The Corvette E-Ray Makes Even More Torque Than You Think
If you were skeptical that the Corvette got soft when it went hybrid, the results of the first third-party dyno session with the E-Ray will convince you of the answer: Definitely not.
True, the driveline of the 2024 Corvette E-Ray pairs a familiar V-8 engine (the LT2) with an electric motor, and a 1.9-kWh lithium-ion battery is tucked under the center console. But the motor and battery are only good for four miles of driving range, and you can’t charge the battery with an external plug. The decision to add an electric motor, which powers the front axle, was a creative way to get more power output and greater traction, which together generate quicker acceleration. Fuel economy, if you’re wondering, doesn’t improve at all over the regular Stingray, which lacks the electric motor: Highway mileage is actually lower, by 1 mpg, according to the EPA estimate.
Those weren’t the numbers you really wanted to know, though.
Okay. Chevrolet advertises the total output of the engine plus motor at 655 hp (measured at the crank, as most manufacturers do) and 595 lb-ft of torque. Of course, we all wanted to verify those for ourselves, and we finally can, thanks to one E-Ray owner named Steve (thanks, Steve!) who sent his Torch Red E-Ray to the GM performance specialists at Paragon Performance in Waukee, Iowa, for a dyno sesh. Being a conscientious owner, he had them drive the car from Kansas City to Waukee so that the engine got its mandatory 500-mile break-in period before running at full throttle on Paragon’s dyno.
Paragon was particular about setting up its dyno: The technicians linked the front roller to the back one with a giant belt to replicate real-world conditions, to which the electric motor and the engine would both contribute maximum power.
The results? 573 wheel horsepower—less than the factory number, as you’d expect, due to driveline losses—but 630 lb-ft of torque: 35 more than stock, even with those same losses.
We see you, Chevy …
Paragon didn’t stop there, of course. Graham, the host of the recorded session, walks us through the graphs, comparing the power curves of the E-Ray (in red) to those of the base car, the Stingray (blue), and to those of the track-focused Z06, which uses a different V-8 (the flat-plane-crank LT6) and no electric motor. The Stingray and the E-Ray are more comparable in mission and focus than the E-Ray and the Z06, so Graham starts there:
You might expect the electric motor to present as a more marked spike, but even as the motor reaches its maximum rpm, and as the heat generated by that motion begins to sap its power, the E-Ray makes more power than the base car through the entire rev range, including at redline, where it makes 100 more horses (at the wheels). From 2000 through about 4200 rpm, the hybrid Vette makes 200 more lb-ft than the base car, thanks to that electric motor. And Chevrolet only quoted the E-Ray’s electric motor at 160 hp and 125 lb-ft, measured at the crank!
Unsurprisingly, the Z06 (green) upstages both its siblings: After 6500 rpm, the horsepower curve generated by the flat-plane-crank model just keeps going, up to its redline of 8500 rpm.
It’s safe to say that the Corvette became a hybrid in the name of performance and power. Chevrolet’s reasoning will be further proven by the upcoming Zora, which is expected to combine the flat-plane-crank LT6 from the Z06 with two turbochargers (the combo that will distinguish the ZR-1) and an electric motor for the front axle. Steve, the owner of the E-Ray you see here, is putting his own spin on the formula: From Paragon Performance, this E-Ray will go to Wixom, Michigan, home of Corvette tuning shop Lingenfelter Performance, to receive its Magnuson supercharger kit. Thus blessed, the E-Ray will return to Paragon for another dyno sesh.
We like how you roll, Steve.
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This is the only hybrid worth having. But I would still stick to the Z06.
a prius and a Z06 … that’s a two-car garage i’d love!
I wonder how the oncoming Porsche 911 Hybrid will stack up against this one?
Easy. It will cost three times as much and barely outperform the Corvette.
After I win the E-Ray from the International Motor Racing Research Center at Watkins Glen on April 23rd, I will provide a full report.
One of the first Honda Accord hybrids was done in a similar fashion — the electric motor was used with a smallish battery to assist a smaller (than the normal Accord) gas engine. The electric motor kicked in on acceleration then dropped out once speed was reached, only kicking back in if load demanded it, such as for passing power. The e-ray uses it sort of as a boost also, but just to the front axle. The battery wouldn’t last long, so it’s obviously being topped off all the time by the alternator. The front motor only kicks in as needed by demand, not running all the time. I wonder how that affects handling though. A true AWD driveline would have the front wheels pulling in curves, I don’t think the E-ray does this, maybe if you’re accelerating out of a curve, but not holding a steady speed.
It most definitely pulls through the corners. I just returned from the Corvette Academy. Was able to drive it in the rain, Amazing Corvette!!!
But there is no “Rumble”!
I need to hear the power as well as feel the power!
I need to hear the rumble all the time, even at idle!
Who likes to do things that give great pleasure without the noise of the action?
… like playing baseball, right …
Well, there is still an LT2 V-8 just behind the drivers shoulders so…
Baseball has a lot of quiet parts, at least any game I’ve been to. The utter silence as a pitcher winds up for the pitch to settle a 3-2 count could be compared to you sitting at a stoplight. The thunder that comes with you punching the throttle is akin to the crowd roaring after the crack of ball meeting bat. There is no drama without variance.
In Stealth and Shuttle mode it’s running on total electric. When in normal mode it sounds like any C8 with Z51 pkg!!!
Hi Bill, you have just hit the nail on the head with this whole electric car problem. These things may well be fast but they have no soul, where is the howling scream of a Ferrari V12 or the throb and burble of an American V8. The automotive industry and the bureaucrats in government think that they will coerce people into believing their rhetoric about these things, at the end of the day however everyone will remember the cars that tugged at their heart strings, no one is going say ” Did you hear the sound of that electric Corvette”
Wrong
I agree with Bill Santen and my older corvette and 68 Mustang ,just love the pipes throbbing out the power, Ontario resident
So what was the point of going hybrid…?
All Wheel Drive
The gas engine is still there and still has the “rumble”. Not like it went anywhere. The electric motor just kicks in in to help it when it is prorammed to. You can start in all electric so as not to wake up neighbors but only maybe for 5 miles.
V8 noise does not go away.
If you want to hear the rumble go to the IMRRC webpage
I see no mention of the price difference between the models in the article. It doesn’t matter to me anyway as the E on the badge leaves a funny smell about the unit anyway.
It’s a performance hybrid which is the only way I would really want it. However I think I’d rather have the non-hybrid C8’s over the E-ray anyway.
Just curious what that 4 miles cost.
Kids in Gaza are eating animal feed while we debate the virtues of a 4-minute electric motor.
Pete G
There is much to be upset about in the world. Reading and sharing opinions on cars is an escape pleasure to my fellow readers. Please let’s us car guys just enjoy a harmless pleasure and keep your politics out of it.
👏👏👏👏👏
Oh jeez!! Can we not have something, anything without someone throwing politics into the middle. Life must be so depressing for you.
Sell whatever you have insured by Hagerty, and send the proceeds to buy people feed for them!
“Kids in Gaza are eating animal feed while we debate the virtues of a 4-minute electric motor.”
That is not my fault, nor can I solve it, so…I just purchased 20 gallons of Sunoco’s finest 110 octane leaded fuel and we’re going racing tonight.
From this description the electric front wheel drive setup is a complicated passing gear system. Turbos are simpler and nitrous even more so.
And I’ll bet it doesn’t sound like a real corvette !!!!!
Nice to have the money…….