Electric Chevrolet Corvette seems near on Chevy’s horizon
The electric Chevrolet Corvette has often been a headlining figure in our dreams, but — if there’s any truth to the recent rumors — it may finally become real before the close of the decade.
Professional spy photographer Chris Doane revealed a recent discovery of his to Gas2 earlier this month: Chevrolet has trademarked the names “Corvette E-Ray” and “E-Ray”. The filings apply specifically for “motor land vehicles, namely, automobiles” according to Hybrid Cars.
Taken by itself, this piece of information isn’t that surprising — automakers trademark names all the time but that doesn’t mean they intend to use them. After all, Ford owns the rights to Model E (sorry Elon Musk!) even though there is no Model E anywhere in its lineup and (as far as we know) Ford has no plans to design one.
Sure, Chevy could just be hanging onto the name in case there’s a potential project somewhere down the line in twenty years or so, but rumors of a hybrid Corvette from GM have been swirling for years. Gas2’s Zachary Shaban even wrote an article last year claiming that a 100% all-electric Corvette is “almost here”.
Genovation Cars told Gas2 in July of 2015 that its prototype of a high-performance 100%-electric new Chevrolet Corvette was almost done. They call the prototype the Genovation Extreme Electric (GXE).
“The GXE is based on a 2006 Z06 Corvette,” Genovation revealed in a press release. “The car will have a range of 150 miles during normal driving operation and will have a near 50/50 weight distribution while being optimized for a low center of gravity.”
“We are using state of the art inverters, batteries and electric motors that will produce in excess of 700-hp and 600 lb-ft of torque,” said Genovation CEO Andrew Saul. “We expect the car to achieve 0-60 mph in around three seconds and have a top speed of over 200 mph. And most of the parts are designed and built in America.”
If an electrified production Corvette makes the leap from dreams to reality some speculators are afraid it’ll meet some heavy market competition from Porsche, which recently announced its plans to build an all-electric four-door sports car called the Mission E. Musk has demonstrated that electric cars can have every bit as much agility and speed as the best gas-powered cars on and off the drag strip. The days of electric motors relegated to the golf course or the local retirement community are over.
If you’re in the market for a Chevy EV, Apple Chevrolet currently carries a variety of choices. The Equinox may not be as quite as sporty as the mystical electric Corvette will be but it’s fun, agile and highly efficient. Stop by for a test drive today!
