First Drive: 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV Is a Bumpy Ride

But the Blazer EV has gotten off to a rocky start. GM delayed the launch of the entry-level 1LT and performance-oriented SS trims until later this year. Several automotive journalists reported software issues with their test vehicles, some severe enough to prevent them from being driven. And GM ordered dealers to stop selling new Blazer EVs until it could issue a critical software update. The stop-sale was lifted on March 8, 2024. Further, a Chevrolet spokesperson tells us that a software update is now available to current owners through their local dealership. We intend to update our test vehicle soon.

Our Blazer EV wasn’t immune to those issues, even before we drove it home. On our way to the local dealership where we purchased our Blazer EV, we got a call telling us that we couldn’t pick it up until a technician from GM performed a software update. Once we got the car, several drivers reported that the center display screen and the gauge cluster behind the steering wheel would flicker and become unusable. Sometimes the radio turned on and off when the vehicle was parked and turned off in our garage. In addition, our mechanics found the carpet and padding beneath the pedals wasn’t installed correctly, and the rear seat belt buckles were hidden beneath the rear seat—we suspect most owners would have had to return to the dealership to address those issues.

While our experiences with an individual test vehicle don’t affect its reliability score, our problems with the Blazer EV are an anecdotal example of how all-new vehicles can have growing pains early on. This trend has been borne out in our reliability surveys, which show new EVs having more issues in their first model years. In the case of the Blazer EV, the issues don’t seem to be with the fact that it’s an electric vehicle, but with its new-from-the-ground-up software.