GM’s Reuss: New Camaro EV Should Be Affordable, Fun, and Not a Crossover

General Motors has made it clear that when it comes to EVs, the company is fully committed (this story is from 2021), with a pivot in 2024 to being just sort of committed.

And while GM is pivoting, we wonder: Is this year’s last-call model truly the Camaro’s swan song? Was this really, truly, THE END?

For a Camaro powered by gasoline and tiny explosions, yes, totally. For a Camaro running on chemical reactions and whirring motors, we’re only getting started, suggests GM president Mark Reuss.

Ford certainly raised a few eyebrows when it rebooted the Mustang as the all-electric Mach-E crossover, with many owners of those eyebrows decrying the end of the world, calling for heads on pikes, or both. But the Mach-E has been a somewhat familiar way for Ford to help ease buyers into EVs, even if there’s not much pony-car about it. An EV Camaro won’t be a pony car in the classic sense either, but if Reuss has his way, it absolutely won’t be a crossover. 

Speaking to Motor Trend last week, Reuss indicated he wants to see the Camaro return as a car that appeals to all buyers, not just the model’s diehard enthusiasts. We often tend to forget that millions of happy customers were attracted to the look of the Camaro over its multiple generations, rather than what powered it, so Reuss’ focus on a broad appeal makes sense. 

Though there has been no mention of a production timeline and details are thin, Reuss said a Camaro EV could be priced in line with the upcoming 2024 Equinox EV, a compact crossover that will start at $34,995. A $7500 federal tax credit would knock that down to a price point below the outgoing entry-level Camaro, which could make an electric Camaro quite compelling for first-time EV shoppers, particularly those less interested in the head-snapping performance of thousand-horsepower equivalents. That said, it’s difficult to imagine we wouldn’t eventually see some sort of hardcore, tire-shredding, track-focused EV Camaro.

Given that two-door car sales are insignificant in today’s market, it is also hard to imagine an all-new Camaro EV would come equipped that way. So, not a crossover and not a coupe. That could leave us with a low-slung four-door, perhaps something from the Porsche Taycan school of sexy EV design? Not a bad option, but since we can’t read Reuss’ mind it could end up a seven-door, double-decker tuk-tuk when all is said and done.

In the meantime, we presume GM will continue to refine the Ultium EV architecture that underpins that upcoming Equinox, as well as the behemoth Hummer EV 3X, in order to package it for whatever the next Camaro might be. 

So long as they make it look good, with a pony car bent, an affordable Camaro EV could be a downright electric proposition.

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