The 2020 Stingray Corvette - could it go electric? Source: GM
American automotive giant General Motors has reportedly been surveying existing Chevrolet Corvette owners on whether they would be interested in an all-electric Corvette.
According to a recent forum conversation on the MidEngineCorvetteForum.com website, multiple owners of the current-generation C8 Corvette reported receiving invitations to provide feedback on what an electric sports car would look like – later identified to be specifically an all-electric Corvette.
GM announced earlier this year that it would cease production of petrol and diesel models by 2035, part of the company’s wider science-based targets to reach carbon neutral status by 2040.
Questions asked of current Corvette owners seems to suggest that Chevrolet and General Motors have taken notice of what is becoming increasingly popular and standard in EVs across the world.
Current Corvette owners were reportedly quizzed on what they’d like to see in future vehicles and asked their opinion on features such as subscription services, a racetrack checklist, stealth modes, and battery optimisation for performance use.
Prime amongst these were questions directed at over-the-air update offerings, a standard feature for Tesla models and clamoured for by EV owners of other brands.
Despite some negative feedback amongst some of the forum members (I’d go back to a horse before I bought any electric car!” said one), General Motors and Chevrolet are probably not relying solely on the feedback of a few Corvette owners in fulfilling the company’s goals of transitioning to all-electric models across its entire line-up by 2035.
While there has been no indication of a fully electric C9-generation Corvette coming from GM, the company has announced plans to introduce 30 new EVs globally by 2025. Of course, many of these will be SUV and sedan models, but as technology evolves and demand increases, it will not be a surprise to see electric sports cars on the horizon.
It is also worth noting that these speculations are not related to the C8 Corvette E-Ray hybrid performance variant which is currently expected to use motors on the front axle and the C8’s LT2 V8 for the rear axle. Early prototypes have already been spotted, but it is unclear how soon we’ll be seeing this hybrid Corvette.
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.
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