The Corvette E-Ray Deserved Better: Driven

“Corvette” and “electrification” aren’t two words that typically go hand in hand. Up until a few years ago, the idea of a battery-powered Corvette (even partially) would be enough to send every New Balance-wearing, Hawaiian-shirt-owning enthusiast up in arms.

Now electrification is simply another option on the C8; red paint or blue paint? Stripes or no stripes? Electrified or non-electrified? You can even get battery power in two of the newest Corvette variants: the Grand Sport and the ZR1, both rockets in their own right.

But after just three years, the E-Ray name is already on its way out, replaced by the Grand Sport mentioned above. For a car that so controversially thrust itself into the limelight and announced, “Electrification is here!” that feels a little unfair. None of this would have been possible without the E-Ray.

Pros

Stupid Quick
Still Handles Like A C8
Smooth Hybrid Handoff

Cons

Confusing Drive Modes
Loud On The Highway
Pricey

A Little Electricity Goes A Long Way

Photo by: Jeff Perez / Motor1

The recipe is relatively simple: Take Chevy’s iconic 6.2-liter V8, slap on some of Edison’s best, and voila. The electricity in question comes from a 1.9-kilowatt-hour battery and a single electric motor on the front axle, sending an extra 160 horsepower and 125 pound-feet of torque to the wheels.

The E-Ray’s total output with the V8 is 655 hp and 595 lb-ft—well more than the standard 490 hp offered in the base C8. That’s enough to send the E-Ray to 60 miles per hour in a supercar-rivaling 2.5 seconds, and on to a quarter-mile time of 10.5 seconds. Not even the Z06 is that quick.

And holy hell is this car quick.

Photo by: Jeff Perez / Motor1

Photo by: Jeff Perez / Motor1

Photos by: Jeff Perez / Motor1

Tick over to Sport or Track mode to engage launch control, press a few buttons, mash the throttle, and hold on for dear life. The E-Ray has enough straight-line speed to make most supercars and performance EVs blush, with a whopping 1,020 lb-ft of torque traveling straight to the front wheels (courtesy of an integrated 8.16:1 gear reduction ratio).

The immediate torque from the front-mounted electric motor yanks you off the line, while the unrelenting power from the V8 keeps you going well past illegal speeds. If you find somewhere safe to hit 150 miles per hour, the battery disengages entirely and it’s just the V8 from there. And best of all, the handoff between gas and electric is almost entirely seamless.

The E-Ray also corners like a proper Corvette should—now with a bit of extra pizzazz. It comes standard with Magnetic Ride Control 4.0, which means body movements are well controlled (even with a battery underneath), the steering is precise, and the all-wheel-drive system with brake-based torque vectoring keeps things nice and tidy, even in inclement weather. The battery/motor also gives the E-Ray a nice jolt of additional torque when exiting a corner.

The E-Ray Can Still Dance

Photo by: Jeff Perez / Motor1

Chevy advertised the E-Ray as the “Grand Touring” Corvette when it debuted; now that honor goes to the Grand Sport. But it’s easy to see what Chevy was aiming for here.

The E-Ray’s ride is pretty smooth, and the cabin is mostly comfortable. It’s just a few ticks away from touring greatness. The Napa leather GT2 buckets, while great for the track, can be swapped with softer thrones if touring really is a priority. And some extra sound deadening would have certainly gone a long way.

The interior is nice otherwise, especially once Chevy ditched the bank of buttons for 2026. It gets a new 12.7-inch central touchscreen with a 14.0-inch digital instrument cluster, and both of them look lovely and are easy to use. There’s some clunkiness on the cluster when you dig into drive mode settings, but it’s mostly forgivable.

Chevy advertised the E-Ray as the “Grand Touring” Corvette when it debuted… It’s easy to see what Chevy was aiming for here.

When you’re not hammering it in Sport or Track mode, the E-Ray’s Tour mode keeps the car more composed, damping the ride quality and slowing up the throttle response. There’s even a Stealth mode that allows for EV-only driving for up to 3 miles at up to 45 miles per hour.

That said, Stealth is only accessible before you set off. Before even starting the car, you have to cycle through drive modes and select Stealth, and then set off. That also means you can’t activate it while driving, which is a minor annoyance.

The good news is that, yes, with the added electrons, the E-Ray is more efficient than your average C8. It returns 16 miles per gallon city, 24 highway, and 19 combined. Not exactly a Prius, but it’s better than nothing.

Verdict: An Electrified Pioneer

Photo by: Jeff Perez / Motor1

The Corvette E-Ray is gone, which mostly makes this review null and void (unless you’re reading it five years from now shopping for a used one, in which case, hello). But its importance can’t be forgotten.

Without the E-Ray, there would be no C8 Grand Sport. No ZR1X. Hybridization may have been a dirty word to Corvette faithful just a few years ago; now it’s just another way to eke even more performance out of America’s sports car.

At $121,545 with destination, the E-Ray isn’t cheap. And this one comes in at $149,105 as-tested with the full 3LZ package and a whole bunch of carbon added on. Not exactly a bargain when you can step up to a Z06 for just a few thousand dollars more.

But what really is the cost of progress?

Competitors

Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance
Porsche 911 Carrera GTS