Like it or not, the future of the NASCAR Cup Series might lie in crossovers, and electric ones at that. General Motors surprised the racing world by throwing potential future race car out there, unveiling its Chevy Blazer EV.R prototype just a few days ahead of the 2025 Daytona 500.
Chevy says the Blazer EV.R prototype embodies The Bow Tie Brand’s commitment to “continuing to test, learn, and explore new technologies that could be applied to both race programs and production cars,” according to a press release. The prototype EV racer is built on the same Next Gen chassis that underpins the current gasoline-powered “Camaro” race cars, featuring a programmable all-wheel-drive (AWD) system. Goodyear Racing Eagle tires reside in all four corners, relaying 1,300 horsepower to the racetrack thanks to its 78-kWh liquid-cooled battery. Its looks and design are inspired by the Chevy Blazer EV SS.
“This program was a great opportunity with NASCAR to design a new crossover utility vehicle body and bring forward design elements from our Blazer EV SS,” said Phil Zak, executive director, Chevrolet Global Design. “The EV.R prototype offers lower and wider proportions and was designed with aerodynamics and performance in mind.”
The Chevy Blazer EV.R prototype is a fully functioning race car, and has already been tested on track with Xfinity Series driver Justin Allgaier behind the wheel.
“There are so many things you don’t think about until you’re in the car actually testing it,” said Allgaier. “I’m used to knowing my speed through gearing and listening to engine revs, so I had to totally change how I judge corner entry speed. With this platform we’re learning how to strategically adjust regenerative braking, which has a big impact on braking sections and cornering balance.”
At this time, there’s no clear plan to implement an EV only racing series, and nor will the Cup Series shift toward EVs anytime soon – Although the Chevy Blazer EV.R reveal does provide an potential answer as to what will succeed the Camaro in the Cup Series.
“While we will continue to race our proven and winning V8 technology in NASCAR for years to come, we continually look for ways to improve the combination of power, durability, and efficiency to transfer learnings from the racetrack to the showroom, especially as we bolster Chevy’s consumer EV lineup,” said Eric Warren, executive director, global motorsports competition for General Motors.
Following a pattern it set in earlier years.
Sporting a slightly toned-down appearance.
Driver later steals a second vehicle at gunpoint.
With one suspect in custody.
Plus, local market leases on all-electric pickup truck.
A gray blue color with gold metallic flake.
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Definitely wouldn’t inspire me enough to watch a race. Use to watch NASCAR on a semi regular basis. I wouldn’t miss it if it all went away!
TransBlazer … another GM vehicle emasculated by you know who .
Does it really need that rear wing for stability and down-force….at 70mph???
Why would a 1400 hp car be limited to 70 mph?
At Daytona, the pace car speed while on the track is about 70 mph which is about 15 mph higher than the pit road speed.
noo...not really but it IS so COOL!
Nice try Diddy! We didn't ask for it and we don't want it. Nobody wants an EV bread van.
Another tradition they want to ruin
They think that they can snap their fingers and erase 60 years of Camaro enthusiasm while simultaneously convincing the buyers that the Blazer is a performance vehicle.
Stop forcing the Blazer EV down our throats! Where is the 7th gen Camaro? Why are you putting all of your energy into disposable EVs instead of improving products your buyers want?
If people wanted the Camaro, it would have sold in high enough numbers for GM to keep making it.
That would be the case if the Camaro was sitting on dealer lots in great numbers, however that wasn't the case. Dealers had stacks of customer orders waiting to have an allocation and constraint to fit their builds. I personally know salespeople that have at least 10-12 orders that never got built due to constraints. V8 Camaros never sat for more than 3 weeks. So let us not blame the poor sales on the car, put it where it belongs on the manufacturer not being able or wanting to produce the unit.
When they basterized it with the 4 cylinder is when the Camaro started losing respect.
In ten years (2010-2020) the Camaro lost 60% of its sales, it was tanking well before the 4 cylinder engine came out. Nice try though. That engine has zero to do with respect, the Mustang has offered it longer. While the turbo 4 was out, they had supercharged 6.2's so off set the so called respect. Mudman said it right, if it would have sold it would have stayed, PERIOD. You mention two years post covid when allocations and constraints drove the market, that is ZERO issue to the real problem, the market has changed. Even the Mustang is outsold by its EV counterpart. How do you argue that?
Please speak next time you have actual legit information and not false bias...
GM refused to develop the 6th gen. GM refused to market the 6th gen. Michael Bay was the only one who did that. And yeah the "legit information" is that Mary killed investment in the Camaro in November 2019. The "legit information" is that Harlan Charles lobbied for a new interior for 2020. Mary said no. The "legit information" is that GM didn't WANT to build the Camaro anymore; the factory is going all EV for Cadillac's green dreams. The "legit information" is that GM purposely cut the final year of production down to 3 months leaving thousands of orders unsold.
Not false bias...the constraint issue is still a factor in ordering new units, just check out the Vette with high wing and carbon package, wheel selection...Allocation is also still an issue when placing and building inventory. As stated by Larry when was the last time you saw a commercial or ad for a Camaro prior to cancelling the program.
Wow. They got rid of a 7th gen camaro and replaced it with those Frankenstein!! Pathetic. Wake up GM.
"This" dang samsung phone.
Yeaaaah they're going to need to fix that range problem if they expect this to work. 283 miles of range would be cut in half if the vehicle is taken at full throttle with little to no regen braking. Oh and that 12 seconds of pit stop refueling isn't going to work here either. So each team will need three to four race cars just to finish one race. Very green.
I’d never watch or attend an EV event. If the engine is silent racing will die
Mary says you will really like a station wagon powered by 3C cell batteries.
Not like those mean men like petty had where that had a stinky gas guzzler.