2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray certified for Australia

The 2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray has been approved for Australian roads more than 13 months after it was confirmed for our market.

The release of official ADR homologation data for the first electrified – and first all-wheel drive – Corvette doesn’t reveal too many surprises in terms of specifications, unlike the angrier Z06, which was nobbled by noise and emissions regulations in all major markets outside of North America.

Indeed, the 6.2-litre V8 pinched out of the Corvette Stingray continues to output an unchanged 369kW of power, but it’s paired with a 120kW/165Nm permanent magnet electric motor for a combined system output of 481kW, which will make the E-Ray the most powerful Corvette (and GMSV model) offered in Australia to date.

The electric motor draws current from a 1.9kWh battery pack that supplies power when moving away and accelerating, as opposed to offering a dedicated electric cruising mode.

The electrified Corvette is claimed to spring from 0-97km/h (60mph) in 2.5 seconds and push on to a top speed of 294km/h – versus 312km/h for the Stingray – although the electric motor stops contributing at about 240km/h.

As with other Corvette powertrains, an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission will take care of gear-shifting.

GMSV has already confirmed the E-Ray will be released here in the second half of this year and so the emergence of homologation data is more of a formality at this stage, but it provides a good indication that things are progressing on schedule.

The Australian E-Ray – known legally as the ‘HP1’ – tips the scales at 1781kg and will rolls on 20-inch front wheels and 21-inch rears suspended by the same basic chassis set-up at the Stingray.

Right-hand drive production will begin at Chevrolet’s Bowling Green factory in Kentucky around mid-year and the first examples are due Down Under by around September, based on a six- to eight-week shipping period.

Pricing and finer specification details of the E-Ray will be announced closer to its release date, but odds are that pricing will position it somewhere between the $190,000 Stingray 3LT and $336,000 Z06 3LT.

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