Wild hybrid Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray is the quickest ‘Vette yet, offering sports car money for near hypercar-levels of thrust

August 17, 2024August 17, 2024 John Mahoney 12091 Views chevrolet, Corvette, E-Ray

The first hybrid-powered Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray has landed in Australia blending pricing you normally expect from a high-end sports car with acceleration to match the pin-up Bugatti Veyron Super Sport hypercar.

Billed as the fastest accelerating factory-built Corvette ever, the $275,000 (plus on-roads) 2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray doesn’t instantly smack good value, until you consider the epic numbers of the electrified powertrain.

Blending the current Corvette Stingray’s already punchy 369kW/637Nm LT2 6.2-litre V8 with a single electric motor and a 1.9kWh lithium-ion battery, the electrified E-Ray produces a mighty 488kW of power and 806Nm of torque.

In a straight-line Chevrolet claims 0-60mph (0-97km/h) takes just 2.5 seconds – the same time it takes for a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport to hit 60, or new-gen hypercars such as the $4.5 million Koenigsegg Jesko (the upcoming Porsche Taycan Turbo GT smashes them all, able to hit 100km/h in as little as 2.2 seconds).

Better yet, that 2.5-second dash should be easily repeatable thanks to the Corvette E-Ray’s quick-shifting eight-speed dual-clutch transmission and all-wheel drive.

Reassuringly, in Australia all the Corvette E-Ray’s offered Down Under come with carbon-ceramic brakes as standard as well as Chevrolet’s high-performance ZER Performance Pack that adds Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres, ZER Performance suspension, Magnetic Ride Control adaptive dampers and a bigger downforce-boosting rear spoiler for greater stability on track.

A performance exhaust is also standard as well as handy front suspension lift system with memory to save you scraping the E-Ray’s sharp snout over bumps and lumps.

Ensuring it looks the part, the Corvette E-Ray shares its wide body with the Corvette Z06, with the E-Ray getting additional colour-coded accents, E-Ray badging and model-specific alloy wheels that are 20-inch at the front and larger 21s at the rear.

As well as epic performance, the E-Ray gets a clever Stealth Mode that allows the Corvette hybrid to cover up to 6km at speeds of up to 72km/h in EV mode – not bad considering the US supercar doesn’t get a plug-in feature and has to self-charge its battery using energy clawed back under braking.

Within, the flagship Corvette E-Ray comes with dual-zone climate control, wireless phone charging, a 14-speaker Bose sound system, 12-inch digital instrument cluster, 8.0-inch infotainment system that incorporates wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, full track telemetry and a front camera to avoid kerb strikes.

Standard safety kit is also high for a supercar with rear cross traffic alert, blind spot detection, lane-keep assist and auto high-beam assist all present.

As standard all models also get heated and ventilated eight-way powered driver and passenger seats, a carbon-fibre steering wheel wrapped in leather and a suede headliner.

Available in 14 exterior colours, the E-Ray comes in Black, Red Mist, Carbon Flash, Amplify Orange, Hypersonic Grey, Accelerate Yellow, Sea Wolf Green, Cacti Green, Silver Flare, Rapid Blue, Ceramic Matrix Grey, Riptide Blue Metallic, Torch Red and Arctic White. Within, the exterior paint can be combined with up to seven interior colour schemes.

“This is the best of Corvette today, paired with the brand’s exciting, electrified tomorrow and it’s the kind of performance vehicle that needs to be driven to be believed. And that day is coming, and coming fast, for the people of Australia and New Zealand,” says Jess Bala, General Motors managing director for Australia and New Zealand.