2024 Chevy Blazer EV Failing in the Hands of Edmunds and InsideEVs

[Harley Lover]

Nobody sweats the details like GM (for those that remember the ad campaign). First, InsideEVs:

Quote

The 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV Left Me Stranded In Rural Virginia

It broke down after a mere 28 hours in my possession, stranding me in Wythesville, Virginia.

My weeklong test of the 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV lasted 28 hours. That's when it broke down during an Electrify America charging session that left me stranded in rural Western Virginia.

A drive that should have taken about seven hours, not including two hour-long stops in Gallipolis, Ohio, and Wytheville, Virginia, turned into a 14-hour ordeal. It saw me abandoning a car that seems quite pivotal to the future of General Motors on the side of the road in small-town America.

Since then, I’ve spent much of my time trying to figure out what the hell even happened here, while pondering what might be one of the most catastrophic road trips I’ve personally had in recent memory. 

Full story here:  https://insideevs.com/reviews/701169/2024-blazer-ev-stranded-broken/

 

Next up, Edmunds:

Quote

• We bought a 2024 Chevy Blazer EV for our long-term fleet, and things haven't been going well.
• A diagnostics check revealed 23 fault codes, none of which showed up on the dashboard.
• As of this writing, it's been at the dealership for two weeks.

It’s always frustrating to see a warning light on your car’s dashboard. So imagine how we felt when we got eight different warning messages from our long-term 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV over the course of one day. Now consider that our Blazer EV, which we bought less than two months ago, has fewer than 2,000 miles on its odometer. In just one trip from Los Angeles to San Diego and back, our Blazer EV went from perfectly fine to totally on the fritz. And that's only the beginning.

Full story here: https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/2024-chevy-blazer-ev-long-term-faults.html

 

Please read the full stories at the links. In both cases, the problem appears to be software. But read and decide for yourself. 

 

For all the bitching we do about Ford, I don't recall anything like this. And it doesn't appear isolated - both vehicles seem to be suffering from similar issues.

Edited December 20, 2023 by Harley Lover

[Dequindre]

Mary Barra's EV bet is going well, I see... 

[Chrisgb]

We need the Texas Troubadour to provide positivity and excu..., er, well reasoned opinion on this.

[rmc523]

Are they pre-production units for testing, or actual units off lots/on sale (I admittedly don't have time to look at the articles, so apologies if it's there).

[Harley Lover]

1 hour ago, rmc523 said:

Are they pre-production units for testing, or actual units off lots/on sale (I admittedly don't have time to look at the articles, so apologies if it's there).

The InsideEvs unit is apparently a tester (the writer says they were supposed to have it for one week) whereas the Edmunds vehicle was purchased (mentioned in the quote in the OP).

[rmc523]

18 hours ago, Harley Lover said:

The InsideEvs unit is apparently a tester (the writer says they were supposed to have it for one week) whereas the Edmunds vehicle was purchased (mentioned in the quote in the OP).

 

Thanks, I skimmed over it while at work.

 

The former I get having issues, but buying a retail unit ain't good.

[rmc523]

https://www.autoblog.com/2023/12/24/chevy-blazer-ev-stop-sale-software/

 

So GM has issued a stop-sale on the 2024 Blazer EV for software issues that it says pertain to "a limited number" of units. Global VP of Chevrolet Scott Bell said to Automotive News, "We're aware that a limited number of customers have experienced software-related quality issues with their Blazer EV. Customer satisfaction is our priority and as such, we will take a brief pause on new deliveries."

Engineers are on the case, the automaker saying in a separate statement, "To ensure our customers have a great experience with their vehicle, we are temporarily pausing sales of Blazer EVs. Our team is working quickly to roll out a fix, and owners will be contacted with further information on how to schedule their update. We apologize for the inconvenience." AN said owners will need to stop by the dealer to have the updated software installed; it appears this can't be resolved with an OTA update. Chevy says the problem in the code is "not safety related nor related to Ultium or Google Built-in."

[akirby]

Hmm….  If it only applies to a limited number of units and there is no fix yet then how can it be software related?  That should either affect all of them or if some got corrupted you just reload the current software.  I think there is more to this story.

[CurtisH]

1 hour ago, akirby said:

Hmm….  If it only applies to a limited number of units and there is no fix yet then how can it be software related?  That should either affect all of them or if some got corrupted you just reload the current software.  I think there is more to this story.

I didn’t see anything about there being no fix yet.  Did I miss that somewhere?

[akirby]

6 hours ago, CurtisH said:

I didn’t see anything about there being no fix yet.  Did I miss that somewhere?

It said they’re working on rolling out a fix.  If the fix was just to reflash the current software they’d just say bring it in and reflash it now.

[Harley Lover]

11 hours ago, akirby said:

It said they’re working on rolling out a fix.  If the fix was just to reflash the current software they’d just say bring it in and reflash it now.

 

Also: GM desperately wants this issue to be confined to the Blazer only in the eyes of the public (courtesy of the media) when in fact the Blazer's Ultium platform mates already in the market (Hummer, Cadillac) are having similar issues and more.

Edited December 27, 2023 by Harley Lover