Corvette E-Ray launched in the UK with 643hp
Hybrid AWD model is on sale now - first deliveries due in September
Among the doom and gloom of new cars in 2025, eighth-generation Corvettes are providing a welcome ray of sunshine. A Stingray of sunshine, you might say (sorry). While there could be a bit of a journey to a dealer, that there are standard 6.2-litre C8s available brand new for less than £100,000, and 5.5-litre Z06s for £180,000, both in right-hand drive, must be good news.
Now the UK offering is growing further, with the introduction at Festival of Speed of the Corvette E-Ray. ‘With its electrified heart and all-weather soul, the Corvette E-Ray is ready to carve out its place on the UK’s roads’, they reckon. So don’t go ordering that 911 T-Hybrid just yet…
Pleasingly, the hybrid Corvette offered over here will be unchanged from the domestic offering. That means 643hp from a combination of 6.2-litre, LT2 V8 (providing 482hp) alongside the 161hp electric motor, supplied by a 1.9kWh battery pack. The E-Ray’s all-wheel drive, with electric propulsion for the front axle and combustion out back, means it’s the fastest acceleration Corvette ever offered in the UK: 0-62mph takes just 2.9 seconds. The eAWD ‘intuitively directs additional power to the front wheels’ when needed, ‘enhancing composure and stability.’
UK E-Rays will come as standard with staggered 20-/21-inch wheels, running Michelin Pilot Sport All-season 4 tyres. (The rears are 345/25 ZR21, so best get those ordered ahead of time.) A Performance Package adds Pilot Sport 4S rubber; combine that with Magnetic Ride Control 4.0 and Brembo ceramic brakes (both included) and the E-Ray has the makings of a formidably fast supercar. Additional features include Stealth Mode, to run on electric up to 44mph, Performance Traction Management and six drive modes: Tour, Sport, Track, Weather, My Mode and Z-Mode.
Buyers of the E-Ray in the UK will have ten colours to choose from, including Torch Red, Seawolf Grey and Hysteria Purple. That’s alongside four choices of wheel finish, plus optional carbon (including rims) and stripes. A hybrid this may be, but it’s still a Corvette - gotta have some stripes available. An E-Ray is 9.1cm broader than a regular Stingray, like a Z06, to house the wider rubber; Corvette says it’s ‘built to turn heads from Knightsbridge to the North Coast 500.’
The price? £153,440 for the Coupe, or £159,230 for the Convertible. The Corvette is a hard one to pigeonhole, with its naturally aspirated V8 and battery assistance, though for reference a 541hp 911 GTS T-Hybrid is from £144,400 in four-wheel drive form and £154,400 as the equivalent drop-top. An AMG GT 63 with 612hp is from £163,500 in Premium guise, or £177,150 for that variant, albeit with 585hp, in an SL (and it has to be Premium Plus spec). Certainly there are some interesting comparisons to follow. First E-Ray deliveries are expected here in September.
No Porsche (almost ever!) left the forecourt at list price, so this (if it’s pretty much loaded) will be better for ‘accessories’ value - no?
But the Porsche would be hard to argue with on residual - I suspect…
Choices choices ‘eh…?!
1.9kWh on a 160hp motor is less than one minute of full power to completely drain the battery from full to empty (160 hp is approx 120kW). I can't imagine that works very well on track - extra power for one or two laps only, I'd expect - and the standard car is surely plenty quick enough for the road already.
Other than pretty meaningless launch-control-assisted 0-60 times, what's the point? More weight and complexity not what most people want in a sports car, surely?
If you enable Charge+ mode, the combination of regen / engine recharge as you alternate between acceleration and deceleration on track will keep the battery topped up. But you won’t get a hero lap time in that mode.
However, the E-Ray isn’t meant to be their track machine.
For many people, especially in those areas, having an AWD solution is attractive.
The E-Ray gives Chevy another option when marketing to those folks, like what the C4S does for Porsche in similar markets.
It's a shame they haven't sold more.
The E Ray is another step on.
Also these are great at the drag (which is where a lot of Americans are more likely to take their cars) strip.
In the UK those are included in the list price, adding an additional 30% right off the bat. Factor in that GM has to also amortize the costs of engineering the very low volume RHD versions the UK gets, and the pricing is easily justifiable. The juice has to be worth the squeeze for GM so seems fair in the grand scheme.
In the UK those are included in the list price, adding an additional 30% right off the bat. Factor in that GM has to also amortize the costs of engineering the very low volume RHD versions the UK gets, and the pricing is easily justifiable. The juice has to be worth the squeeze for GM so seems fair in the grand scheme.
US pricing for the base (1LZ) E-Ray convertible is $113K (83K pounds). The UK likely doesn't get the base spec, so let's go with the loaded 3LZ I mentioned at 97.5K. The UK car starts at 159K pound, a 63% premium (assuming they are even the same spec), a lot more than the 30% you mention.
Just for reference I live in a high-tax area in the US and sales tax on vehicles is about 7% here. Destination charge on a Corvette is about $2K, that's included in the price I mentioned. To be apples-to-apples, let's say ~$142K (104K pounds) out the door for this car in the US. The UK pricing is still a 53% premium on that cost.
More broadly, as a fan of the Corvette as a bang-for-buck performance bargain I don't see the appeal of an E-Ray for roughly 911 GT3 money. These are attainable sports cars here (and built to that goal), not aspirational luxury cars for the wealthy like a 911. That's the whole point of the Corvette. Take away that feature and they are pointless.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff