The 2024 Chevy Blazer EV hasn’t exactly had a smooth launch. Owners and reviewers have been plagued with issues in the short time that the vehicle has been in their hands—not a great look for a car as pivotal to GM’s Ultium-based future as the new Blazer.
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The Chevy Blazer EV continues to be problematic in the hands of reviewers.
InsideEVs experienced issues with the Blazer EV when we tested it and now Consumer Reports is experiencing problems with this EV too.
While it may be too early to judge the longevity of the Blazer’s hardware, its software has been quite problematic. In fact, software problems are what left InsideEV’s Kevin Williams stranded in the middle of rural Western Virginia when a charging session resulted in Kevin having to abandon GM’s newest electric crossover. Next came Edmunds, who experienced 23 problems with the Blazer EV in just two months. And, if that wasn’t enough, Consumer Reports has finished its introduction with the Blazer EV and things aren’t looking great.
Before Consumer Reports could even pick up its Blazer from a local dealership, it was delayed because a GM technician needed to perform a software update prior to delivery. Not that big of a deal, Volkswagen had similar hands-on software updates in its ID.4 platform early on in its release.
However, a consumer might expect a software update to fix a vehicle’s bugs. That is why when Consumer Reports picked up the Blazer and ran into some rather dramatic software-related problems, it was a bit of a shock. We’re not talking about some small vexes, either. Several drivers reported that its screens—both the center infotainment display and the gauge cluster—would flicker and become completely unusable.
Could you imagine trying to navigate to an EV charger where the maps would constantly cycle and refresh? Well, imagine no more. In some cases, the Blazer’s screen would cycle through the same menu by itself again and again, becoming completely unusable. It would also become noticeably laggy with several seconds between touch and an interaction in some cases. That’s a huge issue when the majority of the vehicle’s controls are through the touchscreen interface. Electrical gremlins didn’t end there, either, as the radio would turn on and off when the vehicle was parked in a garage.
Keep in mind that this is one of GM’s first vehicles of many that will forego Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which may have helped to negate these issues. Instead of the phone doing the heavy lifting with tried-and-true software, the vehicle’s own infotainment system took that responsibility, and it has proven its early software releases to not exactly be up to the challenge.
Consumer Reports says that while software problems were the source of the bulk of its complaints, there were other issues that it immediately noticed. For starters, the carpet and padding behind the vehicle’s pedals were incorrectly installed. The rear seat belt buckles were also tucked underneath the seat “like an old New York taxi cab,” which may have led some buyers to believe that they weren’t installed, prompting a return to the dealership. The reviewers also noted that the car’s USB ports were too high to close the center console.
Look, we’re not expecting any new vehicle to be completely free of bugs and problems. GM’s Ultium platform is important, though, and it represents an entire shift in manufacturing, capability, and software for GM. Issues got so bad at one point that General Motors was effectively bullied into issuing a stop-sale of its new crossover after numerous owners and media publications (InsideEVs included) reported breakdown-worthy software problems with Blazer EVs.
It’s pretty serious, and complaints are still rolling in about the Ultium platform. GM will likely work to repair its software issues in the coming months, but its reputation has already taken a ding from the teething issues its cars are experiencing at launch. Sometimes, that’s the price to pay to be an early adopter.
