General Motors will manufacture the electric Corvette
Automakers seek to electrify prestigious sports cars as automakers expand their electric vehicle offerings
General Motors is developing a hybrid version of its Chevrolet Corvette that could arrive at the dealership as early as next year.
Work is also underway on a fully electric version of the iconic sports car, said GM President Mark Reus.
More details will be released at a later date, he said. Reus made the announcement in a LinkedIn post on Monday after appearing on CNBC.
A GM spokesman did not specify whether the first electric Corvette would be a hybrid with an electric motor and gasoline engine that does not require a plug-in or plug-in electric hybrid model.
GM’s Corvette announcement is in the race for legacy automakers to build more electric vehicles to compete with Tesla Inc. Detroit Automaker says it is working to overtake Tesla in EV sales and is investing $ 35 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles by 2025.
GM said it would invest about $ 6 billion in Michigan alone to build electric pickup trucks. The partner is also splitting the 2.6 billion battery factory cost with LG Energy Solutions. The automaker did not say where the electric Corvette would be assembled.
The suspension of Chevrolet Bolt came as a shock to the company as it expanded its electric vehicle business, leading to the possibility of a fire. GM said it will resume production this month.
However, sales of electric vehicles accounted for only a fraction of total vehicle purchases, with GM and Ford Motor Company accounting for less than 2% of total sales in 2021.
GM Honda Motor Co. to develop a line of affordable electric vehicles with compact sport-utility vehicles. Working together. The first vehicles will cost less than $ 30,000 in the US and will not be ready by 2027, the companies said.
The 2022 Corvette Stingray has a starting price of $ 60,900, according to the Chevrolet website.
The company also said Monday that it has developed an energy-recovery system that takes in heat generated from its electric vehicle batteries to heat the interior of a vehicle faster than vehicles with conventional combustion engines. The energy-recovery system could increase the driving range of electric vehicles by 10% and increase acceleration, the company said.
Corvette lovers can be sensitive to major changes in a prestigious vehicle. When GM began modeling the Corvette, some collectors objected, moving the engine from the front to the center of the vehicle.
Keith Cornett, a fan who runs a blog about cars in addition to a classified advertising website for the Corvette, said getting some dedicated Corvette fans to try something new especially electric vehicles would be a challenge for GM. According to the National Corvette Museum, the first Corvette came out of the assembly line in 1953.
