Chevrolet to unveil a K5 Blazer electric crate motor build at SEMA360, but it isn’t exactly a powerhouse

With all the excitement surrounding the return of the Ford Bronco, clearly there is plenty of market interest in retro SUVs. And given the promise of the electric crate motor concept as a near-bolt-on solution to give a new jolt of life and relevance to vintage vehicles that are sitting around in barns with non-running engines, Chevrolet’s choice of a K5 Blazer to showcase their forthcoming Electric Connect and Cruise eCrate package at SEMA360 is an unsurprising move.

But here’s what is surprising: in an environment of EV hype centered around sky-high horsepower and torque stats and 0-60 acceleration in just a couple of seconds, are we really supposed to be impressed with an electric crate motor that produces just 200 horsepower and 266 pound feet of torque?

Yes, you read that right. Although GM does say that they are “evaluating additional eCrate packages with higher-performance options,” those are the horsepower and torque figures cited in their press release on the K5 Blazer build ahead of SEMA360, the all-virtual 2020 answer to the elbow-to-elbow-packed live SEMA Show that, in normal years, takes place annually at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Sure, endlessly boasting about horsepower and torque escalations has become a cliché at SEMA, where, for example, you can perennially expect Mopar to stage a noisy reveal of their latest over-1,000-horsepower hell-something gas crate engine.

But it’s hard to imagine that 200 horsepower won’t seem pretty limp to the SEMA crowd, especially considering that the 1977 K5 Blazer, in its original gas-powered configuration, weighed close to 3,700 pounds.

Nevertheless, the very existence of GM’s electric crate motor program is, in principle, an exciting development for those who like the idea of a modern, clean solution for breathing new life and relevance into cool old cars and trucks.

According to Chevrolet, the show build for SEMA360, which they have dubbed the K5 Blazer E, preserves as much of the stock vintage Blazer as possible, connecting an electric motor and 400-volt battery pack from the Chevrolet Bolt EV while leaving the rest of the original K5 Blazer drivetrain untouched, including the transfer case, driveshaft, and axles. 

The vehicle’s original fuel gauge becomes the state-of-charge display for the battery—a nice touch that, if it becomes standard across GM electric crate motor conversions, will support preservation or original instrument panels as one of the more important elements of the retro vibe of a vintage vehicle’s interior.

While the press releases on the K5 Blazer EV build and on the Connect and Cruise package do not specify a cruising range—which would obviously vary depending on what vehicle a buyer retrofits—we can perhaps anticipate a rough frame of reference from the 259-mile range expected, according to GM authority, for the 2021 Chevy Bolt.

Although one could probably expect less range than that in a larger vehicle like a K5 Blazer, range gains are certainly reasonable to expect with time, especially as GM looks ahead toward integrating more advanced technologies like their Ultium battery system into their electric crate motor packages, which GM estimates could achieve ranges of 400 miles or more.

Meanwhile, if the K5 Blazer EV build is already making visions dance in your head like electrified Christmas sugarplums of bringing beloved vintage Chevys, Pontiacs, Buicks, Oldsmobiles, or GMCs a new charge of life in an increasingly electrified automotive world, GM says you can expect the Electric Connect and Cruise crate motor package to be available in the second half of 2021.