Everything You Wanted to Know About the Corvette E-Ray!

The Corvette E-Ray is an engineering marvel that harnesses electrification for one purpose only – improving performance. 

The all-new, first-ever hybrid Corvette E-Ray debuted only recently, but for years now, it’s been one of the worst-kept secrets in the automotive realm. Regardless, with reviews flowing in for the electrified sports car, it’s become quite clear that GM has a big hit on its hands, which is notable given the fact that this was destined to be a controversial model thanks to its unique powertrain. However, few – if any – of those reviews will likely go as in-depth as this one from Jay Leno of Jay Leno’s Garage.

Much of this can be attributed to the fact that Corvette Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter came out to sunny California with not only a new Corvette E-Ray, but also a cutaway model of the car, dropping some pretty fascinating information about it from, well, an engineer’s perspective. For starters, he explains why GM wound up building a hybrid Corvette in the first place, and it isn’t why you might think.

The E-Ray, it seems, wasn’t developed because GM is investing heavily in electrification, but rather, its own development process began before the automaker made that financial commitment or even developed its Ultium system, Juechter reveals. After making the switch to a mid-engine format, the Corvette team was looking for ways to make an all-wheel-drive version that fans had long been clamoring for, and initially explored the idea of using a mechanical setup employing a driveshaft from the engine to the front axle.

However, during its research, the Corvette team quickly realized that a hybrid setup provided them with several advantages – including quick energy transfer and smoother performance in terms of power delivery and distribution, all without any sort of physical connection between the electric motor and the rest of the powertrain. The electric motor also provides regenerative energy and its rather small 1.8 kWh battery uses about as much energy as a cup of fuel, which can essentially be replaced during a braking event at top speed.

The result is, according to Juechter, what could be the only car in the world that has a completely modular front and rear powertrain, as hybrid electric motors are commonly mounted between the engine and transmission. He admits that this setup presented a challenging in terms of making it feel like the two units are one, but GM seemingly pulled that off. Regardless, the E-Ray contains no shared parts with any other car in GM’s lineup – it’s a completely bespoke hybrid system.

The hybrid system is a complex one to boot, as this car is full of heat exchangers and even more radiators than the Z06 to cool the motor, battery, and electronics. During track conditions the E-Ray even uses a little A/C refrigerant to keep things cool. Meanwhile, its 12-volt lithium ion battery was chosen due to the fact that it’s lighter and quicker in terms of producing amperage, even though it costs more. That unit will last the life of the car, according to Juechter, and will only lose a small amount of capacity over time like any other battery.

GM designed the E-Ray to slot in between the Stingray and Z06, and even tuned the suspension that way, making it a bit more compliant than the latter model but also stiffer than the former. It’s designed to be a daily, utilitarian car that can also hang on the track, while the Z06 is a purpose-built track car and “road scalpel.” Engineers sought to make it as light as possible, which is why the E-Ray has carbon ceramic brakes as standard equipment, to help reduce unsprung mass and weight – not to mention the fact that braking is critical on electrified models thanks to their added weight and performance.

Regardless, Juechter notes that the Corvette E-Ray has a worse power-to-weight ratio than the Z06, which it overcomes thanks to the instant torque provided by its electric motor, and it remains a mostly rear-wheel-drive vehicle with only the e-motor’s 160 hp driving the front wheels. This helps pull the car out of corners, however, making it a great track weapon for short courses, though on longer ones, the Z06 proves superior, though it was the E-Ray that broke all of GM’s passing records during testing.

All of this certainly sounds great on paper, but it also translates well to the real world, as we can see in the video. Leno praises the E-Ray’s solid feel on the road, as well as its bonkers straight-line acceleration, which is seamless and instant. Thus, while some may shun the hybrid system as yet another part of GM’s mission to become greener, in reality, it only exists in the Corvette for one reason and one reason only – to optimize performance.

.