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Video: 2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray: Up Close

03:55 min
By Cars.com Editors
February 9, 2023

About the video

2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray: Up Close

Transcript

As part of the Corvette's 70th birthday celebration, Chevrolet is giving itself and us a very lovely gift. This is the 2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray, a hybrid all-wheel drive Corvette that Chevy claims is the quickest ever production Corvette.
Let's check it out. So just how quick is the E-Ray? Chevy estimates it can do 0 to 60 in 2.5 seconds on the way to a 10 1/2 second quarter mile at 130 miles per hour. What you're looking at is a production 10-second car, that's just wild. The E-Ray's hybrid powertrain combines the Corvette's 6.2 liter LT2 V8 with an electric motor powering the front wheels and a 1.9 kilowatt hour battery pack. Total output is 655 horsepower, that's just a little bit below the Z06, but again, this is quicker. That quickness is partly due to the all-wheel drive that comes standard on the E-Ray, which gives Corvette E-Ray something of an all season capability, at least that's what Chevy's pushing. It does come standard with all season tires, I think you'd be very brave to take this out in the winter, but it is doable in theory. If you do want high performance tires, you can get those as well. Other fun facts about the performance of this car includes standard magnetic ride control with three different settings, carbon ceramic brakes also come standard, and the E-Ray still has the six traditional drive modes that we've seen in other Corvettes previously, including the configurable My Mode and the hardcore Z-Mode, which sort of mimics BMW's M Mode. And even with all that new powertrain tech, you're still gonna use a standard 8-speed dual clutch automatic just like you find in other Corvettes. That does mean the E-Ray is a little bit heavier than the standard Corvette Stingray with the coupe coming in just under 3,800 pounds and the convertible E-Ray coming in just over 3,800 pounds, a few hundred pounds more than the comparable Corvette Stingrays. Other hybrid exclusives include Charge+ Mode, which keeps the car powered just by the gas engine, saving battery charge for when you need it, and Stealth Mode, which Chevy says allows the E-Ray to operate silently at speeds up to 45 miles an hour, good for starting up the car, getting out of your driveway, and not pissing off the HOA. The new E-Ray has aggressive styling, it is 3.6 inches wider than the stock C8, the same width as the Z06, it has the same 20 inch wheels up front and 21 inch wheels in back on 345 section tires. The E-Ray comes with exclusive five spoke wheel designs, including an optional carbon fiber wheel design, and as you go along the back, you can see the E-Ray badging in flash blue. Flash blue is an exclusive color to the E-Ray, you can get flash blue stripes along the body as well. Personally, I prefer Corvettes without the stripes, but the beautiful thing about the Corvette is you can make it exactly the way you want it to be. Unfortunately, we can't get into the E-Ray right now, but that's okay, because the interior is basically the same as the C8. So it's snug, comfortable, very well put together, there are some E-Ray specific screens that'll appear on the instrument panel and in the infotainment screen, but otherwise, it is pretty much just the standard C8 interior. That does mean that visibility forwards and backwards is not the best, but that's sort of the price you pay for a car that's styled like this. Chevy says the E-Ray will go on sale this year in both the coupe and convertible base 1LZ versions, have starting prices north of $100,000. That's pricey for a Corvette, but both less than comparably equipped Z06 models to give you an idea of where the E-Ray fits in the lineup. We've already been dreaming for winter to end, so we could get our hands on a Corvette Z06 and drive it around Chicago safely. And now, we're definitely adding the E-Ray to our list as well. For more on the 2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray and all the rest of the cars here at the 2023 Chicago Auto Show, check out Cars.com.

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