Corvette unveiled its 2024 Chevy Corvette E-Ray with its first ride. It is an iconic sports car with an electric surge and the first hybrid version of the eighth-generation sports car. After 70 years the first corvette made its debut at GM’s Motorama in New York City.
The flagship sports car comes with a unique makeover that was heavily teased and accidentally leaked over the past year. However, it was revealed on Tuesday in Manhattan. It was just a stone’s throw from where the first model, then known as the EX-122, made its first public appearance while dressed in polo white with a red bucket seat interior trim. In contrast, the E-Ray presents more as an undersea submersible than a weekend cruiser, with a metallic blue exterior and a body shape reminiscent of its aquatic namesake, the Stingray.
This is by design, of course. The E-Ray is meant to usher in a new era for Corvette, including an all-electric version sometime later this year. GM is barreling toward its goal of electric-only sales by 2040, and Chevy is leading the charge, with electric versions of the Silverado, Blazer, and Equinox coming soon, and now the Corvette.
GM EV sales
Chevy decided to ease its customers into the world of battery-propelled propulsion with the E-Ray. Sports car customers are a bit finicky, placing a premium on loud exhaust noise and the digestive rumblings of a V-8 engine. An all-electric Corvette may have generated similar bouts of existential dread as Ford did when it decided to slap the pony logo on its Mustang Mach-E. Chevy sees an opportunity, especially in surging demand for electric vehicles.
“I think it’s really time for the market right now,” said Harlan Charles, product marketing manager for Corvette. “The demands that a sports car has, both for the street and track capability, this is really the best solution.” When the E-Ray goes on sale later this year, it’ll start at $104,2954 for the 1LZ coupe and $111,2954 for the 1LZ convertible model. Both prices include delivery charges. And production will take place at GM’s Bowling Green Assembly facility in Kentucky. In addition to the first hybrid engine, the E-Ray is also the first Corvette to get all-wheel drive. Coupled with a set of all-season tires, a brand-new wheel design, and Brembo carbon ceramic brakes, Chevy hopes that the E-Ray will be the first Corvette to avoid going into storage during the winter months.
