The E-Ray is the most powerful, best handling Corvette ever made...  This past Tuesday, Jan. 17th, Chevy celebrated the 70th birthday of the Corvette by giving it an electric motor. I’d say that’s a good way to celebrate, right? This revolutionary shift in propulsion design comes from the desire to make the Corvette better: faster, better handling, and in some cases almost silent. Because the rear of the car still has the 495hp 6.2L V8 taking up space, Chevy positioned the electric motor in the front of the car. The motor puts out 160 hp and 125 lb-ft of torque and is paired with a 1.9 kWh li-ion battery that is positioned down the center of the car between the driver and passenger. The addition of this electric powertrain means that the E-Ray is now the best performing Corvette from the company ever. 0-60 mph comes in only 2.5 seconds and it’ll run down the 1/4 mile in 10.5 seconds at 130mph. One new feature of the E-Ray that was never available on any other Corvette model is what the company is calling “stealth mode” that drives the car only with the electric motor on the front wheels… for about 3 miles or so. Remember, it’s still a very small battery. Pricing for the E-ray jumps considerably from the base model Corvette Stingray at $64,500 to $104,295. Given that the performance of the base model is still 2.9 seconds 0-60 with a 194 mph top speed, I’m really curious to see how many E-Ray models sell over the other configurations. It’ll also be interesting to see how traditional buyers of the Corvette respond to the electrification of the brand. Only time will tell, but I’m starting to get excited and can’t wait to see what Chevy does when the Corvette ditches the gas engine entirely.
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Source: Chevrolet
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