FIRST DRIVES NEW CARS TESTED AND RATED
CHEVROLET CORVETTE E-RAY
TESTED 18.10.23, CALIFORNIA, US ON SALE MID-2024
The first four-wheel-drive Corvette is also the first with an electrified powertrain
Having kept the basic principles of the Corvette essentially unchanged through seven generations and 65 years, Chevrolet has thrown innovation at the C8 version. As launched in 2019, this was the first mid-engined Corvette, and now the E-Ray version is making it both the first with a hybrid powertrain and the first to feature four-wheel drive.
Unlike posher electrified supersports cars like the Ferrari SF90 Stradale, McLaren Artura and Lamborghini Revuelto, the E-Ray isn’t a plug-in hybrid, nor does it use multiple electric motors. Instead, it splits its powertrain by axle.
At the rear is the same pushrod small-block 6.2-litre V8 engine that powers the regular Stingray (the LT2), turning the rear wheels through an eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox. At the front is a compact AC motor that can add 160bhp and 125lb ft of torque, this fed from a compact 1.9kWh battery that sits in the tunnel between the seats. By performance-hybrid standards, it’s a very simple system, but it’s also a very effective one.