Five Features Of The 2024 Corvette E-Ray Only Hardcore C8 Fans Will Notice

At a recent drive program through the Colorado Rockies, Chevrolet invited select media out for a chance to test the new Corvette E-Ray. As the first hybrid Corvette ever, the E-Ray ticks plenty of boxes for performance and sets a new standard for acceleration with a 0-60 time of 2.5 seconds on the way to a quarter-mile in 10.5 seconds. Adding a fully electric front motor also allowed Chevy engineers to play with new Stealth and Shuttle modes that should further entice potential buyers into splurging on an E-Ray over a base Stingray or the track-tuned Z06.

Easily differentiating the E-Ray from the Stingray or Z06 required a few new exterior touches, including a new E-Ray logo design, body-colored trim, new colors, and new wheels—all of which even modest car enthusiasts will be able to discern from a distance. But as a fun bonus, the E-Ray also includes a few details that only hardcore fans will notice.

Because the E-Ray adds around 10-15% more weight to the Corvette chassis, shaving poundage always presented Chevrolet's engineers with a specific set of challenges. Plenty of magnesium and aluminum components help to save grams and ounces where possible, but the E-Ray is also the most affordable car on the market today to come with carbon-ceramic brakes as standard equipment (option code J57 on other C8 variants). And the aluminum hats of the carbon-ceramic feature the "Jake" skull helmet with the Corvette logo for eyes, originally made famous by a Corvette Racing C6.R that competed at Le Mans in 2005.

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On the interior, using a critical new feature of the E-Ray's hybrid system requires pushing an easily overlooked button on the center console to the right of the driver's knee. Doing so activates "Charge+" mode, which prioritizes battery charging during normal driving by essentially "dragging" the front wheels with regen. For track rats, Charge+ means the battery can survive extended lapping sessions without running low, made possible by reducing electric output during wide-open throttle on straightaways, but also by keeping a tighter rein on electric motor and battery temperature regulation. Turning Charge+ off means that full throttle will unleash the electric motor's full 125 lb-ft of torque and drain that battery down in only a few hard laps.

Perhaps only track rats or backyard mechanics will notice one of the E-Ray's most critical engineering details, likely when the car goes up on a lift for service. Unlike the Stingray and Z06, which use carbon fiber below the center tunnel to shave weight, the E-Ray swaps in a metal floor below the battery cells to create more structural rigidity and combat any flex that the hybrid system's weight gains might otherwise produce.

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There's a good chance that only C8 mechanics ever noticed the model's peculiar front shock damper design, which forks near the wheel hub to allow the E-Ray's front driveshaft to deliver power to the front wheels. Every C8 uses the design—which necessitates a taller front damper, as well—but the E-Ray also employs a new strut tower crossbar to offset any funky dynamics created by adding batteries and an electric motor to the front end of a lowslung mid-engine supercar.

The E-Ray's official status as the quickest production Corvette ever may not last long, since the entire automotive industry expects Chevy to eventually unveil a range-topping twin-turbo, hybrid, all-wheel-drive version called the Zora in honor of Zora-Arkus Duntov, a former GM engineer known as the "Father of the Corvette." Dealing with supply chain and production issues delayed the C8 generation's full model rollout, but in the meantime, the E-Ray wears a decal on the windshield with a Zora silhouette.

The 2024 Corvette E-Ray starts at $106,595 (plus destination) for the 1LZ trim, with a body-color roof panel, and rises to $117,545 (plus destination, and before extras) for the 3LZ coupe. If you want the transparent roof panel, that'll be $995, while the carbon fiber version is $2,495, and a Dual Roof with extra transparent panels is $2,295. As for the Corvette E-Ray convertible, that's priced from $113,595 (plus destination) for the 1LZ trim.