2025 Chevrolet Blazer EV SS First Drive: Carrying 64 Years Of American Performance On Its Shoulders

1961 marked the first-ever SS-badged vehicle, the Impala, a car that sold at more than one million examples. But in reality, Chevrolet had been playing with the Super Sport letters as early as 1956, on a C1 Corvette show car. The concept then became the Chevrolet Corvette SS in 1957, a short-lived custom-built race car that sadly ended up being banned from racing.

But since that first Impala SS left the assembly line, Chevrolet has sold more than four million SS-badged vehicles of all shapes and sizes, from sedans to coupes, including even trucks and SUVs. Not all SS models have been a sales success, but they’ve all had one thing in common: go like stink, make some noise and look a little different in the process. SS is America’s performance brand.

Which is why a lot is resting on this electric vehicle (EV)’s shoulders. For starters, the 2025 Blazer EV SS doesn’t even burn gasoline. That’s enough right there to get the blood boiling inside any V-8-loving enthusiast’s veins. It’s also an SUV, a heavy one too, weighing in at more than 5,700 pounds. Can we even consider this one a true SS then? Or is this Blazer EV nothing more than a marketing ploy? Considering what’s currently roaming our streets in the EV space, and where the industry is heading next, I say this SS is all geared up and ready to brawl, even if some of you may not agree with it.

2025 Chevrolet Blazer EV SS First Impressions: Big Wheels, Flashier Paint Colors, And Meaner Looks

Past SS models have never been about attracting attention. Their key mission was to be a stealth missile, a wolf in sheep’s clothing that may have appeared unassuming, but packed serious muscle underneath its hood.

The Blazer EV SS continues in that direction. It’s a Blazer EV, a now familiar electric midsize crossover whose styling still looks a little odd if you want my personal opinion. I still think the Equinox EV is the better-looking of the Chevy EV clones. But in SS form, the Blazer looks all pumped up thanks to beefier wheels (22 inches) and a genuinely meaner stance, courtesy of all the new suspension components. It also sits 1.5-inches lower than an internal-combustion Blazer.

Generally speaking, it’s a sharp-looking performance crossover, but not as loud as, say, a Hyundai IONIQ 5 N. It leans more on the mature side of things, with more purpose, like a Ford Mustang Mach-E GT. My tester’s Habanero Orange paint definitely helped make this SS look special. Pick yours black, however, and it’ll be hard for people to even realize you’re driving an SS model.

2025 Chevrolet Blazer EV SS Exterior Dimensions

2025 Chevrolet Blazer EV SS: Differences Between The U.S. And Canadian Market

Since the SS is the Blazer EV’s top trim level, it’s sold in the U.S. and in Canada in the exact same way, and in one single configuration. Both markets get standard dual-motor all-wheel-drive, and offer the same six available paint colors.

U.S. Versus Canada Lineup Breakdown And Starting MSRP (model tested in bold)

Driving Impressions And Performance: Oh It’s Fast, But It Handles Even Better

If I told you the Blazer EV SS is the fastest SS model in history, I’m sure you wouldn’t be surprised. We all expect EVs to be faster than their gasoline-powered counterparts. So, while Chevrolet’s claims of being able to hit 0 to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds, and continue on to an 11.8-second quarter mile time with this Blazer are impressive indeed, this has now become the norm in the world of high-performance EVs.

Look, if your EV isn’t doing this, you’re simply not doing it right. But what you may not expect is for this relatively large crossover to handle the way it does. Actually, this is where General Motors flexes its biggest muscles.

The track in question where I was able to flog the Blazer EV SS through some apexes was the 10/10 complex just outside Charlotte Motor Speedway. It’s obviously not the full NASCAR oval, but a much tighter track designed mostly for lighter and nimbler vehicles. Basically, something that’s not a Blazer EV. The track is all corners, with very few straightaways, which proved ideal to truly showcase the sort of chassis and suspension tuning GM has done here. And boy is the SS brilliant.

Sure, activate the Watts To Freedom (WOW) feature, and the Blazer EV SS unleashes its full 615 combined horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque. This also allows you to launch it as fast as it was programmed to. Doing so will shove you hard into your seat like any good powerful EV knows how to do. Nothing surprising here. But, enter the first corner at blistering speeds, and the Blazer SS doesn’t mess around reminding you what it is. It’s still a Blazer, a top-heavy family hauler that’ll immediately get its front tires squealing if you dare be too impatient with it. Yet, that front understeer is progressive, predictable and smart.

SS Enhancements Over A Regular Blazer EV

• Larger, 102-kWh battery.
• More powerful front and rear drive units.
• Front 390-mm brake rotor with Brembo 6-piston caliper/rear 345-mm rotor.
• 60% stiffer anti-roll bars.
• 30% stiffer springs.
• Faster steering ratio.
• Corvette-derived traction control system.

Yes, smart. According to GM, this predictability was put there on purpose to let the driver know when it’s time to lift off, when they’ve gone too far. But in reality, the SS’s chassis can take much more abuse. It’s the “enthusiast dad tuning,” GM says, the kind of setup that lets even the most amateur of drivers have a great time without fear of ending up in the ditch. You can never be too cruel with it, as the Blazer SS will always remind you when you’re not doing it right.

Back off a notch, however, and treat the SS more like a Grand Tourer tuned for canyon carving, and you’ll discover a machine so well-planted to the ground, and so balanced, you’d swear you’re driving a large luxury sports coupe and not a massive electric crossover.

On that little track, once I had understood the size and weight of what I was driving and had adapted my driving to its physics, the Blazer SS gracefully carved its way through the apexes, gripped for days, braked hard through all zones thanks to larger rotors and stronger calipers, and launched very hard at every corner exit. It’s the sort of tuning only a team in charge of calibrating Corvettes and NASCARs could have come up with.

2025 Chevrolet Blazer EV SS Technical Specifications

On the road, this SS also does a wonderful job of preserving the regular Blazer EV’s daily usability. Sure, you do sense that the adaptive suspension always remains a tad stiffer and that the low-profile tires make the ride somewhat harsher, but it’s a small price to pay for everything you just did with your Blazer on the track. Is anyone actually doing this with a Blazer EV? We’ll soon find out.

My only real gripe with the entire SS experience here is that I wish Chevrolet had a bit more fun with it. What I mean is something along the lines of the Hyundai IONIQ 5 N, with simulated engine sounds, fake gears or even some kind of neat gimmick like the ability to download gauge designs from past SS models. From behind the wheel of this SS, it honestly always feels like just a faster Blazer EV. Nothing wrong with that, because speed is always great. It just never feels like something special.

2025 Chevrolet Blazer EV SS Energy Consumption, Range And Charging

Range and charging remain a Blazer SS quality, even with the added performance. GM says it’ll do an EPA-certified 303 miles on a full charge (still no official EPA data), which is actually better than the regular Blazer EV’s 283-mile rating. That’s all mostly thanks to the beefed-up 102-kWh battery versus the Blazer RS’ 85-kWh unit.

DC fast-charging on a compatible charger is rated at 190 kW, again, a segment-competitive number. The onboard charger for level 2 home charging is rated at 11.5 kW. However, while the Blazer EV SS is compatible with Tesla Superchargers through a provided adapter, it still relies on what is quickly becoming the antiquated CCS Combo connector. Of course, this being a brief and controlled event with an emphasis on track driving, I was unable to perform any substantial range or charging tests. I’ll need to live with a Blazer EV SS in my neck of the woods for an entire week to properly test it.

EPA Energy Consumption And Range

Interior Design And Comfort: Everything I Expected, But With Orange Seatbelts!

Inside, the Blazer EV SS does very little to truly distinguish itself as a special model, except for orange accents here and there. Don’t get me wrong, those look rad as hell, and sort of remind me of early nineties NASCAR liveries, but there’s just not enough bling in there to truly make the SS model feel all that special. That all being said, those sports seats offer fantastic bolstering during hard cornering while remaining superb during daily driving.

Rear leg and headroom in a Blazer EV remain segment-competitive, and the SS loses none of that. Tall passengers will find comfort even if tall people are sitting up front. There’s also plenty of hip and shoulder room back there, making the entire passenger experience feel relaxed and cozy.

2025 Chevrolet Blazer EV SS Interior Dimensions

Technology And Ease Of Use: Mastering GM’s Native Infotainment System

By now, I’ve driven all of GM’s new EVs, which means I’ve also tested all of their infotainment systems. Translation: it’s all the same system! And that’s OK, because it has really allowed me to get comfortable with GM’s native setup, meaning you no longer need to use Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, but you rather log directly to your Google account and install your own apps to the car.

And honestly, I don’t get why people are still complaining about this system, because it’s great. Unless you’re one of those dinosaurs afraid of logging on to your car (but you still own several logged-in devices at home?), there’s no reason not to embrace such a system. It also allows for a much more precise prediction of range, charger location, and battery preconditioning during cold-weather driving, something that’s simply not possible with a projection service. In the Blazer EV SS, it’s all very much the same as in a regular Blazer, except for the addition of that WOW function, as well as Z and Competition modes, to better tailor the SS’ chassis, suspension, and drivetrain to your liking.

Cargo And Storage Space: None Of That Changes

What’s great about building a high-performance SS model out of a Blazer EV is that you lose none of that car’s default cargo space. In that respect, the Blazer EV is one of the most spacious in its class. For reference, it offers a smaller trunk area than an IONIQ 5 (26.3 cu-ft) or a Ford Mustang Mach-E (29.7 cu-ft), but once its seats are folded flat, the Blazer EV SS beats both its South-Korean (58.5 cu-ft) and American (59.7 cu-ft) rivals. However, it’s worth mentioning that, unlike the Ford Mustang Mach-E (4.7 cu-ft), the Blazer EV is not equipped with a front trunk (frunk).

2025 Chevrolet Blazer EV SS Cargo Space

Bringing The Iconic SS Letters Into An All-New Era

It’s obvious that with the Blazer EV SS, Chevrolet is making sure to remind us all how much the auto industry has changed. Sure, we would all have liked this thing to be powered by a stonking V8 engine and only send power to the rear wheels via a self-shifting transmission, but the harsh reality for all you old-school SS fans out there is that this is no longer where the auto industry is at. EVs are where real performance now sits. And GM gets it.

The Blazer EV SS performs like a champ. It’s stupidly fast off the line, grips for days, will hold its own on a track, and looks super cool while doing all of that. Yet, it can still be a Blazer EV, the sort of car you’ll actually prefer owning in the long run. I just wish GM had a bit more fun with this thing. Add some fake engine noises. Heck, why not even some NASCAR sounds? Give it fake gears. Craft it, a soul. Even if it’s synthetic, who cares? It’ll just give dads something extra to brag about during their school run.