General Motors’ electrification program is gearing up fast, and, appropriately enough, the automaker now plans to electrify the Chevrolet Corvette.
It’s going to be a two-step process, however, with a hybrid version of the sports car due in 2023, with an all-electric ‘Vette set to follow.
2023 Corvette Hybrid All-Wheel Drive
“We will have an electrified Corvette next year,” GM President Mark Reuss said during an appearance on CNBC. “It’s coming very quick.” And for those who missed his interview, GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra summed things up succinctly. “Electrified Corvette. That’s it. That’s the tweet.”
Rumors of an electrified Corvette have been circulating for some time, with a number of spy shots surfacing over the last several years. But company officials declined to discuss plans publicly—much as they waited to confirm the development of the mid-engine platform that became the current, eighth-generation, or C8, Corvette.
That said, a number of well-placed insiders involved in Corvette development have been dropping broad hints. During the debut of the C8 in 2019, I was advised that the new platform was specifically designed to allow for a hybrid powertrain and all-wheel drive.
The exact nature of the hybrid is unclear. GM engineers have been working on both a conventional system as well as a plug-in. According to some industry watchers, the final package could serve as the next-generation ZR1, traditionally the ultimate version of each new Corvette generation. Others believe it will slide in somewhere between the current Stingray and 2023 Z06 Corvette models, the latter delivering 670 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque.
The hybridized version is highly likely to become the first Corvette ever to offer all-wheel drive. The all-electric model to follow will take that to new levels.
Corvette BEV: Two Motors, Ultium Power
The EV version of the two-seater often referred to as “America’s sports car,” will feature at least two electric motors, one on each axle. As always, multiple performance packages will roll out over time, which could mean a three-motor electric Corvette further down the line, perhaps even one with four motors.
A high-level official confirmed that the battery model (BEV) would make use of electric torque vectoring to push more power to the outer wheels during cornering to enhance handling. In a two-motor version, an electric-Limited Slip Differential (LSD) would further improve cornering.
Another benefit would be the position of the battery pack below the load floor—which will bring the center of gravity even lower than with today’s C8 model.
While the hybrid will use the current Corvette platform, it is unclear whether the all-electric model will do so as well, or adopt a version of one of the “Ultium” architectures GM is developing for the rest of its BEV line-up. GM plans to have 30 all-electric models in production worldwide by 2025 and plans to go 100% BEV by 2035.
New Ultium batteries will be part of the package. Utilizing the latest lithium-ion technology, they deliver greater energy and power density, which translates into more range and better performance, respectively.
800-Volt Architecture for Faster Charging
The electric Corvette is also likely to see GM shift from its current 400-volt electrical architecture to 800 volts while migrating from silicon to a silicon carbide-based power control technology. Among other things, that will help speed up charging.
What the hybrid and all-electric models will be called also remains to be seen. GM has registered the “E-Ray” name and is expected to roll that out on a production model. But which one is uncertain.
Monday’s news has triggered plenty of speculation about what else GM might do with Corvette, some even wondering whether it could echo Ford’s move with the Mustang, adding a crossover body style similar to the Mustang Mach-E.
What’s clear is that the sports car world is moving fast to electrify. Porsche is already offering the Taycan, with two more battery-electric models in the works. Lamborghini is readying its first plug-in hybrid and plans three, possibly four, all-electric models by the end of the decade. Even Ferrari is electrifying. It now offers the plug-in SF90 Stradale with a pure battery-powered model to follow.