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.
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.