Exactly 70 years after the Corvette debuted at Motorama in New York City, Chevrolet has returned to introduce the first-ever electrified Corvette with all-wheel-drive and a powerful 6.2L LT2 Small Block V-8, the 2024 Corvette E-Ray. “In 1953, the enthusiastic reaction to the Chevrolet Corvette concept kicked off seven decades of passion, performance and American ingenuity,” said Mark Reuss, General Motors president. “E-Ray, as the first electrified, all-wheel-drive Corvette, takes it a step further and expands the promise of what Corvette can deliver.”
As a birthday present to itself, Corvette announces the E-Ray, i.e. an electrified version with all-wheel drive. With a total power of 655 hp, it is also the strongest Vette of all time; the 6.2-liter V8 remains with its 495 hp. It’s also the fastest at the lights: The E-Ray makes it from 0 to 60mph in 2.5 seconds before breezing through the quarter-mile in 10.5 seconds.
The all-wheel drive of the Corvette E-Ray comes with an electric motor that drives the front wheels. It is fed from a battery with a modest 1.9 kWh capacity – so the purely electric range should be will be minimal, we guess just 5-10 kilometers. As the first hybrid Corvette, the E-Ray also receives an update to the chassis in the form of MagnaRide 4.0 as well as three new colors. Furthermore, the hybrid becomes significantly wider, more than 9 centimeters wider to a daunting 2.03 meters.
According to Chevrolet, the unladen weight of the coupĂ© is 1712 kilos, which is surprising to us as 1730 kilos is quoted for the “normal” Vette. Prices are already known to be $104,295 for the coupĂ© and $111,295 for the convertible; deliveries will start in summer 2023.