General Motors is Electrifying the Corvette

General Motors’ president Mark Reuss broadcasted that Chevrolet will electrify the Corvette during an interview with Phil LeBeau on CNBC.

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General Motors’ president Mark Reuss broadcasted that Chevrolet will electrify the Corvette during an interview with Phil LeBeau on CNBC.

GM plans to offer a hybrid, electrified version of the Corvette next year, Reuss announced in a LinkedIn post. They will also release a fully electrified version that will arrive at an unrevealed date.

“Electrified” means any engine's electric usage, as CNN reported. They played into rumours that the next generation of Corvettes will soon be available in a hybrid version.

General Motors in the Electric Race

NPR reports that General Motors was one of the first car companies for electric vehicles. General Motors had its EV1 as the first mass-produced in the late 1990s.

GM would soon fall behind leading competitors such as Toyota’s popular Prius Hybrid. Then Tesla changed the electric car industry, which all the other electric car competitors blew.

Although General Motors had ambitious plans to enter the electric car field, with over 30 submissions available by 2025, minor sales and a stop in the Bolt production because of a fire risk recall have made things very complicated, NPR reported.

Becoming Electrified

The reason why the Corvette was the new candidate to become an electric car was written in an evaluation of the announcement by Car and Driver’s Rich Ceppos.

First is the place in car culture in which Corvette, Ceppos wrote; it is well known for its reputation for going beyond its weight, providing the technological and performance packages of the higher-end models such as Porsche and Ferrari for much less.

As other top sports cars are going electric and to the market, Corvette will be able to compete with the highest-end models.

Secondly, when a car goes electric, it adds much more and better power and performance, even if it is only used as a power adder. Like Formula 1’s energy system recovery, it harnesses kinetic energy and then stores it in a battery that can be re-deployed for extra horsepower at the driver’s discretion.

The C8 Corvette looks like it was designed to be electrified from the start, explained Ceppos, as the front compartment is perfect for electric components.

General Motors, Ford, and Tesla

General Motors isn’t the only legacy car manufacturer looking to share a piece of Tesla’s market share pie by making their already-famous vehicles electrified.

The most threatening electric car to Tesla is Ford’s F-150 Lightning, as Ford has the most popular truck in North America. Now Detroit is starting to roll out the electric version.

General Motors is betting the farm on their electric vehicles. Although, they are planning on still offering a gas-powered Corvette version as well.