The 2026 Chevrolet Blazer EV: One Badge, Two Completely Different Cars, and a 615 Horsepower Surprise at the Top
Most vehicles have a personality. The Blazer EV has two, and they’re barely on speaking terms.
At the bottom of the lineup sits a sensible, comfortable, midsize electric family SUV that competes with the Tesla Model Y and the Ford Mustang Mach E on range and price. At the top of the lineup sits a 615 horsepower performance machine that hits 60 mph in 3.4 seconds and wears the SS badge, a designation Chevrolet reserves for its most serious performance cars. Same name, same shape, same platform, wildly different missions. Buying a Blazer EV is less about picking a car and more about deciding which of its two personalities you want to live with.
The Practical Blazer
Let’s start with the version most people will actually buy. The Blazer EV LT starts at around $44,700 and delivers up to 312 miles of EPA range from an 85 kWh battery. The midlevel RS, starting around $50,500, dresses things up with a blacked out simulated grille, a light bar between the headlights, and enormous 21 inch wheels. Both are available in front wheel drive or all wheel drive.
In this form, the Blazer EV is a thoroughly pleasant, comfortable, quiet family SUV. The ride is composed even on the big wheels. The cabin is spacious, the range is genuinely competitive, and the 17.7 inch touchscreen running Google Built In is clean and responsive. It’s not going to thrill you through a corner, and the acceleration in the dual motor RS is adequate rather than exciting at about 6.2 seconds to 60, but for hauling a family and their stuff in electric comfort, it does the job well.
The available Super Cruise system is a highlight here, just as it is across GM’s EV lineup. Hands free highway driving on a family SUV makes long trips noticeably less tiring, and GM’s implementation remains one of the best in the industry.
The Other Blazer
And then there’s the SS, which is a genuinely different animal.
The Blazer EV SS takes that same comfortable family SUV, drops in a 102 kWh battery and a dual motor setup producing 615 horsepower, and turns it into something that reaches 60 mph in 3.4 seconds. That’s supercar territory from a decade ago, packaged in a five seat SUV with room for luggage. It starts around $60,700 and is nearly fully equipped at that price, with 22 inch wheels and enough blacked out styling to make it look properly menacing.
Here’s the wrinkle: the SS trades range for all that power, dropping to 283 miles because it’s working a lot harder and carrying a bigger battery. And while it’s ferociously quick in a straight line, it’s still a heavy vehicle, tipping the scales at up to 5,700 pounds, which is more than some full size pickup trucks. You can select a sport mode that adds steering weight, but nobody is going to mistake the SS for a sports car when the road gets twisty. It goes fast in a straight line with tremendous authority. It does not dance.
But that’s kind of the point. The SS isn’t trying to be a precision instrument. It’s trying to be an outrageous, fast, practical statement, an electric SUV that can embarrass sports cars off the line and then swallow a Costco run on the way home. On those terms, it absolutely delivers.
What’s New for 2026
Chevrolet simplified and refined the lineup for 2026. The rear wheel drive configuration was dropped, so the Blazer EV now comes in front wheel drive or all wheel drive only. A new Tech Bronze Appearance Package adds 22 inch bronze finished wheels for buyers who want their SUV to stand out. And crucially, an NACS charge adapter is now available, unlocking access to Tesla’s Supercharger network.
The Familiar Catch
You’ve probably guessed what’s coming, because it’s the same story across GM’s current EV lineup. The Blazer EV uses Google Built In and does not offer Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. The Google integration is genuinely good, with Maps, Assistant, and Play apps built right into the 17.7 inch screen, but if you can’t imagine driving without mirroring your phone, this is the recurring GM dealbreaker to be aware of.
The Blazer EV also isn’t the quickest in its class in the lower trims, and reviewers have noted the front seats could be more comfortable and the emergency braking performance was merely adequate in testing. None of these are disqualifying, but they’re worth knowing.
Where I Land
The Blazer EV is genuinely two different value propositions wearing the same sheet metal, and which one makes sense for you depends entirely on what you want.
If you want a comfortable, spacious, competitively priced electric family SUV with strong range and excellent hands free driving, the LT and RS trims make a solid case against the Model Y and Mach E, especially if you can catch one of the frequent discounts these tend to sell with. They’re not the most exciting EVs in the segment, but they’re comfortable, capable, and reasonably priced.
If you want an electric SUV that happens to have 615 horsepower and a genuinely absurd turn of speed, the SS is one of the more entertaining ways to spend around $60,000 in the EV world, provided you understand that it’s built for straight line drama rather than corner carving precision.
In my opinion, the smart money is on the RS trim, which gives you the sharp styling and the strong range without the SS premium or the SS range penalty. But I’ll admit there’s something appealing about the sheer audacity of a 615 horsepower family SUV, and if that idea makes you grin, the SS is waiting for you at the top of the lineup, ready to rearrange your understanding of what a Chevrolet with a family badge can do.
*EV Rob writes about electric vehicles, automotive technology, and the future of transportation at The Wonderful World of EVs.*
