Yahoo Autos The 10 Surprisingly Normal Features Of The New Blazer EV
When I attended the Blazer EV launch event earlier this month, my biggest takeaway was how successfully this new electric car managed to act like a traditional car, from the traditional door handles to the traditional key fob to the un-EV-like power delivery, the Blazer EV is not trying to reinvent the wheel, it’s trying to offer buyers an electric wheel that feels the same as all the other wheels it has made in the past.
When segment competitors offer cars with pop-out door handles, credit cards instead of keys and single-screen displays that can alienate the technologically-challenged crowd, the Blazer EV offers buyers a familiar driving and ownership experience to most other GM products aside from refueling with a plug rather than a pump. Unfortunately that seems to include some of the same questionable reliability that impacts other GM vehicles, but hopefully GM can work out these gremlins soon so new car shoppers can confidently become a part of the Blazer EV family.
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The Blazer EV experience begins traditionally with the same set of keys as many other GM products. With buttons for lock, unlock, trunk, panic, and remote startup, these features should appeal to buyers who don’t want a phone app or credit card to drive their car. It’s weird to see a remote start on an EV, but Chevrolet actually recommends using remote start when your vehicle is still plugged in so it can precondition without impacting range.
The Door Handles
The next traditional features that buyers will encounter are the Blazer EV’s traditional door handles– no motorized door handles, finicky buttons or foldaway handles that occasionally require two hands, just a good old fashioned door handle. While this might not be a feature that sways buyers into a Blazer EV over its competitors, it is a feature that I appreciated on my test drive and a feature that owners are sure to appreciate.
The Driver Display
The Blazer EV has an 11-inch gauge cluster perched right in front of the driver as nature intended. This doesn’t seem like a notable feature, but the Tesla Model Y makes do with a singular central touchscreen for all controls and gauges requiring drivers to look away from the road ahead to do something as simple as check their speed. It is a digital cluster, but it provides traditional gauges and gauge placement that may appeal to conventional buyers.
It Has Climate Control Buttons!
Fans of HVAC convenience rejoice (see what I did there?), the Blazer EV has a row of traditional buttons to adjust most of the climate control functions! There are even KNOBS to control driver’s temperature and passenger’s temperature! Knobs! Knobs are the easiest controls to navigate while driving, since you really don’t have to take your eyes off the road to know you’re changing the right function. Aside from those two knobs, there is an on-off button, an auto button, a button to decrease the fan speed and a button to increase fan speed, a physical button for defrost (!), and a button that controls the rear defog, heated mirrors, and heated wipers. There’s also a volume knob, bless up.
The Glove Box
Unlike the Tesla Model Y, the Chevy Blazer EV features a traditional glove box with a real handle and everything. Another feature that the Model Y foregoes and integrates into the central touchscreen, buyers seeking a traditional ownership experience will love this simple innovation. (Yes I am being sarcastic about a traditional glove box being an innovation, but still.)
Traditional Driving Dynamics
While this may not be a benefit for all owners, the Blazer EV RS AWD does not snap necks under abrupt acceleration like some of its competitors. It feels pretty traditional to drive, with healthy power but nothing to startle anyone. It handles fine and rides acceptably, further contributing to the unintimidating driving characteristics.
Individual Window Controls
This section is devoted to the Volkswagen ID.4 which, in VW’s infinite wisdom, ditched the luxury of having individual window controls for each motorized window. I don’t want to belabor this point, but Jesus Christ who seriously believed it was a smart choice to remove two dinky switches to save a few bucks when all four windows go down? VW’s “innovation” is offering a toggle for drivers to select the rear doors and the two window switches swap to controlling the rear windows. Please stop immediately. +1 Blazer.
No Front Storage
This is not necessarily a feature and in my view it is actually a demerit for the car, but regardless of any opinions, the Blazer EV does not have a front storage area. Pop the hood and you will find a breathtaking spectacle, a bunch of black plastic blocking any potential usable underhood storage space.
A Windshield Wiper Stalk
Despite integrating headlight controls into the touchscreen, Chevy chose to leave a traditional windshield wiper stalk on the left side of the steering column. This stalk allows users to control the windshield wipers without taking their eyes off the road to fiddle around in the central screen to set wiper speeds, ahem, Tesla. The Model Y does have a stalk that allows for single wipes and spray wash, but to turn on the wipers and leave them on you have to choose that through the screen.
A Rear Wiper
Where other EVs claim that aerodynamics alone are enough to keep their rear windows clear, Chevrolet included a dinky little rear wiper, but a rear wiper nonetheless. This is despite the company’s inclusion of a rear-view camera mirror which could be used to justify the deletion of a rear wiper, I’m glad they provide one for traditional folks.
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