Zac Quinn 
Chevrolet just unveiled the third variant of the C8 Corvette, following the inaugural Stingray and Z06 supercar. The Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray is the first hybrid-electric production Corvette and the first all-wheel-drive production Corvette in the nameplate’s 70+ year history. With Z06 and Stingray tailored to specific customer desires, the E-Ray is no exception, aiming toward a new and different type of customer.
C8 Corvette E-Ray Target Customer: Details
MC&T alum Lucas Bell, now at Road and Track, recently spoke with C8 Corvette E-Ray subject matter experts on the topic of its customer. Just who is it for? The answer: a different customer compared to what the C8 currently brings in today with Stingray and Z06.
When GM shifted the Corvette to a mid-engined layout (which almost happened much earlier, mind you), they brought in a new range of customers interested in a GM product. The 2024 Corvette E-Ray seeks to cast its net further out into the open water, acting as a white-space product in the automotive landscape, and is curiously priced within a couple grand of the 670 hp Z06, at $104,000 USD. This gives Corvette customers a path to choose from, and could determine the future product direction of the storied marque, which may or may not have an engine come the C9 generation.
Despite the visual similarities to the Corvette Z06, there are some differences in the design and the performance driving customers they’re suited for. Where the Z06 is a honed and focused track machine, the E-Ray hopes to be more approachable to customers, while also demonstrating that electrification can assist in overall performance of a vehicle.
This kind of performance setup has demonstrated that it can have an exponential improvement. About a decade ago, we saw a similar approach with more exotic supercars and hypercars of the time, such as the Porsche 918 Spyder. It, too, was an all-wheel-drive hybrid. Granted, it had 875 hp and 944 lb-ft of torque, and was priced from $845,000 USD. To compare, the E-Ray has 655 hp, and 595 lb-ft of torque, but is eight times more affordable thanks to the economies of scale that the Corvette family benefits from. And it’s just getting started.
When the 2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray arrives this year, it will undercut several other hybrid exotics on the market with its jaw-dropping 0-60 mph in 2.5 seconds – making it the quickest Corvette ever, despite not wearing the cheater-slick tires found on the Z06. With the benefits of all-wheel drive and instantaneous torque thanks to electrification, this is what’s possible.
