While government support for electric vehicles — or anything, really — is in a state of flux in the United States, car manufacturers (minus the Ram/Dodge folks) mostly realize that EVs aren’t going to disappear globally. Even Ford understands that consumer demand will gradually work itself out, especially if they commit to creating more compelling and easier-to-use vehicles.

In a week or so we get to talk about time at the local launch of the 2026 Subaru Solterra, the most Colorado-styled EV of the bunch, but that gives some time to circle back to one of General Motors’ more impressive EV products, one you might be able to act on more quickly to snap up the $7,500 federal EV credit before it disappears on Sept. 30.

The 2025 Chevrolet Blazer SS brings a whole lot of factors into an impressive, sharp-looking and genuinely high-performance package where ample size and decent range are all strong factors.

Unlike the smaller Equinox EV, Blazer _ which is in no way related to any historic, gasoline-powered Blazer SUVs you may remember in years past, nor the current, tiny TrailBlazer SUV — is a more flashy-looking and capable enterprise.

The blazingly Radiant Red-colored SS I drove, with all-wheel drive, plus an added panoramic sunroof and upgraded Brembo performance front brakes, was stretched to about $65,000. That includes massively scaled 22-inch wheels, the vast 17.7-inch central touchscreen and a sizeable 102 kilowatt-hour battery underneath it all.

And while the Mexican-made Blazer EV range starts with an austere 220-hp single-motor, front-wheel-drive model, the SS gets into Tesla/Kia EV6 GT territory with a multi-motor system that peaks out at 615-hp and 650 lb-ft of torque. And, most importantly, an EPA range rating of 303 miles.

In the real world of the Peak to Peak Highway, that’s of course not quite the case, but the extended battery boost does indeed give the SS more distance — provided you are not continually driving it like it has 615-hp, as those watts will disappear mighty quick.

The SS’s battery is also capable of charging on an up-to-190 kilowatt charger, which, when you find one, means it could grab nearly 80 miles of range in just a 10-minute charge. It’s got the capability to use an adapter and charge at the more-reliable Tesla stations, as well.

Nail it, somewhere safely — that’s your responsibility — and the SS can near-silently fly to 60 mph in just 3.4 seconds, which is delightfully alarming. All of that is quite the feat of engineering considering the SS also weighs about 5,700 pounds, which you’ll certainly notice as you try to balance its Corvette-styled output. 

It’s not a small car by any means, with a 121.8-inch wheelbase and a 192.6-inch overall length and a chunky 65.9-inch track. The size also means a passenger-friendly 38.9 inches of rear legroom and almost 60 cubic feet of total cargo space with seats dropped.

The higher-performance SS model also loses about a half-inch of ground clearance, but is still 7.5 inches off the road, which means decent SUV capability in the winter, or when not trying to set ground-speed records. 

The familiar factors here, especially with that long, glossy black greenhouse and vaguely wagon-styled rear, are the largely identical Acura ZDX EV and the closely-related Cadillac Lyriq EV. The SS and the Acura are very similar, though this build offers the most power; my test vehicle’s unbelievably bright red leather interior — full seatbacks and door inserts included — certainly gave the showy Acura a run for the money in terms of spacious flash.

Like many other GM vehicles, the SS includes the semi-automatic Super Cruise system for freeway driving, if you are so inclined to let the car drive for itself in Colorado traffic. Built-in Google means easy navigation guidance, but the lack of connectivity to Apple CarPlay may be a buzzkill for some drivers.

As for the EV future, GM has announced a new partnership with Hyundai, which will eventually include a co-developed electric commercial van in North America. EVs, it seems, ain’t going away, thought the loss of that federal incentive is going to be a considerable factor for many buyers.

Andy Stonehouse’s column “Mountain Wheels” publishes Saturdays in the Summit Daily News. Stonehouse has worked as an editor and writer in Colorado since 1998, focusing on automotive coverage since 2004. He lives in Golden. Contact him at summitmountainwheels@gmail.com.