I picked it up today and after the hour and a half drive home, mostly on the NY Thruway at 70 mph, I’ve got to say ‘‘gas is so last century’’!
It’s like driving a car from the future. With its two big screens on the dash, it’s also like driving a Bloomberg Terminal. The software that was a nightmare when the car was released last year is a joy to use. Even a 70 mph in a car that I don’t know yet, it was easy to change Serius stations, or switch apps.
It’s very smooth and solid on the highway. I think the Mustang Mach E is faster but this one is plenty fast. I think I’m going to love this car!!
Yesterday I drove it from Upstate to Long Island. It’s 150 miles house to house. It’s almost all expressways and I tried to keep it at 70 all the way but hit traffic once we got to L I and slowed down. I left with 252 miles, at 90%, of range available and got home with 130, so even driving at highway speed I only use 122 miles of range for the trip. I’m thrilled with that.
I know I drive like Grandma Moses but my goal is to have 150 miles of winter highway range and it looks like it will do that easily.
My Chargepoint charger arrived yesterday and I’ll be installing that at the L I house. The car came with a 32 amp charger and I’ll be installing that one Upstate.
I’ve got to tell you ‘‘it’s like driving in the future!’’
But one thing (other than the price) throws me off: it’s curb weight is over 5000 lbs. Other decent range EVs (ioniq 5, EV6, tesla 3, tesla y) are much lighter. I wonder what makes the newer GM EVs so heavy?
I owned a 2001 Chevy Blazer 4wd. First 4wd I have owned. It did the job. Used it a bunch back in the 2000’s while hunting the backwoods of GA and for our Adventure Racing crew vehicle and needed the 4WD several times in the mountain of NC and GA and luckily never got stuck. I don’t think I’d use the 2024 for the same function. I am sure its nice to drive one highway. I loved the one feature that is so hard to find these days whch was a flip-down tailgate w/ pop up rear window. The flip down tailgate was very useful.
It is bigger than those (EV6 for comparison ) - we’ve got the EV6 (which is probably the smallest of those three) and it’s almost more a very large station wagon than a SUV. That said, 1000lb more seems like a lot for the increase in dimensions.
We test drove a Cadillac Lyriq which is more or less the Blazer’s fancier and more luxurious twin brother. We liked it. Too small for my purposes and the Caddy version got real expensive with the AWD dual motor option. I liked it though and it would be on a short list if we were looking at that particularly sized vehicle. I wouldn’t be surprised if my wife wanted one in a few years.
The dealer probably had 50-60 of them on the lot. Clearly overestimating consumer demand for it, IMO.
An ev will generally be 25 to 30% heavier than the ICE version, comparably equipped. Most if that is from battery and associated tech. Dunno what the normal blazer weighs but 5k for the Ev seems in the ballpark.
A downside is they do add more wear and tear on roads, and consumables (tires), bc of the weight. There are now EV tuned tires (for durability and weight, not grip).
Also, an EV for off-roading? Just hope to not get stuck in the mud…
Just like with tri-bikes, weight is not that important. Results are. Range is most important, this on is rated at 279 and people are posting online that they’re getting in the 320’s. On my 2 drives so far, mostly at 70 mph, I’m getting 20% better.
This is only the 4th day, but so far I’m loving it.
But, unfortunately, weight is still important for EVs. Anytime you go up a hill or mountain. And regarding wear of suspension components. And regarding tire wear, as heavy cars wear out tires much faster. And those tires are ground up into microplastics that contaminate everything.
I think the tire wear issue has more to do with how people drive an EV. EV’s are a blast to drive. I drive like Grandma Moses but an EV sedan will run with just about any sports car on the road. And a lot of people drive them that way.
A 1959 Caddy weighed over 5,000 pounds. I never heard anyone complaining about tire wear pollution on a 59 Caddy.
Yes, true. But that is when a 1959 VW beetle weighed a whole whopping 1600 pounds. And when doctors were touting the wonderful health effects of cigarettes on tv !
I meant the comparison should be an EV to its ICE version (Blazer EV vs. Blazer ICE, comparably equipped), that should be 25-30% different. Not the comparison of one EV to another EV (Blazer vs. Ioniq). Of course, there are no ICE versions of Teslas, and a MachE isn’t comparable to a Mustang, other than the name. And there are 4wd blazers and 2wd blazers, etc, so one should match apples to apples in order to see what’s driving the weight change for a particular make/model
Clearly the batteries. It may be the case that GM batteries are heavier. Maybe they use older battery tech than others since newer batteries are going to get lighter.
