The Chevrolet Traverse is entering a new generation for the 2024 model year. If you see the Chevy Traverse for sale at your local dealer, you’ll notice the difference right away just by looking at the exterior. The new face is bolder, with a large grill and an overall rugged appearance that reflects its capability. But the SUV’s looks are just the start: there are plenty of more significant changes under the surface.
Since the Traverse is a three-row SUV that can seat up to eight people, it should come as no surprise that many of the updates for the 2024 model are appealing to families. The large and reliable Traverse was already popular among parents with big families looking for a vehicle that could handle daily errands and road trips or camping trips requiring a lot of bulky equipment. With the added array of safety features and the introduction of an off-road Z71 trim, this SUV promises to have an even better command over both the open road and the great outdoors.
Even More Standard Safety Tech
When you’re driving with kids onboard, you want to ensure you have as many advantages on your side as possible regarding safety. That’s probably why driver assistance features have become so popular in recent years. Driver assistance technology helps keep you aware of your surroundings while you’re behind the wheel, which is especially helpful with a large vehicle like the Traverse. These features tend to target situations where accidents are more common, including highways where cars are zooming by at high speeds and busy parking lots where there’s a dense concentration of cars and pedestrians who may not always be at their most attentive.
The 2023 Traverse already came standard with Chevy Safety Assist, a suite of fundamental driver assistance features. This remains true for the 2024 model. That means all trims have Forward Collision Alert, Automatic Emergency Braking, front pedestrian and bicyclist braking, lane keep assist, lane departure warning, following distance indicator, and IntelliBeam high beam headlights. In addition, the 2023 model features a standard rearview camera and Teen Driver technology, a suite of features designed to help parents coach their newly licensed young drivers. However, several other safety features were limited to higher trims of the 2023 Traverse.
On the 2024 model, the list of standard safety features has been expanded dramatically. All of the following features were optional on the 2023 Traverse but come standard on the 2024 Traverse across all trim levels:
- Adaptive Cruise Control lets you set both a speed and a following distance you want to maintain between you and the vehicle ahead of you. The system will maintain your desired speed until you get too close and will then slow down or stop to match the speed of traffic. Once the coast is clear, it will automatically speed back up to your cruising speed.
- HD Rear Vision Camera improves the quality of the live feed on your screen so that you can notice smaller details, like toys that have been left out on the driveway.
- HD Surround Vision gives you not just a single camera angle but a full 360º view of the area around the Traverse. When navigating tight parking spaces, especially on driveways with obstacles ranging from neglected skateboards to toddlers and pets, this extra visibility can come in handy, especially when you have a trailer in tow.
- Rear Cross Traffic Braking is designed to help you back out of a space in a crowded parking lot without getting hit by a passing car. Sensors detect vehicles coming from the side while you’re in reverse, and the system can give you a warning or even brake automatically to help you avoid a collision.
- Rear Park Assist uses sensors that detect nearby objects while you’re in reverse and give you distance alerts so you can avoid obstacles while backing into a parking spot.
- Lane Change Alert with Side Blind Zone Alert detects vehicles in your blind spot while driving on the highway and uses audio warnings and visuals in the relevant side view mirror to alert you to the danger until it is safe to change lanes.
- Safety Alert Seat helps you determine immediately where a potential danger is coming from. You’ll feel a vibration in either the right or left side of the seat if the issue is coming from one side or the other and on both sides at once if it’s coming from the front or back. In addition to giving you immediate directional information, the vibrations are also harder to miss than visual alerts that you might not see if your eyes are on the road or audio alerts that can be drowned out if the kids in the back are getting rowdy.
- Rear Pedestrian Alert is specifically tuned to detect pedestrians behind your vehicle while in reverse, unlike rear collision prevention systems that can only detect large obstacles like walls and other vehicles.
In addition to the many new standard features, some existing features have been improved. For instance, Chevy’s Buckle to Drive technology has been updated. This feature requires the driver and front passenger to be buckled in before you can start driving. For those in the back, there’s a new Rear Seat Belt Reminder, which warns the driver if a passenger in the second or third row removes their seat belt during the drive. All together, these features make the Traverse even more family-friendly than previous generations.
An Interior Redesign
The infotainment setup on the 2023 Traverse featured either a 7-inch or 8-inch touchscreen and a driver information center that could either be 3.5 inches, 4.2 inches, or 8 inches diagonally. The 2024 model supersizes both displays and makes the largest size standard across all trims, with a 17.7-inch touchscreen and 11-inch Driver Information Center. This makes it easier to read at a glance. The interior also benefits from the electronic transmission shifter relocation to the steering column, which gives the center console more room to dedicate to storage space.
The Newly-Added Z71 Trim
The Traverse is getting its very first Z71 trim for the 2024 model year. This rugged off-road version is built to handle all kinds of terrain, with increased ground clearance, all-terrain tires, a tough aluminum skid plate, easy-to-spot red tow hooks, a unique AWD system built to optimize traction, and dampers that make for a smooth ride even when the trail gets bumpy. The Trailering Package comes standard on this trim so that campers can bring all their equipment along for the ride.
The 2024 Chevy Traverse and Your Family: A Perfect Combination
While drivers of all stripes are sure to appreciate the updates to the 2024 Traverse, it’s clear that Chevy has kept families in mind when considering changes. Parents will be especially grateful to have the wider range of safety features at their command and larger screens that make those features easier to see and use. Since big families are often on a tight budget, it’s all the better that they don’t have to upgrade to a pricier trim level or add on a costly package to take advantage of advanced driver assistance technology.
For those who do have the money to upgrade, the Z71 trim is an off-road capable vehicle that has a roomy enough interior to handle a family camping trip. Overall, this new lineup seems likely to appeal to a wide range of drivers, especially those who need plenty of room to bring their little ones along for the ride. No matter which trim fits your unique needs, you and your family are guaranteed a safe and comfortable ride.
