is high, it lends to a sense of airiness that you can actually see out of this cabin.
01:12 And because it's 2023, you cannot escape the onslaught of screens.
01:16 But these are big, bright and easy to read.
01:19 From back here, things are extremely spacious with great headroom.
01:23 I mean, I'm not tall, but earlier today I saw someone who's 6'3" sit back here and they had great headroom.
01:29 Also, because the floor is flat, this middle passenger isn't cheated out of legroom. How about that?
01:34 OK, time to check out this trunk.
01:37 Moment of truth, moment of truth.
01:40 And it's good. It's decent. It's actually deep. You can fit a lot of stuff in here.
01:45 And if you run out of room, there's this floor down here where you can put even more things.
01:51 Isn't that fantastic?
01:53 So now that we're driving the Blazer EV, there is one thing that I want you to know about it that I find very cool.
02:03 And it is you can get this thing in either front wheel drive, all wheel drive or rear wheel drive.
02:09 You understand that like no other cars do that, right?
02:12 So basically what it means is you can drive into a Chevy dealership and pending availability, of course,
02:17 ask for either a front wheel drive version, two rear wheel drive versions, one all wheel drive version with either the standard or performance trim and three different battery sizes.
02:26 That is so many possibilities.
02:29 So this particular Blazer is the RS all wheel drive trim.
02:32 It makes 288 horsepower, 333 pound feet of torque and fully charged produces an EPA estimated 279 miles of range.
02:42 Here's what I like about it. And it's a lot.
02:46 First of all, buttons. Yes, mama likes buttons.
02:50 Yes, there's a big touch screen, but there are buttons that you can control the volume with because there's a volume knob and you can control the climate.
02:56 That's wonderful. And even the air vents have physical toggles.
03:00 It's not until somebody tries to take that away from you that you realize how valuable they are.
03:04 Beyond that, though, driving this thing, it negotiates the turns really nicely.
03:09 You know, you feel like you can kind of push it a little bit.
03:11 It's more confidence inspiring. The weight is all concentrated in the bottom, in the floor.
03:16 So the center of gravity is very low.
03:19 Acceleration is unsurprisingly good because it's an EV.
03:23 It is not the blowing your hair back kind.
03:26 It's only three hundred thirty three pound feet of torque. But hey, that's enough for merging, passing all the things that you needed to do.
03:32 The brakes are really good, too. You can turn on regenerative braking if you're into that kind of thing with just the push of a button.
03:38 And if you don't like it, you can turn it right off.
03:41 But it is very smooth. The chassis rides really nice.
03:44 It handles the bumps very well. In fact, I think the only thing that I don't love is the steering feedback.
03:51 I've tried the steering in sport and normal modes, and it never really tightens up to the point where I feel great about it.
03:58 That being said, this is the RS trim. It's not the top of the line SS trim.
04:03 Maybe the SS. I haven't driven it yet, but maybe they tighten up the steering a bit.
04:07 Give it a sports suspension, give it extra power.
04:09 That's the case. You got yourself a pretty sweet sports car there.
04:15 With more and more EVs entering the market, especially midsize SUV EVs, automakers have to fight each other to keep their product on top.
04:23 So you could go the route of a startup like the Fisker Ocean, or you could go with a legacy automaker touting a legacy nameplate.
04:30 But this Blazer EV is a Blazer in name only. In practice, it is sleek, modern, quick. Everything the K5 truck wasn't.
04:38 And it's also really cool that you can customize it down to three different drivetrains.
04:42 That really shows the flexibility of these EV platforms, like the GM Ultium, over the ICE platforms.
04:47 And in a way, driving the Blazer EV was like driving around in a big, tall electric station wagon.
04:53 And if this is the putting cheddar on top of broccoli way that Chevy is getting Americans to fall back in love with station wagons, well, I am here for it.
05:02 [MUSIC PLAYING]
05:06 (dramatic music)
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