Spied: Camo-free Corvette mule hints at hybrid E-Ray

[Hagerty]

Spy photographers have captured what looks to be the first shots of the upcoming hybrid C8 Corvette without any camouflage. The future Vette looks like a Z06 convertible at first glance, as the aggressive body is decidedly wider than the Stingray.
https://www.hagerty.com/media/news/spied-camo-free-corvette-mule-hints-at-hybrid-e-ray/

[gfviperman]

still ugly ...

[KYColonel]

💯% Agree

[JSievers]

Agreed. Wish they’d use some of the money they are spending on alternative powertrains to clean up the styling.

[rtbasey]

You guys need to go with the "rounded" Porsches. Most think these are beautiful. What were your complaints about the C7's...C6's...

[Gary_Bechtold]

Looks like some stubs in the back end a wing might have attached to? Either way interesting to see.

[L71Maynard]

Beauty is subjective. I like the C8 and grateful they are doing multiple variations. Very nice to see cars getting built in the time of high riding cute utes. It's got the Z06 widebody and narrow rear vents below the taillights. The front grill also looks like the Z06. With the exhaust below the lights like the Stingray it probably does have the LT2. So this fits the Grand Sport duties of previous generations but now with AWD and more power.

[MadamBlue91]

I hope not. AWD and 1000+ hybrid horsepower is not the corvette way.

[rtbasey]

Everything evolves...you are not going to like the C9's...all electric. Enjoy what we have while it is here. Send your thanks to the current administration for the future of the automobile.

[442xcar]

Cigarette lighter? Ashtray?

[SteveA]

What's not to like, but I'll keep my original owner C4&C6. I'm just old-school.

[SilentBoy741]

The more I see of the new Corvette, the more unsure I am as to what to think of it. Overall it reminds me of model cars I used to glue together from parts left over from other kits I'd built. There doesn't seem to be any cohesive aesthetic, lines and angles just go everywhere. The directions that the curves lead the eye are incredibly busy. Seen on the street, it doesn't give off a supercar stance, more the impression of an overly modded tuner trying to punch above its weight. It might go really fast, but as an exotic it just doesn't impress.

[FigueroB]

What ever. Just don’t badge it E-Ray. You can call me Ray or you can call me Jay or you could call me Ray-JJ but you doesn’t have to call me E-Ray.

[GSM]

Cool car but a "Corvette" in name only.

[hyperv6]

This is the car that is the introduction to BEV. 

This car will rely on the Stingray engine but offer more power and traction with a EV drive front wheel assist. It should provide performance close to the Z06 but at a slightly lower price. Think of this as the Grand Sport like slot. 

I expect more to come like the TT DOHC V8 with front EV assist to come too. 

At some point we will see a full BEV but I expect it to be one of the last to change. 

We may not like it but that time is coming to all brands at some point. We already have Electric Porsche models and Lambo is coming as well Ferrari. The Corvette is also going to face the changes. 

I see some detractors who cling to the past in styling or expectations. I get it you like what it was. But with out change there would be no future. 

There were guys in 54 saying it does not need a V8 too. If they hit their ways there would be no Vette today. 

[rtbasey]

There are always the na sayers.

[Jamieackerman]

Unfortunately this photo is not of an electric vette.

[zappafanx]

The first pic looks like an alien snake like creature in mid swallow of another smaller alien creature. I’ll pass. Guess I’m old school as well.

[GoFast]

that's the base targa/coupe body, not a retractable convertible.

[C8_mps]

wrong

[930Flachbau]

Why does it have to be the Hybrid Corvette? Could just as easily be the mule housing the Twin Turbo'd LT-2. Certainly explains the revised exhaust and non-"snarly" exhaust note.

[Oldroad1]

Ya! Why not? Everyone's got "EV" tattooed on the brain.

[carguyjim]

I WISH I liked it. The last best looking iteration is the ‘13 with the carbon bits

[Maestro1]

I think the cars are very poorly designed, and make me think of the '54 and '57 I had with great pleasure even though they rode like trucks, especially the '54, and leaked through the
side weather gear in heavy weather; nobody cared: we loved the cars anyway. These cars
are not Corvettes. They' re some other manifestation of GM's poor judgment and should be renamed. The rush to EVs is absurd. There is no infrastructure, no training for mechanics,
and dealers don't know how to sell them. I'm an old car person and would never trust my life to a chip.

[L71Maynard]

If you've owned any car since the 80s you are "trusting your life to a chip." EFI uses chips. Transmissions use chips, think 4L60E...the E is for electronic. 

[spdfreak]

"would never trust my life to a chip" - says the guy who is posting either on a computer or a phone...

[Jimmyo]

Every jet you've ever rode in is loaded with "chips" so is just about every car built since in the last 30 years.

[rtbasey]

A liberal government has pressured car manufacturers to go all electric. Note that the last high performance internal combustion Cadillacs are being built now. Corvette is dragging it out a little longer...till the C9's. Don't worry about hybrids, they will be replaced by the electrics soon enough. Your Corvette will run nice and quiet.

[milo2021]

Put all the fancy body work on these new Corvettes will make them slick in the wind and great handling but they are for racing . Elaborate styles like this are not necessarily beautiful . Classic lines of 1963 -67 Corvettes are so much simpler and beautiful. Heaven forbid something goes wrong with the wiring and computers in these new cars. These new ones are cool but not for me. Any talk of a battery powered one is ...no thanks.

[KYColonel]

As for styling, the C8 looks like some kind of Shanzhai knockoff. 

If I wanted the Italian look, I would move to Italy and buy the real thing.

Sorry, GM...The C8 is a Vette in name only. 😩

[rtbasey]

Could you talk to the guys on the 1000's of guys on the waiting list for the C8 Z06?  It is sold out for about 4 years.  I'd like to get mine a lot sooner and maybe you could get them to get their deposits back so I can get one before I have forgotten why I wanted it.

[Val]

seems like to work out that design, they did hire Homer Simpson 🙂

[CitationMan]

The C8 already weighs 195 lbs more than a C7 manual. The electric components can only add more unnecessary weight. The C8 is also longer and wider than the C7, this is not progress. 
Chevy’s all out pursuit of performance numbers is to blame, and this pursuit is at odds with how most Corvette owners use their cars. 

[rtbasey]

Corvette is going to become electric whether anyone likes it or not. It is not their choice. They can only delay it.

[rtbasey]

We can only hope that with the heavy demand for the C8's, that they give this generation a record long life before the next generation of engineless, quiet Corvettes takes over.

[rtbasey]

I think those on the long waiting lists for C8's might disagree. 

[Jteakus]

The C8 is a cool car. It checks a lot of boxes GM has been trying to check for awhile. They seem to be selling well, are fast and handle well. I'm keeping my C7 though. To each their own.

[br427]

It's sickening to think that GM would make a Vette even partly electric. Lefty GARBAGE.

[TG]

a) i was working outside today and almost took my coat off
b) at least it isn't a SUV

[Jimmyo]

Most super cars are hybrids. I recently drove a Tesla and it was the fastest car I've ever driven and it hooked up. Like it or not electric motors have far more torque and power on demand than gas engines. Personally I like all cars old and new.

[ConfuciusRacing]

Well, for all the nay sayers:
Don't forget that California mandated that all cars be 100% EV by 2030...if you think it doesn't matter then you haven't been paying attention.

I offer the following.
Remember when there were 49 state cars and then 50 state cars? Rather than forsake the Ca market during the transition, manufacturers made cars that complied with the vast hunger for people buying cars in California.

Another quick point, The CARB and California basically were the leaders in SMOG certification and air quality standards as related to car tailpipe emissions. Yes, I've been to Shanghai too and the hypocrisy is not lost on me...however GM sells cars in the USA and it's a reality for them. Just like it is for Ferrari with their efforts to hybrid ev and combustion power...it's not going away folks.

So if ya don't like it, get out in the secondary market and buy (and drive) what you want now. My skirt is completely over my head when I drive my C7 Z06 with a 7 speed. Yippee. $4.50 a gallon??? fill 'er up.

[Oldroad1]

Comrade Government my force the factory to make them but they can't force the sales on us. And another thing, when sanity forces insanity out of the government gas prices will return to acceptable levels.

[hyperv6]

Hmmm yes they can. For one they can cut or limit fuels and even older cars to force you to either buy a EV, Walk or take a EV bus. 

it is no longer the government as the automakers have set their course. 

We may not like it but it’s not the end of the world.  These cars camps be as good and fun as we have in different ways. Who knows they may be able to bring back manual shift. 

My fear is they pass laws or create fuels that will hurt our collector cars. 

Already in some countries they raise the taxes on a car the older it gets so it is hard to own one. 

There are people in the EPA now that would like to strip you of your collector cars. I wish Hagerty would begin to take a stronger public stance on this before it is a defensive move. 

[TG]

If coronanoia is any indicator... yes they can

[petersalt]

which is one big reason we're going to REPLACE this govt as soon as possible.

[rtbasey]

Yes, the old school guys are on the defensive and I agree. Best we can do is find what we love and drive it. We will be replaced by a generation that appreciates something else...quiet acceleration. I see the Z06 as the last pure performance car offered by Chevrolet. I'm not crazy about even turbo let alone batteries and motors.

[SJ]

Yawn.

[fotogmike]

This follows the formula used by recent Grand Sport models. Nothing in the photos gives any indication of AWD or a hybrid drivetrain.

[hyperv6]

Actually hybrid cars have been testing with this body configuration. They were running with the Z06 models. The way to separate them from the Z06 is the non centered exhaust. 

Early cars has things on the for testing indicating hybrid parts were present. 

Also GM will leak what they want known. If they wanted to you would never see what you see if they wanted it not seen. 

[C4owner]

Say it ain't so!!