Chevrolet is electrifying the Corvette

An “electrified” version could launch next year, with fully electric models coming at a date TBD.
Sign up for the Freethink Weekly newsletter!
A collection of our favorite stories straight to your inbox

Chevrolet is electrifying the Corvette, General Motors’ president Mark Reuss announced in an interview with CNBC’s Phil LeBeau

The automaker plans on offering an electrified, hybrid version of the sports car next year, Reuss said in a LinkedIn post, with a fully electric version to come at a still-unrevealed date. 

“We will have an electrified Corvette next year, so it’s coming very quick,” Reuss told LeBeau, although he did not offer details like an exact date or just what “electrified” may mean. 

“Electrified” implies any kind of electric engine usage, CNN reported, and seems to play into rumors that the newest generation of Corvettes may eventually come in a hybrid version.

GM has announced an “electrified” Corvette, as well as a fully electric version.

Back in the race: GM was actually an early front runner in the race for electric vehicles, NPR reports, with their EV1 becoming the first mass-produced, major mark offering in the field in the late 1990s.

But the company fell behind competitors like Toyota’s popular Prius Hybrid and, of course, Tesla, which has streaked ahead of the competition and is now threatening to lap the field. 

GM had big plans to enter the EV field, with 30 different offerings hopefully available by 2025. But slow sales and a full stop in Bolt production caused by a fire risk recall have complicated things, NPR reported.

What it means: While the electrified ‘Vette has been expected, auto journalists said, the full electric version was a surprise. 

But there are reasons why the Corvette was a prime candidate to become an EV, Car and Driver’s Rich Ceppos wrote in an analysis of the announcement.

First is the Corvette’s place in car culture, Ceppos says; it has a reputation for punching above its weight, providing the performance and technological bells and whistles of higher-end marks like Ferrari and Porsche for a lot less. 

With the other top sports car makers putting electric cars on the market, Corvette can compete yet again with the thoroughbreds. 

Secondly, electrification has the potential to add power and performance, even if only used as a power-adder: see Formula 1’s energy recovery system, which harnesses kinetic energy to store in a battery that can then be re-deployed for extra horsepower at the driver’s discretion. 

Plus, the C8 Corvette appears to have been designed to be hybridized from the jump, Ceppos said, with its front compartment set up to accommodate electric components. 

Traffic jam: GM is not the only legacy automaker looking to eat into Tesla’s market share by leveraging already-famous vehicles and production capacity; perhaps most threatening to Musk’s EV dominance is Ford’s F-150 Lightning, with Detroit beginning to crank out the electric version of the most popular truck in America. 

GM is hedging its bets, though; they plan on still offering gas-powered Corvette models, LeBeau reported.

We’d love to hear from you! If you have a comment about this article or if you have a tip for a future Freethink story, please email us at [email protected].

Related
9 dumbphones to help curb your screen addiction
While smartphones keep getting more powerful, the growing dumbphone phenomenon is subverting expectations.
Which technologies will enable a cleaner steel industry?
Technologies like hydrogen-based direct reduction of ore, electrolysis, and advanced furnace technologies could reduce steel emissions.
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft was set to launch on May 6 — but was delayed again
Boeing’s Starliner launch – delayed again – will be an important milestone for commercial spaceflight if it can manage to launch.
Synthetic diamonds may have just gotten way easier to make
Scientists in South Korea have developed a new technique for creating synthetic diamonds that works under ambient pressure.
MIT engineers design flexible “skeletons” for soft, muscle-powered robots
New modular, spring-like devices maximize the work of live muscle fibers so they can be harnessed to power biohybrid bots.
Up Next
Subscribe to Freethink for more great stories