The Chevrolet All-Electric Blazer EV.
Scott Mlyn | CNBC
DETROIT — General Motors is reducing the value of its latest Chevrolet Blazer EV by 1000’s of dollars because it restarts sales of the vehicle Friday following an 11-week stoppage to deal with software issues.
Current 2024 Blazer EV models will start at $50,195, or $6,520 lower than when it first went on sale in August. That excludes a $7,500 federal tax incentive that the vehicle now qualifies for fully.
GM halted sales of the electrical vehicle in late December following reports by customers and media of problems involving the vehicle’s infotainment and charging systems, including an inability to charge its battery that would leave drivers stranded.
The problems all affected the vehicle’s software and were fixed with none physical changes to the vehicle, in response to Baris Cetinok, GM’s vice chairman of product, software and services. They ranged from small bugs in coding to the vehicle’s ability to speak with certain public EV chargers.
“There isn’t this singular, predominant root cause that causes all of those issues,” Cetinok told CNBC during an interview. “It’s circumstances and rare cases coming together.”
Cetinok, a former Apple executive who joined GM in September, said many issues were “rare but still disruptive.” The automaker initiated the stop-sale to avoid issues for extra customers.
The 2024 Chevrolet Blazer SS EV.
GM
To seek out and address the issues, GM conducted a “testing matrix” involving repeatedly rewriting and testing coding in addition to physical on-road testing across the country, Cetinok said.
“For us, it was essential to get it right relatively than fast. Right and fast is in fact ideal, but the purpose is we relatively put the pain on ourselves to take the time and pause and fix it,” he said.
GM said the processes to repair the Blazer EV have helped it strengthen its software quality validation testing for future vehicles.
Still no Apple CarPlay
Along with fixing the software issues, GM added or modified some features following early customer feedback. They include customizable multicolor ambient lighting and revised driver information graphics, including a battery percentage display.
Apple CarPlay.
Source: Apple Inc.
“When you find yourself an organization that’s deeply vertically integrated, that is definitely within the business of making the hardware in addition to software and repair, you possibly can create way more seamless experiences,” Cetinok said. “Vertical integration is the most effective method to go.”
GM made waves last yr when it said its future EVs wouldn’t include the features, which essentially mirror functions equivalent to navigation, music and others from a smartphone to the vehicle’s infotainment system.
The vertical integration also is predicted to assist GM reap revenue from potential infotainment subscriptions and services. In October 2021, GM projected annual software and services revenue could be around $20 billion to $25 billion from an estimated 30 million connected vehicles by the tip of this decade.
Price cuts
The $50,195 starting price for available 2024 Blazer EVs is $6,520 lower than when it first went on sale in August. Costlier “RS” models of the Blazer EV might be reduced by $5,620 to starting prices of $54,595 for all-wheel drive, or $56,170 for rear-wheel drive.
Additional pricing for other models, including a sub-$50,000 trim, might be announced closer to when the vehicles go on sale starting later this yr.
The 2024 Chevrolet Blazer SS EV.
GM
The brand new pricing is before a $7,500 federal tax credit that the vehicle now qualifies for as a part of the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. GM modified materials sourcing so the vehicle would qualify for the total incentive.
“We’re excited to have the Chevrolet Blazer EV available again, this time with a compelling price, enhanced features and functionality and qualifying for the total consumer tax credit. I encourage customers to go to their nearest Chevy dealership to test-drive this amazing vehicle,” Chevrolet Vice President Scott Bell said in an announcement.
