It’s the quick one. That’s the best and most accurate way to summarize the 2025 Chevrolet Blazer EV SS. Its SS badge, which borders on sub icon status within the Bowtie history, stands for Super Sport. It’s always meant big engine, big brakes, and big performance.
Sure, it also stood for one of the best four-door sedans in history a few years back, with the Chevy SS sedan, but that’s in the rearview mirror. The SS badge returns for the electric era with the Blazer EV SS, and it’s far from an athlete, but it does carry forth the tradition of more power, bigger brakes, and big performance. That said, anyone who’s thinking or hoping for a Hyundai Ioniq 5 N competitor from Chevy has false hope here.
The Blazer EV SS arrived this year as the model’s range topper. It brings forth more power, revised steering and suspension, upgraded brakes, slight design tweaks, and more control over the drivetrain. But this is by no means an electric sports car.
The design updates for SS duty are subtle and tasteful. The SS-specific 22-inch wheel design is a simple twin-spoke affair; the front receives a more pronounced splitter, side sill extensions, and a fake rear diffuser. The entire package sits half an inch lower than the standard front-wheel-drive Blazer EV. A quick visual giveaway is the clear taillight lenses, which are typically red. The subtle differences give the Blazer EV package a slightly sportier vibe. It’s visually more interesting to look at than any Tesla.
Inside, the SS gets badging on the steering wheel and front seats. It’s not a particularly special place to spend time compared to any other Blazer EV. Anyone who’s been in a Blazer EV will note it’s a love it or hate it affair with Camaro-inspired round vents, shiny chrome bits, and shiny piano black plastic trim. Boring it’s not, but it might be overstimulating.
Notably, the nearly $10,000 upcharge for the SS over the RS AWD model is the only way to spec the larger 102-kWh battery pack and dual-motor AWD powertrain. Meaning, the SS is the only way to get a Blazer EV with AWD and a 300-plus-range rating.
The dual-motor powertrain is straight out of the 2026 Cadillac Lyriq-V with 615 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque, but that’s in Wide Open Watts (WoW) mode. Can’t make this stuff up. The steering ratio is a bit quicker than that of other Blazer EVs at 15.8:1 instead of 18.46:1.
And with more power comes larger brakes with Brembo six-piston fixed calipers grabbing upsized 15.3-inch front rotors.
On the road, this entire package is quick. Chevy says a zero-to-60-mph sprint is 3.4 seconds, and it feels about that in WoW mode. The quicker steering isn’t darty and induces sharp turn-in around corners, even at neighborhood speeds, but especially around long sweeping corners. The 22-inch wheels never crash over broken Midwest pavement or slap over expansion joints. The entire package is comfortable for a long road trip up north, as evidenced by my kids never complaining once.
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That Wide Open Watts (WoW) mode enables launch control, but it’s half-baked compared to the system in its fancier cousin, the Lyriq-V. The Cadillac has a dedicated interface that guides you on how to use launch control and then provides the 0-60 mph, 0-100 mph, and even the quarter-mile times. The Blazer EV SS has none of this. Once WoW mode is engaged, some spaceship noises blast through the speakers. Hold the brake, hold the throttle, let off the brake, and whoosh, you go. However, it’s unclear how anyone would know any of this besides just figuring it out.
The SS also brings Z and Competitive drive modes to the Blazer EV. Steering, Brake feel, acceleration, and motor sound can all be modified from normal to sport, with the latter feeling heavier or engaging quicker. The motor sound is best described as spaceship-like and annoying, unlike a mechanical sound of a V8.
But none of this feels sporty in the way the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N does. It almost feels cartoonish. The Hyundai feels more like a purpose-built electric sports car, where the Chevy is… the quick one that goes the distance.
Notably, the SS comes standard with GM’s Super Cruise Level 2 hands-free driver-assist system, which made road tripping great. Why? Because it enabled me to eat Dairy Queen while driving.
This is one of my main rubs with the Blazer EV. With the death of the rear-wheel-drive model, the SS is now the only way to get the larger 102-kWh battery pack. Every other Blazer EV has the smaller 85-kWh pack, which means AWD models have 283 miles of range vs. over 300 miles. This matters because the Blazer EV isn’t the most efficient EV at 5,730 pounds in SS form.
Over the course of 93 miles of mixed suburban driving, the Blazer EV averaged 2.5 mi/kWh, which is almost the same in a Ford F-150 Lightning. On the highway, things are similar, averaging 2.5 mi/kWh over the course of 205 miles at over 70 mph.
At $64,180 as tested, the Blazer EV SS costs nearly the same amount as the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. It’s hard to imagine a world where an enthusiast would choose the Chevy over the Hyundai as the latter is genuinely fun to drive.
But the Chevy is the more practical choice with the same off-the-line performance as the Hyundai. It won’t go around a corner the same way, but it’ll go much further down the road on a single charge, is more comfortable, more spacious, and looks a bit more grown up. Plus, it’s the quick one.
The Chevy Blazer EV SS is the quickest trim, but it’s the range with AWD in the understated package that’s compelling.
As Director of Content and Product, Joel draws on over 15 years of newsroom experience and inability to actually stop working to help ensure The Drive shapes the future of automotive media. He’s also a World Car Award juror.
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By Joel Feder
By Joel Feder
