I am a gas car fan, but not in the normal way. Most self-described combustion aficionados mean they've owned a few fun cars, maybe wrenched on one or two and usually kept up with whatever's on the cover of the magazines. But I went a little further into that world. I didn't own a few cars. I owned 13 gas-burners over the course of 5 years, almost all of them old and beaten up. I didn't just read the magazines, I built my life around working for one, then became the reviews editor at Road & Track. But when I got the call to work at InsideEVs, I knew it was time to take a step into the future.
I leased a new EV. It's a 2024 Chevy Blazer EV, and I love it. Let me explain why.
Gallery: 2024 Chevy Blazer EV Long-Term Owner Review
My Background
I wanted to review cars since I was in middle school. I had long decided that the life of an engineer wasn't for me. I didn't much care for math, I didn't want to pledge allegiance to any one brand and I wanted far-flung adventures in any car I could dream of. That wild-eyed wonder has faded some, as these days I have little interest in the perennial obsession with driving the hottest new car. I've found more fun in back-woods adventures in a beaten-up truck than supercar drives on manufacturer budgets, in no small part because I find the ethics of manufacturer-sponsored drive events across the globe to be, well, icky.
But the result of this long-term passion is that I've read a lot of car media, and driven a lot of cars. With enough exposure to the weirdos like me who dedicate their lives to the cult of the machine, you become accustomed to weird opinions. The idea that all cars must have manuals, for one, a battle that enthusiasts lost 20 years ago, and one that's still a virtue signal for the pure of heart. The idea that cars must be, above all else, fun, even if that makes them horrible in practice. The most absurd of these is that a meaningful bump in horsepower will provide a meaningful bump in happiness. I've found the opposite is true, and anyone who knows how to drive properly will tell you that the vast majority of performance cars on sale are too fast for their drivers to even comprehend, let along master.
I'm a believer, though, and an enthusiast. So I tried on all of the hats. I've been the old shitbox guy, with a 220,000-mile manual NA Mazda Miata, and a 1989 E30 BMW 325i with 234,000 miles and a limited-slip differential swap. I've been a luxury car guy, with a first-gen Lexus LS400, a Lincoln Town Car and a Lexus LX470. I've been a purist, with a low-mileage Honda S2000 followed by a Porsche Boxster, then a high-mileage E39 BMW M5 and a supercharged 2016 Mazda Miata. But after countless laps around race tracks, tens of thousands of miles and too many cars, I've arrived back at where I started. Cars as an end to themselves is unsatisfying. I love cars because they're the greatest tool ever invented for those who like to explore, and I've got two good ones in my toolbox: A gas truck, and an electric crossover. I love them both more than any of the "enthusiast" cars on my long list. As for why I've kept the gas truck, I'll get to that.
Why I Love My EV
One reason "enthusiasts" are often unhappy with EVs is that they deride them for not having character, or not feeling interesting. What they mean by not having character and not being interesting is "not having flaws." It's a side effect of consuming too much media glorifying what cars can be at their height, more than what they are in practice, and one I completely understand.
Take my Honda S2000. A perfect example of how flaws produce character. The tiny, high-strung four-cylinder didn't produce a lick of power down low in its rev range. If you wanted to go fast, you had to wring the little bastard by the neck. You'd rev past 6,000 RPM—where most cars start to run out of breath—and feel a kick in the ass, with a surge of power that lasted to the 9,000-RPM redline. That high-flying, hard-charging behavior was intoxicating in perfect circumstances. There are still few cars that I'd rather have on a back road.
But I don't live on a back road. I live in a suburban-ish part of San Diego. Most people reading this either live in a dense urban or exurban area, or out in the country. Those in the country largely live on straight roads, and those who live in the twisty mountain roads likely have about three months a year when they could drive an S2000, or any lightweight, rear-wheel-drive roadster. If they did, any salt would chew threw it, and they'd lose all of the value.
Cars like that are wonderful if you have an extra garage space and the patience to maintain a very expensive toy. But the majority of Americans use their cars to get places, and despite a decade of sitting in two hours of traffic and highway slogging to reach The Perfect Road, I've accepted that I'm no different. I don't want a car that's perfect for my idealized life, where I spend every second on a road trip to the top of pristine mountains. I want a car for the life I actually live: A lot of traffic when I "commute" to the climbing gym (I work from home), occasional road trips and plenty of errands. My Blazer EV is absolutely perfect for that.
Its powertrain is quieter than the smoothest BMW inline-six. It rides beautifully because it isn't trying to be a sports car or a truck. And the technology I've derided as a built-to-last enthusiast turns out to be quite charming in my day to day life. Sure, no screens and a double-din stereo would be more repairable. But it's ok to admit that I like having Google Maps and Spotify built in to my car. I love having a 360-degree camera and a power tailgate. I love knowing I have modern-car safety, with potential life savers like automatic braking with pedestrian detection. The curmudgeon in me wants to complain that humans should be able to drive without electronic aids, but a hundred years of experimenting with that has lead to a lot of deaths.
I love that my car doesn't need to be turned on or off. Like every electronic in my life, it knows to turn itself on when I start using it, and turn itself off when I walk away. I love that it still has overrides to keep it on, or force it off. I love that I can heat up the cabin without waiting 15 minutes for the engine to warm up, regardless of whether I'm driving or using remote start. I love one-pedal driving, and the feeling of a 1-to-1 relationship between my right foot and the rate of acceleration. There's no delay, no waiting for a dawdling transmission to downshift.
Most of all, I love the feeling of driving it at night. I love zooming unto a dark highway, without noise or drama, blasting into the night lit by nothing but LED headlights. I love that moment where there's a quick break in traffic, and one quick press of the throttle rockets me forward with more immediacy than the best internal combustion car can manage. And I love that I can enjoy all of this without any tailpipe emissions.
It's Not Perfect
Make no mistake, though, I'm not telling you that an EV is the only "right" choice, or that I've even fully committed myself. In my long, winding path of automotive enthusiasm, I discovered that off-road adventures in a 4x4 truck are, in fact, worth the hype. Despite plans to the contrary, I didn't end up getting rid of my 2001 Chevy Tahoe.
The Blazer can do 90% of what I want to do, but that last 10% accounts for many of the best days of my life. Off the grid, off the map, sleeping in the back of the Tahoe under a million stars. And while I could plan around EV range, the truth is I can't venture far into the backcountry with low-profile, eco-friendly tires and no full-size spare. And I wouldn't want to take a car that I'm leasing on any trail, as pinstripes are a fact of trail life. I believe in electric adventure rigs, but the products I want aren't available yet. There's no Rivian R2 or R3, no Scout I can purchase today.
And, frankly, I'm still enough of an enthusiast to enjoy my clackity old V-8. My Tahoe is less comfortable than my Blazer, less quiet, about a hundred times less efficient and far worse for the world. But I love the feeling of a vehicle with 231,000 miles. I love what it feels like to be in something that has lived a long, hard life, and refuses to die. I love going to the farthest reaches of the map in a truck that most people wouldn't trust to take them to dinner. And I know that if I wanted anything modern that was as big, as capable, as comfortable and as cheap to run I'd be spending $40,000. If I wanted an EV that could do it all, I'd be dropping $80,000 on a Rivian R1, and I'd still have to run an extension cord to the street, as I do in my Blazer.
This is the biggest real issue with the EV market, and the one where gas-car enthusiasts are right. The EV market isn't as developed as the gas-car market, and the products us diehards want either aren't here or haven't gotten cheap enough to be credible alternatives. It's why I'm bearish on the near-term future of the EV truck market: Most of the people I know who watch this industry closely don't expect price and capability parity for electric trucks any time in the 2020s. Trucks take a lot of energy to move, especially when towing. There's no way around that whether it's powered by gas, electricity or both. And as someone who owns one, I can tell you it'll be extremely, extremely hard to convince truck owners that they don't need trucks. I, for one, don't need mine. But since I bought it, I can't count how many times it's come in handy, how may great adventures it's enabled and how much it's burrowed into my heart.
So the truck market may take a while to come around. But if you want a new crossover or sedan, the electric vehicle you need is probably already here. Today's EVs offer better tech, cooler designs, quieter cabins, lower running costs and a more enjoyable driving experience than any gasoline alternative. My Blazer EV is no Miata, but it's a thousand times more engaging to drive than a Toyota Rav4. And with tax credits and truly absurd lease deals, EVs are often the cheaper option upfront these days. Buyers can get a new Equinox EV with 319 miles of range and a slick Google-ified infotainment system for under $30,000, within a few hundred bucks of a base car. My Blazer EV—with an optional color, a surround-view camera, heated leatherette seats and a panoramic moonroof—was cheaper to lease than a Honda Civic. Even a Tesla Model 3 is roughly in line with mid-range Honda Accords once you factor in the tax credit.
You'll need a place to charge it, which is why I'd still recommend a hybrid to anyone without a driveway or a garage. But if you can charge at home or at work, the concept of range anxiety will fade away. You'll wonder how weekly gas station stops ever felt so normal, as you drive past them in smooth, effortless silence.
