Corvette Boss Tony Roma Doesn’t Plan to Force an All-Electric Vette
In a recent interview with CBS News, GM boss Mary Barra rode with correspondent Kris Van Cleave in the new Escalade IQ, the all-electric SUV that will launch with 700 horsepower and 460-plus miles of range. When Van Cleave asked Barra if GM was still looking to be all-electric by 2035, Barra answered in the affirmative, hedging that the company will do so with its light-duty vehicles, an initiative kicked off in 2021. “The plans we have in place will get us there,” said Barra.
This doesn’t mean that Corvette will be ditching its gasoline engines in a hurry. Van Cleave also got a ride in the new 1064-hp ZR1 with Tony Roma, the new executive chief engineer of the Corvette, who just took the reins from a retiring Tadge Jeuchter. “You still need to stress the components to correlate the model,” said Roma as he helmed the hypercar Corvette on the Milford Proving Ground track. Sounds like as good an excuse as any to do some donuts in a car with four-digit horsepower.
Smokey burnouts aside, the most interesting point for enthusiasts came when Van Cleave asked Roma if Corvette always needs to be a gas-powered vehicle. “We talk about this a lot. I talk about this with enthusiasts, my friends, other engineers,” explained Roma. “We’re not going to apply electrification just for the sake of it. We don’t put technology on for technology’s sake, so it kind of has to earn its way in. It has to make the car better in some way that our customers are gonna respond to.”
Corvettes have changed a lot in the last decade, as the move to mid-engine for the C8 enabled a whole different level of performance. The current Z06 and ZR1 models wouldn’t have been possible with a front-engine car, and the hybrid, AWD E-Ray would not have worked out, either, with the packaging of a front-mid-engine layout like the C7 had.
As we’ve noted before, we feel the Corvette is in great hands, and the expanding portfolio and performance envelope of “America’s sports car” seems to be proof that Chevrolet is not giving up on enthusiasts. Mary Barra said it well: “One of the strengths of General Motors is that we’re giving people choice.”
Just remember to park it outside away from the house and garage.
And you might not be able to take it to the track, Most tracks don’t allow EVs on them for the same reason.
All this romantic posturing about the wonderful gas engine Corvette! If people want a truly fundamental sports car, one that gives you the opportunity to unleash your driving skills and row through a 6 speed manual gearbox, well … go buy a Miata.
Way to go Tony and Mary!!!!
Electric Corvettes, OK for those who want them, there’s room for both. Speaking of gasoline engines, it sure would be nice if Chevrolet could figure out a way to put a manual transmission back in the ‘Vette.
Thanks Paul Yogi had it right more often than anyone wanted to admit!! And to Hyperv6 I think more folks get what you’re saying than want to admit!
Question: Did they ask their customers, the loyal GM/ Corvette people what THEY want, what THEY will buy and support?
A: Government is not forcing EV cars on us.
B: US government has no date to force EV only sales
C: Government at present has put it’s hand on the scales to encourage EV.
D: Ultimately the cars that we drive will be the ones we want to drive.
E: EV cars have pros and cons. ICE cars have pros and cons.
Here is the reality.
https://www.sema.org/advocacy/ice-bans#:~:text=California%20Advanced%20Clean%20Cars%20II,new%20ICE%20vehicles%20by%202035.
https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/biden-harris-administration-proposes-strongest-ever-pollution-standards-cars-and
I can easily provide more.
They are out right banning Ice for 44% of the market. The EOA is squeezing the emissions to where it is near impossible to meet with ICE.
Banning of good fuels and oils for older cars will make it difficult on collector cars.
The way yo meet emissions and CAFE is for smaller cars and even smaller engines. We are down to three 3 Cylinders with 2 cylinders coming.
We could have some form of ICE but not the kind of vehicles we want to drive.
The EPA is not done yet. Depending on who is elected things can get even worse. Follow what Hhe people like OAC and others that push the green agenda.
Also we need to follow CARB as it is no longer just California.
Good decision, GM, Only 63 Corvette buyers are waiting to own an EV VETTE.
Why build it?
Don’t get the wrong ID here. The E Ray set up is not here for being an EV car. It is marketed like one but it is here just because it eliminates a trans axle and drive line to the front of the car and is easier, lighter and cheaper to do. A small electric drive and a battery makes it much simpler to do.
EV’s making ICE cars more valuable every day…
Check the depreciation on your favorite Tesla etc.. Lease only and run at the end of the term.