What do you get when you pair an electric motor with a V8 in a Corvette package? A 0-to-60 time of 2.5 seconds. Chevrolet dubs its 2024 Corvette E-Ray as the “quickest production Corvette in history.”
The 6.2-liter LT2 V8 delivers 495 horsepower and 470 lb.-ft. of torque to the rear wheels, with electric motors providing an additional 160 horses and …
Chest hair + kale salad
Is the center section of those seats cloth??
In reply to calteg :
Good question. I'm not sure if the two-tone seats use Performance Textile, as they call it. I'll see if I can find an answer.
In reply to calteg :
Answer from Chevrolet: leather.
Oh Darn I thought maybe Chevy had finally put an XK-E V12 engine in a Corvette.
I'll see myself out.
Wonder what the "range" of the electric motors is? Stupid question I suppose but how does a technology like this perform at a track day or does the front motors become "dead" quickly and basically transform it into a heavy C8?
Olemiss540 said:Wonder what the "range" of the electric motors is? Stupid question I suppose but how does a technology like this perform at a track day or does the front motors become "dead" quickly and basically transform it into a heavy C8?
5 mile range.
That's amazing!
It's 100hp less total than the previous gen ZR1 but beats it to 60 by quite a bit. (2019 ZR1 755hp, 0-60 in 2.85s, 2024 E-Ray, 655hp, 0-60 in 2.5s) That's really impressive.
"Stealth Mode" AKA "FWD Mode". Another first then, first FWD Corvette ever! 
Yeah it's kind of cool, as long as the weight gain isn't astronomical, but its hardly a first. It's really no different then the 2nd gen NSX, McLaren P1 or Porsche 918, just short an electric motor in the back. And the NSX already did the budget (relatively) hybrid Hypercar thing. Those cars all came out in 2013/2014 too and the NSX 2016 so they're a little late to the party. But that kind of is the C8s thing, doing exactly what the exotics did years ago but cheaper and mass produced.
Olemiss540 said:Wonder what the "range" of the electric motors is? Stupid question I suppose but how does a technology like this perform at a track day or does the front motors become "dead" quickly and basically transform it into a heavy C8?
This is a hybrid, not a pure electric. So the batteries are being constantly recharged. It's basically the same as an F1 or LMP car in concept. They do okay :) Electric-only range is basically just a theoretical thing because the car isn't really intended to be operated that way. I'm sure it can be, but it's not the idea.
The fact that the motor is on the front means that any regen is coming through the hard-working front brakes - taking a load off them. There might be some very interesting tech there.
Keith Tanner said:Olemiss540 said:Wonder what the "range" of the electric motors is? Stupid question I suppose but how does a technology like this perform at a track day or does the front motors become "dead" quickly and basically transform it into a heavy C8?
This is a hybrid, not a pure electric. So the batteries are being constantly recharged. It's basically the same as an F1 or LMP car in concept. They do okay :) Electric-only range is basically just a theoretical thing because the car isn't really intended to be operated that way. I'm sure it can be, but it's not the idea.
The fact that the motor is on the front means that any regen is coming through the hard-working front brakes - taking a load off them. There might be some very interesting tech there.
It also comes with the ZO6's carbon ceramic brakes standard which is an interesting choice if you can do regen. Wonder what that's all about. They're saying this is about 300lbs heavier than the ZO6, with most of that weight being added to the nose, so maybe the carbon brakes are just there to slow a 4100lb car with 650hp.
With a rather similar drive train (in a general sense), my i8 had a 12-15 mile electric only range.
The problem at the track was that while the battery could support driving the front axle power train for a 15 minute lapping session using regen, the electric components would all get too hot from the power in/out and shut down at about the same time. And this was on a car where essentially everything forward of the passenger compartment was heat exchangers.
In reply to Karacticus :
It's all going to come down to the amount of regen - and yeah, moving power around makes heat. That's a classification question in LMP, how powerful the hybrid system can be. The i8 had a relatively small ICE relative to the electric motor, about 2:1 ratio in terms of power production. This Corvette is 3:1, so the electrics aren't working as hard to motervate the car and may not be called upon as often. Still having to regen/store/deploy of course. GM is pretty good at powertrains, though, and this car definitely will have track use as parted of the expected use case. I'll be interested to see how it works.
And I am totally jealous of the fact that you had an i8. They are so cool.
Interesting notes...
But the hybrid Vette wasn’t designed to be a track monster. In fact, it’s basically intended to prevent people from wandering into a dealer and buying a Z06 they can’t really use.
That’s how Tadge Juechter describes it.
“Historically, as you moved up the Corvette line, you got to more and more extreme performance,” Juechter told me. “If you wanted to pay more for a Corvette, get a ‘better’ one, you always got pushed into the performance realm. So some of our well-heeled customers check all the boxes and end up driving a car on racing slicks, and they’re just driving back and forth to work, they never intend to go to the track. We only had that single stream, that single dimension to differentiate the cars. And it always put us in a little bit of a bind — we want to do a car that’s super capable on the track, but we don’t want to make it completely unlivable on the road. There’s a lot of compromises there.”
The answer, Juechter told me, was to split the top tier of the C8 lineup in two. “That way, Z06 could be mission-specific, more targeted to the track. It’s a pinnacle driving experience, but we make a lot of tradeoffs to get to that point,” he said.
“But there’s another market for people who want a more well-rounded car. They want similar levels of performance — they’re probably not going to go to the track, even though [the E-Ray] is perfectly track-capable.”
For the kind of customer who walks into a Chevy dealer and says “I want the most expensive Corvette,” the E-Ray is basically the ideal package
“If you’ve got the money to spend, you love the widebody look, but don’t want to live with super high ride frequencies or those exotic tires, this is the machine for you,” Juechter told me. “Similar price point, the body styles are similar, but very different executions.”
I asked Juechter if he hopes more people will choose the E-Ray over the Z06. “I’m hoping the people who should be in this car end up in this car,” he said of the E-Ray. “What I don’t want to happen is for people to hear all this amazing stuff — the Z06, it’s the greatest car in the world! — and they really don’t understand what a pinnacle performance car is like. They get in, and it’s like, ‘Wait a minute, I thought they said this car rides smooth.’ It rides smooth for what it is, but you could get turned off of Corvettes by it. It’s not for everybody,” he said.”
“We want people to get the best fit for them,” Juechter continued. “We think there’s probably a lot of people who would be very happy with [the E-Ray]. There will be some people who still buy the Z06, because you can’t get the big carbon wing on this car. Some people, it’s all about peacocking. They’ll get that car. But at least we’re offering them a pretty rational choice.”
The car will give the maximum discharge possible, but a buffer is maintained in terms of stored electricity so AWD is always available for maximum performance and dynamics. Otherwise, it would just be a heavy two-wheel-drive car, says Kutcher, who is one of many engineers who came from the EV side to work on the Corvette program.
The vehicle targets an 80 percent state of charge, but touching the Charge+ button prioritizes maximum energy regeneration to 100 percent charge for extended lapping at the track. The car maintains a slightly larger buffer of power to tap for continued corner exits. You can switch off Charge+ for a final hero lap that will fully deplete the battery to its safety buffer. It's worth mentioning again: Due to the buffer, the car will never randomly become rear-drive, which is important, say, at the apex of a corner on throttle.
Not only is the E-Ray the first all-wheel-drive hybrid Corvette; it's also the first car ever sold with both carbon-ceramic brakes and all-season tires as standard.
Wow, might as well say it comes with a discount on New Balance shoes at Target.
So, it's the fastest but it's not the performance pinnacle. I guess that's what the upcoming Zora is for.
In reply to mr2s2000elise :
Sounds like the ZO6 is the 911 GT3 equivalent, while the E-Ray is the Turbo in the lineup.
In reply to STM317 :
I think you pretty much nailed it.
I think I get it.
It looks like a Z06 with the big butt, so it's got street cred but it's not punishing to own. The 0-60 time also gives it the bragging rights. So there's your market. People who want something more than just a Stingray, but shouldn't be in a Z06.
But what it also does is pay for a bunch of hybrid engineering work. Now you take that pile of tasty hardware, bolt it to the front of a ZR1 and call it a Zora. That's your hypercar competitor, and it's possible because of the volume of E-Rays out there.
To continue the Porsche analogy, the Zora is the GT2 RS. Speed above all.
Anyone notice that the E-Ray weighs in at nearly 4000 lbs !!! In my best Frank Barone "Holy Crap!"
In reply to deaconblue :
People don't pay attention to Corvette weights. A C8 Stingray coupe is over 3800, a Stingray convertible is 3900. It's been a long time since a Z06 was 3100 lbs.
Edit: Huh, that's from a GM UK brochure. But the US GM website says 3366 for the coupe. Something's odd.
Is it fast? Absolutely.
Is it fun? Absolutely.
Do I want one (or can I afford one?)
Apparently a Corvette weighs whatever you want it to weigh. GM USA says a 2023 Z06 is 3500 lbs. Car and Driver (who actually weighs the cars) says 3799 lbs. That's a pretty big delta. So until an E-Ray gets into the hands of a trusted third party with a set of scales, we have no idea what it truly weighs.
deaconblue said:Anyone notice that the E-Ray weighs in at nearly 4000 lbs !!! In my best Frank Barone "Holy Crap!"
Corvette weight is proportional to its current demographic of owners.
"The drop-top version of the E-Ray will weigh 4,056 pounds, while the coupe will cross the scales at 3,890 pounds," according to Chevy.
In reply to mr2s2000elise :
But Chevy also says a Stingray coupe is 3366 lbs and Car and Driver weighed it at 3747.
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