Chevrolet’s all-electric Blazer EV.
Scott Mill | CNBC
Detroit- General Motors The new Chevrolet Blazer EV is back on sale Friday after an 11-week hiatus due to software issues, with the company lowering its price by thousands of dollars.
The current starting price for the 2024 Blazer EV model is $50,195, which is $6,520 cheaper than when it first went on sale in August. That’s in addition to the $7,500 federal tax credit the vehicle is now fully eligible for.
GM halted sales of the electric car in late December after customers and media reported problems with the car’s infotainment and charging systems, including an inability to charge the battery that stranded drivers.
Baris Cetinok, GM’s vice president of products, software and services, said the issues affected the vehicle’s software and were resolved without any physical changes to the vehicle. They range from small errors in coding to the vehicle’s ability to communicate with certain public electric vehicle chargers.
“There’s not a single, dominant root cause of all these problems,” Setinok told CNBC. “It’s a combination of circumstances and rare cases.”
Chetinock, ex. apple manager Joined General Motors in September, said many of the problems were “rare but still damaging.” The automaker initiated a sales halt to avoid causing problems for other customers.
2024 Chevrolet Blazer SS EV.
General Motors
Chetinock said that to find and fix these problems, GM conducted a “test matrix” that included iteratively rewriting and testing code and conducting real-world road tests across the country.
“For us, it’s more about being right than being fast. Being right and being fast is certainly ideal, but the point is we’d rather put ourselves through the pain and take the time to stop and fix it,” he said.
GM said the process of fixing the Blazer EV helped it strengthen software quality verification testing for future vehicles.
Still no Apple CarPlay
In addition to fixing software issues, GM has also added or changed features based on early customer feedback. They include customizable multi-color ambient lighting and revised driver information graphics, including a battery percentage display.
Apple CarPlay.
Source: Apple
“When you’re a deeply vertically integrated company, where you’re actually in the business of creating hardware, software and services, you can create a more seamless experience,” Setinok said. “Vertical integration is the best way forward.”
General Motors caused an uproar last year when it said its future electric vehicles would not include these features, which essentially map navigation, music and other functions from a smartphone to the vehicle’s infotainment system.
Vertical integration is also expected to help GM generate revenue from potential infotainment subscriptions and services. In October 2021, General Motors predicted that by the end of this decade, there would be 30 million connected cars, with annual software and services revenue reaching about $20 billion to $25 billion.
price reduction
The 2024 Blazer EV starts at $50,195, which is $6,520 cheaper than when it first went on sale in August. The more expensive “RS” model of the Blazer EV will cost $5,620 less, starting at $54,595 with all-wheel drive and $56,170 with rear-wheel drive.
Additional pricing for other models, including trims under $50,000, will be announced when sales begin later this year.
2024 Chevrolet Blazer SS EV.
General Motors
The new pricing is before the $7,500 federal tax credit the vehicle now qualifies for as part of the Biden administration’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. GM changed material sourcing so the vehicle qualifies for the full incentive.
“We are excited to once again launch the Chevrolet Blazer EV, this time at an attractive price, with enhanced features and capabilities, and eligible for the full consumer tax credit. I encourage customers to stop by their nearest Chevrolet dealership to test drive this vehicle Stunning vehicle,” Chevrolet Vice President Scott Bell said in a statement.
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