Corvette-Based Genovation GXE: Why $750,000?

Is the 800-horsepower GXE worth its astronomic asking price, and is it the harbinger of more electric Corvettes?

What would a $750,000 Corvette look like to you? A ’68 L88? How about a factory C7.R race car? Or maybe one with an electric motor and a top speed north of 220 miles per hour?

Electric car builder Genovation unveiled its Genovation Extreme Electric (GXE) at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. And if it looks familiar, that’s because Genovation has basically thrown out the 6.2-liter LT1 V8 from a Grand Sport for an 800-horsepower electric motor.

Unlike many electric cars, Genovation retained the Corvette’s transaxle setup. That gave multiple gears to mesh with the electric motor’s RPM. The increased range allows for tire-shredding burnouts in first gear or top-speed runs in supercar territory in seventh. The only other electric cars we can think of with multi-gear transmissions are purpose-built Formula E race cars.

It’s unclear how much Corvette is retained in the GXE. The interior looks mostly Corvette with a touchscreen upgrade and some quilt-style material on the Sport seats. If the GXE comes with the Magnetic Ride suspension — and it probably should for $750,000 — we think this 4,100-pound Vette could be a real monster on a racetrack, too.

Genovation has announced plans a limited-production run of 75 cars, which they’ll buy from GM to retrofit. Autoweek reports that the company hopes to have customer cars delivered by the fourth quarter of this year. The CES car was the first of three C7 prototypes. An earlier C6 prototype also ran 190 mph in the standing mile with a top-speed run of 209 mph.

While it may not look — and certainly won’t sound — like $750,000 to most Corvette owners, the company hopes sales will generate enough revenue to develop more affordable models.

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