The fastest Corvette ever made comes out next year, and it鈥檚 not powered solely by a howling V8.
The E-Ray is a gas electric hybrid, the first all-wheel-drive version of Chevrolet鈥檚 storied sports car with the front wheels running on an electric motor the traditional 6.2-liter V8 powering the back.
Aimed at affluent buyers who want new technology in the top-line Chevrolet sports car, the $104,000 E-Ray jerks your head back as it goes from zero to 60 mph (97 kilometers per hour) in 2.5 seconds. General Motors says it can cover a quarter mile in 10.5 seconds.
Both those figures are slightly faster than it鈥檚 race track ready brothers, the Z06 and Z07, it鈥檚 civil enough for the daily commute even though its rear tires are almost wide enough to compete in the Indianapolis 500.
Tadge Juechter, the Corvette鈥檚 executive chief engineer, said people would ask for the best version of the car, only to wind up a 鈥渢rack monster鈥� that they鈥檙e trying to drive every day. 鈥淔or the same money you can get all-wheel-drive, and comfort, security, and the livability that comes with a car like this,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e really divided the family into pure track and to everyday utility.鈥�
The E-Ray, which makes its debut exactly 70 years after the first Corvette was introduced in New York back in 1953, is a step toward an all-electric version of the car that will come out at at unspecified date.
Although GM may be over-selling the practicality, the E-Ray does come with all-season tires so it can be driven year-round, and the all-wheel-drive system is configured so it鈥檚 confident in the snow, up to just 4 inches due to its low ground clearance.
Unlike most hybrids, it鈥檚 not really made for efficiency, although will get a little better city mileage than a standard Stingray at 16 mpg. But because of higher mass and air drag, it will do worse than the standard Corvette鈥檚 24 mpg on the highway. The electric motor adds 160 horsepower to the 495 generated by the V8, for a total of 655. Both systems come on at once for maximum acceleration.
Engineers say its technology sets the stage for the all-electric Corvette. When the latest generation of 鈥榁ette came out four years ago with the engine in the middle, engineers designed it so future there could be hybrid and electric versions in the future.
The car鈥檚 computers are configured to keep it stable by applying power to individual wheels when it鈥檚 slippery. GM engineers say most electronic stability controls rely on braking individual wheels.
The 1.9 kilowatt-hour battery is relatively small compared with a full electric vehicle. It鈥檚 positioned under the console. You can鈥檛 plug it in to recharge it, but it gets energy restored from regenerative braking and from the V8 motor. It can be driven in 鈥渟tealth mode鈥� up to 45 mph for a short distance to quietly leave a neighborhood, GM says.
鈥擳om Krisher, The Associated Press
