The Chevrolet Corvette gets all-wheel drive hybrid power for 2024

NEW YORK—Seventy years ago today, Chevrolet unveiled its first Corvette sports car in New York at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Fast forward seven decades and January 17 sees another Corvette debut, this time the 2024 Corvette E-Ray. A new variant of the mid-engined eighth-generation (or C8) Corvette, the E-Ray brings a couple of new tricks to the party: namely, all-wheel drive and a hybrid system.

The hybrid Corvette has been some time coming. For starters, way back in 2015 we discovered that General Motors had filed a trademark on the E-Ray name. And when we got our first look at the new C8 in 2020, the central tunnel running the length of the cabin seemed superfluous for a mid-engined, rear-wheel drive car but did look like a good spot to stick a bunch of batteries.

“You were one of the people that may have figured that out early on that this car was always in the plan of record. And this structural transom, although it also has structure benefits for stiffness, makes a great place to put a lithium-ion 1.9 kWh battery pack,” explained Cody Bulkley, a Corvette performance engineer at Chevrolet, as he drove me around Manhattan’s West Side Highway in a bright-red E-Ray prototype.

The E-Ray can be ordered with a pair of stripes.

Credit: Chevrolet

Visually, the main clue that you’re looking at an E-Ray, other than the badging, is the fact that it wears the same wide body as the Z06, but with body-colored accents (although these are available in optional carbon fiber, too).

Behind the cockpit, as with other C8 Corvettes, you’ll find a small-block V8, in this case the naturally aspirated 6.2 L LT2 engine also found in the Stingray. This generates 495 hp (396 kW) and 470 lb-ft (637 Nm), all of which is sent to the rear wheels via an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. Again, just like the Stingray.

But no Stingray can also boast a 160-hp (119 kW) electric motor at the front axle, giving the E-Ray a combined output of 655 hp (488 kW) and 595 lb-ft (807 Nm). That’s slightly less power but way more torque than the fire-breathing Corvette Z06, and it shows in a straight line, where the E-Ray beats the slightly more powerful ‘Vette to 60 mph by 0.1 seconds (2.5 seconds for the E-Ray versus 2.6 seconds for the Z06). Chevy says that the E-Ray dispatches the standing quarter-mile in 10.5 seconds.

At the rear, a 6.2L V8 and one of the car’s two luggage compartments.

Jonathan Gitlin

At the rear, a 6.2L V8 and one of the car’s two luggage compartments. Jonathan Gitlin

The addition of an electric motor for the front axle has not compromised front luggage room.

Jonathan Gitlin

The addition of an electric motor for the front axle has not compromised front luggage room. Jonathan Gitlin

At the rear, a 6.2L V8 and one of the car’s two luggage compartments. Jonathan Gitlin

The addition of an electric motor for the front axle has not compromised front luggage room. Jonathan Gitlin

It’s even fractionally cheaper than the Z06, starting at $104,295 for the E-Ray 1LZ coupe and $111,295 for the E-Ray 1LZ convertible. That also makes it significantly cheaper than the other mid-engined hybrid supercar, the Acura NSX (the McLaren Artura and Ferrari 296 GTS are both plug-in hybrids and a lot more expensive, so let’s ignore them completely).

Don’t wake the neighbors

All new for the E-Ray is so-called Stealth Mode—in other hybrids you might see this labeled as EV mode because it relies just on the electric motor for propulsion. And, for a car with a large, noisy V8, this means you can leave early in the morning or come home later in the evening without waking up everyone else in the house, or all your neighbors.

The E-Ray is not a plug-in hybrid, which typically features much larger battery capacities, so don’t expect more than a couple of miles of silent propulsion before exhausting the energy store. But it can operate on electric power alone at up to 45 mph (72 km/h) before the V8 fires up and joins in. (A plug-in hybrid would have added a lot more weight and cost for diminished performance returns.)

The addition of electric power means this is the most torquey Corvette you can buy.

Credit: Chevrolet

That means recharging the battery happens seamlessly, with the car’s electronics managing the process most of the time. The electric motor captures energy via regenerative braking as you slow down or coast, and if you need to, the “charge+” mode adds a few more rpm to the V8 and uses that power to top up the traction battery.

There’s a second electric mode that really is electric-only, called Shuttle. This is limited to 15 mph (24 km/h), and the V8 will never fire up in this mode. It’s literally just for low-speed work—driving around the paddock at a race track or rearranging cars in a garage, for example.

In the E-Ray’s other drive modes—Tour, Sport, Track, Weather, My mode, and Z-Mode—the car’s electronic brain decides when and how to combine electric and V8 power. For example, in weather mode it will maintain a 50:50 torque balance until it reaches the torque capacity of the front axle, with each wheel measuring its amount of slip and constantly feeding that information to the car’s brain.

The C8 Corvette has a very driver-centric interior.

Jonathan Gitlin

The C8 Corvette has a very driver-centric interior. Jonathan Gitlin

New displays show you the battery’s state of charge.

Chevrolet

New displays show you the battery’s state of charge. Chevrolet

The C8 Corvette has a very driver-centric interior. Jonathan Gitlin

New displays show you the battery’s state of charge. Chevrolet

“With the traction control on, you’re at that 50:50 balance, and then, when you’re on gravel or another surface, you probably want a similar balance, but when you’re on high mu [a less slippery surface], you can dial it to a rearward balance and allow some playfulness where you can actually let the car drift a little bit before coming in with the hammer of the front axle,” Bulkley explained.

And in some scenarios, the E-Ray’s active fuel management system will deactivate half of the V8’s cylinders for better efficiency. However, an actual EPA rating will have to wait until closer to when the E-Ray goes on sale later in 2023. And for the first time, a Corvette now features engine stop-start to minimize fuel burn in traffic, with the starter motor using a lightweight lithium-ion 12 V battery.