The Corvette E-Ray has never been spied before, but the company has been working on it for a very long time. The fact that GM trademarked the ‘E-Ray’ name back in 2015 shows that the automaker has had it in its plans for the better part of the last decade. Fast forward to the present day, the automaker is still tight-lipped about it, but it has been spotted testing at the Nurburgring. If you had even an ounce of doubt, this proves that the car is certainly not a myth.
The E-Ray Has Been Spotted Around The Nurburgring
The Corvette E-Ray's existence has been questioned in the past because every Corvette is tested at the Nurburgring, but not the E-Ray. Now, however, it was seen cruising around alongside the C8 Corvette.
There are some aesthetic cues that distinguish it from the Z06. For starters, the air dam up front boasts of a different design. It also seems to be running on smaller brakes and standard Michelin tires.
What Is The Corvette E-Ray?
The rumor, for now, is that the E-Ray will be the hybrid version of the C8 Corvette. The engine will be supplemented by a couple of electric motors mounted on the front axle. Since it will use the standard C8 Corvette’ 6.2-liter V-8 engine but with two electric motors, expect it to churn out more than the standard coupe’s 495 horses and 470 pound-feet of torque power output.
The brand could even surprise us by skipping the standard C8’s hybrid version and offering one based on the Z06. This would mean that the flat-plane crank V-8 that’s expected to feature in the upcoming Z06 could be paired to a couple of electric motors and a battery pack to create a model that’s more powerful than the Z06. For all we know, we could be looking at over 800 horses at the crank!
This option, however, seems a little too far-fetched at the moment because the automaker has plans to bring in a hybrid hypercar in the future, most probably called the Zora. If that’s true, it won’t put the E-Ray on the pedestal and will instead slot it between the standard C8 Corvette and the C8 Z06.
Some reports have even suggested that the car can go on an electric-only mode up to 35 mph. The hybrid setup coupled with an all-wheel-drive system could result in the E-Ray doing 0-60 mph sprints in low 2s.
Conclusion
The E-Ray has been spotted a couple of weeks before the C8 Z06’s launch. It isn’t a stretch to assume that the automaker could tease the E-Ray at the same event, thus hyping up the marque’s electrification plans. That said, even if it is confirmed, don’t expect it to arrive any time before 2023.