I drove Chevy's $57,000 Blazer EV. From giant screens to great maps, these 18 features make the high-tech SUV worth it. --[Reported by Umva mag]

The Blazer's design is a stylish EV interpretation of Chevrolet's current SUV aesthetics combined with a dose of the brand's now-defunct Camaro muscle car.

Out back, the Blazer is designed to clean up airflow to help improve the vehicle's overall aerodynamics and range. The tapered rear window line and prominent rear wheel arches help create an athletic look.

The front fascia is dominated by a large illuminated LED light bar that spans the width of the front end.

Even the bowtie logo is illuminated.

The light bar can be configured to perform animated sequences when you approach or depart the vehicle.

Using a DC fast charger, my test car with the 85 kWh pack could charge at 150 kW, adding up to 68 miles of range in 10 minutes. That puts the SUV ahead of the Nissan Ariya, even with the Mustang Mach-Em, but behind the Hyundai Ioniq 5.

My RS AWD was rated for a solid 279-mile range.

The pricier RS RWD with the larger battery pack is rated for up to 324 miles of range.

The centerpiece of a Blazer EV's cabin is a massive 17.7-inch touchscreen that looks terrific. The Google-based infotainment system is a piece of cake to navigate and react quickly to inputs.

Unfortunately, the Blazer EV does not come with Apple CarPlay compatibility

One of my favorite parts of the system is a shortcuts menu at the top left corner of the screen. The system allows you to drag and drop frequently used features to the menu for speedy access.

In front of the driver is an 11-inch digital instrument display. The highly configurable display offers the driver a handful of different layouts. Custom layouts can include different data points like range, charging, driver's assistance features, and turn-by-turn navigation.

Since the Blazer EV has a Google-based infotainment system, it comes with built-in Google Maps. As a result, large, full-screen Google Maps are available on both the central touchscreen and the digital gauge display.

My Blazer EV also came with a head-up display, which projects information like speed, speed limits, media, and navigation onto the windshield ahead of the driver.

My test car came with the optional rear camera mirror. The camera, which turns on by flipping a toggle on the bottom of the mirror, is really useful when passengers or cargo compromise visibility out the rear window.

The Blazer EV can be optioned with a high definition surround vision camera that gives the driver 360-degree visibility of the vehicle's surroundings.

The Blazer EV has a washer on its lifgate that keeps its camera mirror and backup camera free of debris and grime.

Like other recent GM products, the Blazer EV comes with a pair of handy audio controls on the back of its steering wheel, roughly where paddle shifters are traditionally found.

The buttons aren't clearly marked, but they are really easy to use once you figure out their presence.

Despite its muscle car looks, the Blazer EV is much bigger than Ford's Mustang Mach-E and isn't quite a direct competitor.

The Blazer EV falls solidly within the realm of a midsize SUV at over 192 inches long. Compared to the compact Mustang Mach-E, the Blazer EV is an inch taller, 4.5 inches wider, and more than half a foot longer. In fact, the Blazer EV is a couple of inches longer than Hyundai's new three-row midsize Santa Fe SUV.

As a result, the Blazer EV offers about an inch more front and rear legroom than the Mach-E.

The Blazer EV can be started remotely using the key fob. With its doors locked, press the circular arrow remote start button on its key fob twice to activate the vehicle.

The Blazer EV comes equipped with a hands-free power liftgate.

To activate the system, approach the vehicle's rear from 10 to 15 feet away with the key fob and stand within four feet of the liftgate. Stay in the trigger area for three seconds. The vehicle will beep four times and flash its tail lamps before opening the gate.

Open up the hands-free power liftgate, and there's 25.5 cubic feet of cargo room. The tapered roofline eats into the Blazer EV's cargo capacity, which trails the smaller Mustaing Mach-E by four cubic feet.

Fold the rear bench seat down, and that cargo capacity expands to 59.1 cubic feet. That's roughly in line with the Mach-E's overall cargo room.

An interesting feature of the Blazer EV is its heated wiper park, which heats the area around where the windshield wipers are stores so that ice and snow can't build up.

My RS AWD test car came with these nifty-looking 21-inch machined aluminum and black-painted alloy wheels. The base LT trim gets smaller 19-inch wheels.