2021 Chevy Traverse gains a slight edge for its midcycle refresh

UPDATE: Chevy announced that the updated Traverse will now be a 2022 model year vehicle. It will go on sale in calendar year 2021. The 2021 Chevy Traverse will be carry-over from the 2020 model year.

The restyled 2021 Chevrolet Traverse is out, and it’s a little edgier than before. Despite GM (and the rest of the world) canceling its events, Chevy has revealed the three-row crossover digitally today. When it was redesigned for the 2018 model year, the Traverse was as vanilla as it gets. The big crossover was spacious, but there was nothing about the design to get your pulse racing.

This 2021 Traverse ramps the exterior styling up on the aggressiveness scale, but changes to the front and rear fascias can only take a vehicle so far. Chevy says the new look is Tahoe-inspired with a new front grille (High Country has copper inserts), sharply-styled headlights and taillights and four new wheel designs. The Tahoe comparison is a bit of a stretch in our book. We do like the new light designs, though (especially in the rear). However, the Traverse is still firmly on the side of generic family truckster, with crossovers like the Telluride and CX-9 retaining their style crowns.

On the interior, the Traverse will feature a new eight-inch infotainment system and wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto. There’s a big center screen in the instrument cluster, and the interior styling itself largely carries over into the new model year. Chevy says that there are more driver assistance features available as standard, and adaptive cruise control is available on higher trim levels, too.

The powertrain is carryover, which means the Traverse will be powered by a 3.6-liter V6. It produces 310 horsepower and 266 pound-feet of torque, then sends it to a nine-speed automatic transmission.

The 2021 Traverse will go on sale sometime late this year, but that’s as specific as GM is getting for now. Expect pricing for the lightly refreshed crossover to be announced closer to the on-sale date.

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