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Spied! Corvette E-Ray prepping for track action

The electrified Stingray will likely appear next year

Matthew Guy
Oct 12, 2021  •  October 12, 2021  •  2 minute read  •  Join the conversation
Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray 012

In nature, there aren’t too many hybrid variants of the ocean-going stingray. Look to the racetrack, however, and you’re sure to soon find hybrid Stingrays of another sort.

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Caught by eagle-eyed photographers as it was preparing for some action on Germany’s famed Nürburgring, this test mule appears to be an electrified variant of the mid-engine Corvette Stingray. What’s the tip-off? Peep the widebody design, earmarked for the upcoming Z06, combined with a complete and utter lack of that model’s enormous rear wing. There is also some question as to this car’s tailpipe layout, with our feet on the ground claiming it different than that of the new Z06.

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Powertrain options on the E-Ray are as yet unclear, though there’s every possibility in the world there will be a single electric motor powering the front axle. If true, this would bless this world with an all-wheel drive Corvette. If you thought the socks-n-sandals fan brigade was upset about the Vette’s engine moving amidships, wait until they get a load of a suspiciously furrin’ AWD system. The meaty rear rubber should continue to be motivated by the hand-of-god 6.2L V8 engine found in existing variants of the current Stingray. Horsepower is rumoured to be in the 600 to 650 range, which is not much different than what’s expected from the 5.5L V8 flat-plane crank found in the forthcoming Z06.

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While this is Stingray’s first foray into electrification, don’t expect it to be the last. A more potent hybrid version is expected to show up sometime in the future, packing electric motors at both ends and perhaps bearing the Zora name in deference to a driving force behind the OG Corvette all those years ago. Also, with GM stating a goal of having all of its light vehicles powered by electricity by the middle of the next decade, an all-electric Corvette is not unimaginable.

As for the Z06, GM has said they will be revealing that model later this month.

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